Rome in December: Weather, Events and the Best Tours
Written and checked by the Best Rome Tours editorial team. .
December has the shortest days of the year in Rome, around nine hours nine minutes in mid-month, with average highs of 12.8C and nine rain days. It also has three separate Vatican Museums closure dates, on 8, 25 and 26 December, which is more than any other month in this window.
Quick pick: the best Rome tours in December
| # | Tour | Best for | Duration | From | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel Entry Ticket | The best use of a short winter day | Varies | £28 | 4.5 (153,443) |
| 2 | Vatican Museums & St Peter's Basilica Tour | All three Vatican sites without a second queue | Varies | £59 | 4.3 (81,707) |
| 3 | Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel Skip-the-Line | Independent visitors avoiding a cold queue | Varies | £35 | 4.4 (16,773) |
| 4 | Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel & Basilica Tour | A guided route with a curated selection | Varies | £59 | 4.7 (17,015) |
| 5 | Vatican, Sistine Chapel & St. Peter's Skip-the-Line | One guided sweep of the whole Vatican | Varies | £51 | 4.6 (10,483) |
| 6 | St Peter's Basilica Pre-reserved Ticket | The Christmas basilica, cheaply | Varies | £10 | 4.3 (1,150) |
| 7 | Colosseum, Forum & Palatine Hill Tour | Ancient Rome on a clear morning | Varies | £42 | 4.8 (87,363) |
| 8 | Pasta & Tiramisu Class with Fine Wine by the Vatican | A warm indoor afternoon | Varies | £28 | 4.9 (7,297) |
| 9 | Castel Sant'Angelo Entry Ticket & Digital Audioguide | A compact indoor sight near the Vatican | Varies | £15 | 4.6 (8,141) |
| 10 | Trevi Fountain + Subterranean Aqueducts Tour | A sight the weather cannot spoil | Varies | £22 | 4.1 (292) |
Prices, ratings and review counts verified against live GetYourGuide listings on 28 July 2026. Duration varies by the option you choose at checkout.
Is December a good time to visit Rome?
Yes, if you want Rome at its most atmospheric and you plan around three closure dates. Highs of 12.8C and nine rain days make it a winter city break rather than a sightseeing marathon, but the centre in December, lit and busy with Romans rather than tour groups, is a genuine draw.
December splits into a quiet first fortnight and a busy second one. Up to about the 15th the city is in low season: cheap, empty and cold. From roughly the 18th the Christmas trade arrives, hotel rates climb steeply, and the centre fills with Italian domestic visitors rather than international ones, which changes the feel of the streets entirely.
The closure calendar is the thing to get right. The Vatican Museums close on 8 December for the Immaculate Conception, and again on 25 and 26 December. That is three separate dates in one month, and 8 December is a Tuesday this year, so it takes out a working day rather than hiding behind a weekend.
What December gives you in return is the version of Rome that most visitors never see. Nativity scenes in dozens of churches, the tree and crib in St Peter's Square, lights the length of Via del Corso, and basilicas that are being used rather than toured. If that is what you came for, the 12.8C and the rain are a fair trade.
Rome weather in December
Average highs of 12.8C and lows of 4.7C, with 98mm of rain over nine days and only about four hours of sunshine a day. Mid-December daylight is around nine hours nine minutes, the shortest of the year, with sunset near 16:39. Snow in the city is rare.
| Measure | December | Annual context |
|---|---|---|
| Average high | 12.8C | Ranges from 11.9C in January to 31.4C in August |
| Average low | 4.7C | Ranges from 3.5C in January to 19.8C in August |
| Rain days | 9 days, 98mm | Driest is July at 2 days, wettest is November at 9 |
| Daylight, mid-month | 9h 09m | From 9h 09m in December to 15h 12m in June |
| Sunshine per day | 4 hours | From 4 hours in December to 11 hours in July |
| Sea temperature | 16.5C | Tyrrhenian coast at Rome, peaks at 26C in August |
Temperature, rainfall, rain days, sunshine and sea temperature: Climates to Travel, Rome (Ciampino) 1991 to 2020 averages. Daylight is the length of day on the 15th, from timeanddate.com sunrise and sunset tables for Rome.
