Christmas by the sea on the Rimini Riviera

The Christmas lights are turned on at the Rimini Riviera and all the towns along the coast - Riccione, Cattolica, Bellaria - Igea Marina and Misano Adriatico - are dressed up in colours, events, music festivals, ice parks, Christmas markets, fun opportunities and much more to accompany you during the festivities.

• In Riccione,  the heart of the festive season is Piazzale Ceccarini, where from 28 November to 10 January the Riccione Christmas Village lines up its wooden chalets selling Italian crafts and regional food and wine. Admission is free.

Along the seafront, in Piazzale Roma, the Lungomare Ice Park unrolls a 1,650-square-metre skating rink, open until 24 January and, in the days between Christmas and Epiphany, from 10am until midnight. Right beside it turns the Riviera Christmas View, a 55-metre Ferris wheel with 28 transparent cabins from which the whole coastline comes into view at once, from the city lights to the darkness of the sea.

• In Cattolica, Christmas begins on Saturday 28 November, when the lights go on along the streets and squares at 5pm. The same day brings the opening of Cattolica Chalet Taste, the food chalets that turn Viale Bovio into a wood of light, with local specialities and live music along the way, and of Cattolica On Ice, the skating rink in Piazza Primo Maggio: both stay open until 10 January. Also on Viale Bovio, La Serra dei Sogni opens every afternoon from 4pm to 6pm until 5 January, with creative workshops, talks and activities devoted to the environment — a place to stop, play and make something with your hands.

Two dates worth marking: on Sunday 6 December at 5pm the Sogni d’Inverno parade crosses the town with figures in glowing white costumes and a music float, while on Tuesday 8 December, again at 5pm, the Voices of Joy choir sings in Piazza Nettuno as the Christmas tree is lit. On 12 and 19 December, at the Mercato Coperto, the Mercato del Gusto stages the making of cappelletti the Romagna way, with a food expert from Casa Artusi, a chef and a Marietta, rounded off with a tasting.

• In Bellaria Igea Marina Christmas goes by the name of BIM Christmas. On the seafront at Igea Marina, from 5 December to 6 January, a nativity scene is sculpted in sand directly on the beach and can be visited free of charge, while in Bellaria, Piazza Don Minzoni hosts Bim Ice, the skating rink in the pedestrian area, from 29 November to 10 January.

From 4 to 8 December the Brienz Xmas Village fills a thousand square metres lit by a hundred thousand bulbs, with Santa’s living room, the post office for letters to Father Christmas and a nativity scene: the opening, with the Mercatino delle Meraviglie, is on Tuesday 8 December from 3.30pm, and the lights go on at 5pm. On 12 December, from 4pm to 6pm, the Isola dei Platani fills with soap bubbles for Wonder Walks Christmas. And for anyone who won’t give up the sea even in December, Sunday 6 brings Xmas Sup, a Christmas paddle open to all levels, meeting at 10am at the Polo Est Village.

• In Misano Adriaticoeverything happens in Piazza della Repubblica: from 5 December to 6 January, Misano si accende! brings the skating rink, the Christmas lights and the chalets with traditional sweets. The opening on 5 December comes with a performance by the young dancers of NIREA Danze, and on 6 January the season closes with the Befana sea plunge in the morning and a party in the afternoon. On 18 December, at the Teatro Cinema Astra, the Charm City Singers International from Baltimore perform a programme ranging from traditional gospel to film scores.

From wooden chalets to sand sculptures, Christmas on the Riviera is best explored on foot, moving from one square to the next with the sea always within sight.