School holidays in Italy: 2023–2024

Whether you’re exploring Italy or further afield, holidays are a great way to spend quality time with the family. To make sure you don’t interfere with their studies, scheduling around your children’s school holidays is your best bet. If you’re working during the school holidays, however, it’s important to consider childcare arrangements in advance.

To help you plan your year, read on for the following:

An overview of school holidays in Italy

The Ministry of Education sets the national school holidays, which apply to all primary and secondary schools and are the same each year. However, the holiday dates each Italian region stipulates for its local schools vary between areas.

Italy has 20 administrative regions, which can be split into North, Central, South, and Island regions. These include:

• North: Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Liguria, Lombardy (Lombardia), Piedmont, Trentino-Alto Adige, Valle d’Aosta, Veneto
• Central: Abruzzo, Emilia-Romagna, Lazio, Marche, Molise, Tuscany (Toscana), and Umbria
• South: Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Puglia
• Islands: Sardinia and Sicily (Sicilia)

Keep in mind that international schools in Italy may have different holiday dates, so make sure to check directly with your school.

National holidays in Italy 2023–2024

Schools throughout Italy are closed for the Italian public holidays. These dates are set by the Italian government and are celebrated in all regions. As a result, the regional school holidays – such as the Christmas and Easter breaks – usually revolve around Italy’s public holidays.

Here are the nationwide school holidays for the 2023–2024 academic year:

Regional school holiday dates 2023–2024

In addition to the national school holidays, schools in Italy also have holidays set by their region. While these holidays typically fall around the same, individual dates vary between regions.

Most Italian schools stop for the following occassions:

• Christmas break (two weeks)
• Easter break (one week)
• Summer holidays (about three months)

Many schools will also celebrate Carnival by taking off an extra day or two.

To help you mark which days your child will be off school, here are the school holidays according to Italy’s different regions.

Northern region school holidays

Central region school holidays

Southern region school holidays

Island region school holidays

Childcare during Italian school holidays

If your work holidays do not coincide with your children’s school holidays, you may need to find childcare in Italy. Fortunately, childcare can be affordable (PDF) in Italy, especially compared to its northern European neighbors. Whatever your situation, there are plenty of childcare services around the country.

You could find a babysitter if you only need someone to look after your children for a day or two. While a personal recommendation (e.g., from friends, Facebook groups, colleagues, neighbors) is great to find someone trustworthy, professional agencies such as Babysitterservices can also help.

Alternatively, consider hiring a nanny or even an au pair to live with your family, for long-term or more regular support.

For childcare during the summer break, consider summer camps. Your children will be in a safe environment and learn new skills, make friends, have fun, and explore. While most camps may be in Italian, there are also a few English-language ones around, like the New Oxford School English Summer Camp in Siena.

Check with your child’s school or your local council to see what options are available in your area.

Ten fun summer camps in Italy

• AC Milan Junior Camps (Soccer)
• Campo Estivo Estate in Volo
• Design, Fashion & Arts Summer Camp
• Green Summer School
• International Camp Sancelso
• Italiano Porticando Summer City Camp
• Labsitters English Language Camp
• Maker DOJO Summer Technology Camp
• Trulli School Italian Language Camp
• WWF Travel Summer Camps