Rome in December is damp and grey more often than it is cold. The 4.7C average low is measured at the airport; the centre rarely freezes, and snow that settles is a once-in-several-years event rather than an annual one. What you should expect is nine days of rain and about 98mm of water.
The daylight floor is reached in the third week. From roughly 9 to 22 December the day is close to nine hours and nine minutes, sunrise around 07:30 and sunset around 16:39. Sunset actually starts creeping later before Christmas even though sunrise keeps getting later, which is why the shortest sunset of the year is in early December rather than at the solstice.
Four hours of sunshine a day is the lowest figure of the year, so plan photography for late morning. The good news is that Rome's winter light, when it appears, is very low and very warm, which is why December produces some of the best photographs of the Forum of any month.
Crowds, prices and what to book ahead
Two Decembers in one month. Before about 15 December, queues and prices are at winter lows. From around 18 December to the New Year, hotel rates in the centre roughly double and the Christmas markets and main shopping streets are genuinely crowded with Italian visitors.
If you have any flexibility, the first two weeks are the value window: the lights are up from late November, the nativity scenes are being installed, and you get all of that at November prices. Book the second half of the month and you are paying peak rates for shorter days.
The Vatican is the exception to the quiet-first-fortnight rule, because 8 December is a major feast day. Expect St Peter's Square to be busy that day and the Museums to be shut. Book Vatican Museums entry for a different day and use the 8th for the Basilica, the nativity scenes and the churches.
Restaurant booking becomes necessary again from about the 18th, especially at weekends, as Roman families and the domestic Christmas trade take the tables that were empty in November.
The best tours in Rome in December
December's ranking is built for short daylight and nine rain days. Indoor Vatican options dominate the top five, the low-cost St Peter's Basilica ticket moves up for the Christmas season, and the underground and enclosed sights fill the bottom of the ten.
1. Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel Entry Ticket
4.5 out of 5 from 153,443 verified GetYourGuide reviews • from £28 • Varies
First on review volume and the obvious anchor for a December itinerary. Book any day other than 8, 25 or 26 December, when the Museums are closed.
Best for in December: The best use of a short winter day
2. Vatican Museums & St Peter's Basilica Tour
4.3 out of 5 from 81,707 verified GetYourGuide reviews • from £59 • Varies
Ranked up. With daylight down to about nine hours nine minutes, doing the Museums, the Sistine Chapel and the Basilica in one continuous visit is the difference between seeing them and running out of day.
Best for in December: All three Vatican sites without a second queue
3. Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel Skip-the-Line
4.4 out of 5 from 16,773 verified GetYourGuide reviews • from £35 • Varies
Ranked up. The Vatican queue is outdoors and unsheltered, and standing in it at 8C for an hour costs you a meaningful share of a nine-hour day.
Best for in December: Independent visitors avoiding a cold queue
4. Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel & Basilica Tour
4.7 out of 5 from 17,015 verified GetYourGuide reviews • from £59 • Varies
Highest-rated of the high-volume Vatican guided tours and readily bookable at short notice in the first half of the month, so you can move it if the weather turns.
Best for in December: A guided route with a curated selection
5. Vatican, Sistine Chapel & St. Peter's Skip-the-Line
4.6 out of 5 from 10,483 verified GetYourGuide reviews • from £51 • Varies
The efficient single-morning Vatican option, which matters more in the month with the least daylight than in any other.
Best for in December: One guided sweep of the whole Vatican
6. St Peter's Basilica Pre-reserved Ticket
4.3 out of 5 from 1,150 verified GetYourGuide reviews • from £10 • Varies
Ranked up for December. It is the lowest-priced listing in our Rome set and it puts you inside the Basilica in the month when the nativity scene and the tree are in the square outside.
Best for in December: The Christmas basilica, cheaply
7. Colosseum, Forum & Palatine Hill Tour
4.8 out of 5 from 87,363 verified GetYourGuide reviews • from £42 • Varies
Still the most-reviewed guided route in Rome, but demoted for December: the Forum and Palatine are open ground, and the light is gone shortly after 16:39.
Best for in December: Ancient Rome on a clear morning
8. Pasta & Tiramisu Class with Fine Wine by the Vatican
4.9 out of 5 from 7,297 verified GetYourGuide reviews • from £28 • Varies
Ranked up. Highest-rated experience in our Rome list, indoors and seated, and it fills the dark 15:00 to 18:00 block that December otherwise wastes.
