The holidays are almost over, there is little left until the start of school and, like every year, students and parents are counting down to the first ring of the bell which changes from region to region. The first to start again will be the pupils of the autonomous province of Bolzano, on Monday 7 September, while the last will be those of Puglia, 10 days later.
The start dates of school region by region:
- Monday 7 September 2026: Autonomous Province of Bolzano
- Thursday 10 September 2026: Autonomous Province of Trento, Valle d’Aosta and Veneto
- Monday 14 September 2026: Friuli Venezia Giulia, Liguria, Lombardy, Marche, Molise, Piedmont and Umbria
- Tuesday 15 September 2026: Calabria, Campania, Emilia-Romagna, Lazio, Sicily and Tuscany
- Wednesday 16 September 2026: Abruzzo, Basilicata and Sardinia
- Thursday 17 September 2026: Puglia
Because the dates change from region to region
As we had already explained in this article, the return to school varies according to the regions because the calendar of activities is determined by the regional administrations, which, despite having to take into account the parameters set by the Ministry for the whole country, enjoy a certain degree of autonomy.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Education and Merit has already issued the ordinance with the dates of national holidays and exams. However, it is up to the regions to establish the beginning and end of lessons, as well as any additional days of school closures during the Christmas and Easter holidays or at other times of the year.
When school ends
As happens with the opening of schools, the closure also changes depending on the regions, with Emilia Romagna and Marche being the first to close on 5 June 2027, followed on 8 June by Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Lazio, Liguria, Lombardy, the Province of Trento, Puglia, Sardinia, Umbria and Veneto; on 9 June it will be the turn of Abruzzo, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Molise and Valle d’Aosta, while on 10 June they will close in Piedmont, Sicily and Tuscany, and lastly the autonomous province of Bolzano, on 16 June.
Long weekends and holidays of the year 2026-2027: when they fall
This year the calendar reserves very few opportunities to extend the weekends, given that most of the anniversaries fall on public holidays. This is the case of November 1, 2026 and April 25, 2027 which fall on a Sunday. The only real bridging opportunities come with 8 December 2026 which will be a Tuesday and, by taking Monday 7 off, you will be able to enjoy four consecutive days of rest, and again with 2 June 2027, which falls on a Wednesday, while 1 May falls on a Saturday.
As regards the Christmas holidays, these will concern all the regions and will run from 23 or 24 December 2026 to 6 January 2027, with the exception of Sicily where the Christmas holidays will last until 7 January 2027. While for Easter the suspension of lessons, in most regions, will be from Thursday 25 to Tuesday 30 March 2027, except in the Autonomous Province of Trento where they continue until March 31st.
However, as regards Carnival, in 2027 Shrove Tuesday falls on February 9th; However, Carnival breaks are not foreseen everywhere and it depends on regional calendars. In Campania, Liguria and Lombardy, lessons stop on 8 and 9 February, as well as in the autonomous province of Trento. In Friuli Venezia Giulia, Molise, Valle d’Aosta and Veneto the suspension lasts three days, from 8 to 10 February, while in Sardinia it is limited to 9 February only.
In Piedmont the regional calendar includes a break from Saturday 6th to Wednesday 10th February. The longest break is in the autonomous province of Bolzano, where the winter holidays run from 6 to 14 February, with lessons suspended for the entire week.