Best for in December: A warm indoor afternoon
9. Castel Sant'Angelo Entry Ticket & Digital Audioguide
4.6 out of 5 from 8,141 verified GetYourGuide reviews • from £15 • Varies
Ranked up. Two enclosed hours with a terrace over the Tiber at the end, and it sits a short walk from St Peter's so it pairs with a Vatican morning.
Best for in December: A compact indoor sight near the Vatican
10. Trevi Fountain + Subterranean Aqueducts Tour
4.1 out of 5 from 292 verified GetYourGuide reviews • from £22 • Varies
The smallest review count in our list, ranked in for December because the substantive part of it is underground and completely unaffected by rain or early darkness.
Best for in December: A sight the weather cannot spoil
Both hop-on hop-off bus tours and both Colosseum evening tours are out of the December ranking. With sunset at about 16:39 an evening tour is a night tour, and an open top deck in a month with 98mm of rain and 4.7C lows is not where you want to be.
Events and festivals in December 2026
December has three Italian public holidays and three Vatican Museums closure dates: 8 December for the Immaculate Conception, then 25 and 26 December. The free last-Sunday opening still runs, on 27 December, because that date is not on the Vatican's exclusion list.
| Event | Dates | Where | Free? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Immacolata, Feast of the Immaculate Conception | Tuesday 8 December | Nationwide, Piazza di Spagna | Public holiday |
| Papal general audience | Wednesdays 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30 December | Vatican | Free, ticket required |
| Christmas Day | Friday 25 December | Nationwide | Public holiday |
| Santo Stefano, St Stephen's Day | Saturday 26 December | Nationwide | Public holiday |
| Free last-Sunday opening, Vatican Museums | Sunday 27 December, 09:00 to 14:00, last entry 12:30 | Vatican Museums | Free entry |
| Winter solstice, shortest day | Monday 21 December | Rome | Not applicable |
The 8 December feast is the one visitors underestimate. It is a full national holiday, the Vatican Museums are closed, and it is traditionally the day Rome considers the Christmas season open, so the centre is busy. It falls on a Tuesday this year, so it removes a working day from the week rather than extending a weekend.
The free last-Sunday opening survives in December. The Vatican's own rule excludes the last Sunday only when it coincides with Easter Sunday, 29 June, 25 December, 26 December or 31 December. This year the last Sunday is 27 December, none of those, so the free morning goes ahead.
Christmas services at St Peter's, including the midnight mass, are ticketed through the Prefecture of the Papal Household and demand vastly exceeds supply. We could not verify the current ticketing process from a primary source when this page was written, so apply through the Prefecture well in advance and do not rely on third-party claims about availability.
What is closed in December
Three Vatican Museums closure dates fall in December: Tuesday 8 December, Friday 25 December and Saturday 26 December, plus the usual Sundays. That is the densest closure month of the ten. Sunday 27 December is open and free, 09:00 to 14:00.
| Site | Closed | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel | Tuesday 8 December, Immaculate Conception | On the Vatican's fixed annual closure list. Takes out a full working day this year. |
| Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel | Friday 25 and Saturday 26 December | Both on the fixed annual closure list. Combined with Sunday 27 being a short free morning only, the Christmas window is very tight. |
| Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel | Sundays 6, 13 and 20 December | Standard Sunday closure. Open Monday to Saturday, 08:00 to 20:00, last entry 18:00. |
| Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel | Open Sunday 27 December | Free last-Sunday opening, 09:00 to 14:00, last entry 12:30. Not excluded, because 27 December is not one of the Vatican's named exception dates. |
| Vatican Gardens and Via Triumphalis Necropolis | Sundays and public holidays, including 8, 25 and 26 December | A year-round rule. Both need advance reservation. |
| Borghese Gallery | Mondays | Open Tuesday to Sunday, 09:00 to 19:00. No admission without a timed reservation. |
Vatican opening days, hours and closure dates: Vatican Museums official days and hours of closure. The only official Vatican Museums ticket seller is tickets.museivaticani.va.
If your trip covers Christmas itself, the Vatican Museums are effectively unavailable from Friday 25 December to the end of Saturday 26 December, with only a short free window on Sunday 27 December between 09:00 and 14:00. Anyone arriving on the 24th for a four-night stay should book Museums entry for the 24th or the 28th.
The other closures are the standing ones. The Vatican Gardens and the Via Triumphalis Necropolis close on Sundays and on every public holiday, which in December means three extra dates on top of the Sundays. Both need advance reservation in any case.
St Peter's Basilica is on its winter dome timetable all month, 07:30 to 17:00, with the Basilica itself opening from 07:00. We could not verify whether the dome closes in bad weather from an official source, so if the forecast is poor, have a fallback rather than counting on the climb.
What to wear and pack for Rome in December
Pack for damp cold rather than hard cold. Highs of 12.8C and lows of 4.7C with 98mm of rain mean a warm waterproof coat, not a ski jacket. Churches and museums are stone-cold indoors, so layers matter more than a single heavy outer.
The Roman winter is a wet cold. It rarely freezes and snow that settles is a rare event, but nine rain days and low sun mean things stay damp, and standing on marble in an unheated basilica for twenty minutes gets into you in a way that 12C outdoors does not.
Evenings are longer than the daylight suggests, because the sightseeing day effectively ends at about 16:39 and the eating and walking day carries on for another six hours. A warm layer you are happy to wear in a restaurant is more useful than technical outdoor gear.
- Warm waterproof coat for 98mm of rain across nine days
- Layers for unheated churches and marble museum floors
- Waterproof shoes with grip for wet cobbles after dark
- Shoulder and knee cover for the Vatican and St Peter's Basilica
- Gloves and a hat for early-morning starts at 4.7C
How we chose these tours
We start from verified GetYourGuide review volume, then re-order for the month so that the experiences that actually work in December's weather and daylight sit highest. Every price, rating and review count on this page was checked against the live listing on 28 July 2026.
- Popularity first. The base order is the verified review count on the live GetYourGuide listing, which is the only booking signal we can check independently.
- Then seasonal fit. A tour moves up or down for a specific, stated reason tied to that month: heat, rain days, daylight hours, sunset time or a closure. Every move is explained in the entry itself rather than left implied.
- Nothing is invented. Prices, star ratings and review counts come from the live product page. We do not publish an opening time, closure or festival date we could not confirm from an official source, and we say so where we could not.
- We earn a commission. Booking links go to GetYourGuide and pay us if you book. That does not change the ranking: the review counts are public and you can check every one of them against the listing.
FAQs about Rome in December
Are the Vatican Museums open at Christmas?
Not on the main dates. The Museums close on 8 December for the Immaculate Conception and again on 25 and 26 December, all three of which are on their fixed annual closure list. Sunday 27 December is open, but only for the free last-Sunday morning, 09:00 to 14:00 with last entry at 12:30. Plan Museums entry for the 24th or the 28th.
Is the free last-Sunday opening cancelled in December?
Not this year. The Vatican excludes the free last Sunday only when it falls on Easter Sunday, 29 June, 25 December, 26 December or 31 December. This year the last Sunday of December is the 27th, which is none of those, so the free 09:00 to 14:00 opening goes ahead with last entry at 12:30.
How cold does Rome get in December?
Cool and damp rather than genuinely cold. The average high is 12.8C and the average low 4.7C, with 98mm of rain over about nine days and only four hours of sunshine a day. The centre rarely freezes and settling snow is a rare event. Unheated churches and marble museum floors feel colder than the outdoor figures suggest.
How short are the days in Rome in December?
About nine hours nine minutes in mid-December, the shortest of the year, with sunrise around 07:30 and sunset around 16:39. The earliest sunsets actually happen in the first half of the month rather than at the solstice on 21 December. Anything outdoors needs to be scheduled before mid-afternoon.
Is Rome expensive at Christmas?
It depends which December you book. Up to about 15 December, rates in the historic centre are at winter lows while the lights and nativity scenes are already up. From roughly 18 December to New Year, rates climb steeply as Italian domestic visitors arrive, and restaurant tables need booking again, particularly at weekends.
Can I get tickets for midnight mass at St Peter's?
Tickets for papal liturgies including Christmas services are issued free by the Prefecture of the Papal Household, and demand greatly exceeds the number of places. We could not verify the current process from a primary source when this page was written, so apply directly through the Prefecture well in advance and treat any third-party guarantee of tickets with suspicion.