Europe, Month by Month: What Is On From October 2026 to January 2027

The weeks between October and January are among the best in Europe, and the ones when rooms, cars and tables go first. Two art fairs open the season, in London and in Paris. Then come the white truffles of Alba, the Hospices de Beaune wine auction, the ice rink at the Galeries Lafayette and the first days of the Courchevel season. The winter closes with Lyon in lights, Haute Couture Week in Paris and the Venice Carnival. Below, each one in a few lines: what it is, the dates, and what it asks of your planning.

October

Frieze London, 14 to 18 October

Frieze is London’s contemporary art fair, held each October in The Regent’s Park, with Frieze Masters, its companion fair for historical work. Both take place from 14 to 18 October. The fair opens to the public from 15 October. On the Thursday there is a members and invitation preview in the morning, with general admission from 1 pm; Friday and Saturday run 11 am to 7 pm and Sunday 11 am to 6 pm. Tickets are sold online only, so buy them before you travel.

The park sits in the north of the city, near Marylebone. We can arrange the hotel and a driver for the days you are at the fair; we do not arrange invitation-only previews, which come from the galleries.

Art Basel Paris, 23 to 25 October

Art Basel Paris is the contemporary art fair held each October in the Grand Palais. The public days are 23 to 25 October. We have set out what the fair is, its three sectors and how to approach it in our Art Basel Paris guide.

The two fairs fall a week apart, so a trip can take in both: London first, then Paris, with a driver at each end.

Alba White Truffle Fair, from 10 October

The International Alba White Truffle Fair, now in its 96th edition, is the gathering for the white truffle of Piedmont. It runs on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 October to 6 December, 9:30 am to 7:30 pm, with the World Truffle Market in the courtyard of the Maddalena, entered from Piazza Falcone. Admission is €6.

Alba is in Piedmont, and the fair is a weekend affair. If you plan to eat in the Langhe around it, settle the tables early.

November

Hospices de Beaune wine auction, 15 November

The Hospices de Beaune sale is Burgundy’s great charity wine auction, held since the nineteenth century in the town of Beaune. The 166th is on Sunday 15 November at 2:30 pm, under the Halles de Beaune. The wine is sold by the barrel, and to bid or to reserve a seat in the room you register with Sotheby’s before the sale. The proceeds go to the hospital. The wider weekend, with the tastings in Beaune’s cellars, is described in our Burgundy wine guide.

Rooms in and around Beaune are the first thing to settle, because the date is fixed. Beaujolais Nouveau follows on Thursday 19 November, the third Thursday of the month.

The Galeries Lafayette ice rink, from 24 November

The Galeries Lafayette Haussmann lists its Christmas ice rink for the 2026–27 season from 24 November 2026 to 3 January 2027. The store’s Christmas windows and tree are announced closer to the season, and we do not quote 2026 dates for them.

December

The Courchevel season opens, 4 December

Courchevel 1850 is the highest of the villages of Courchevel, in the Three Valleys, and home to the Alps’ densest cluster of grand hotels. Its season runs from 4 December 2026 to 18 April 2027, and the peak weeks, Christmas, New Year and February, book three to six months ahead. Our Courchevel 1850 guide covers the hotels, the mountain and the evenings.

Fête des Lumières, Lyon, 5 to 8 December

Lyon’s Festival of Lights is the city’s December celebration, when squares, façades and streets are lit by installations. It takes place from Saturday 5 to Tuesday 8 December 2026.

Lyon sits on the way to the Alps, so a night in the city for the lights can open a trip to the mountains.

Christmas and New Year

The weeks around Christmas and New Year are the busiest of the winter. For family and group stays we suggest one to two months’ notice, and in Paris the restaurants and the better rooms go first.

January

Haute Couture Week, 25 to 28 January

Haute Couture Week is when the Paris couture houses show their made-to-measure collections. The Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode lists men’s fashion week from 19 to 24 January and Haute Couture Week, spring-summer 2027, from 25 to 28 January. Women’s ready-to-wear for autumn-winter 2027 follows from 1 to 9 March.

For the shows we can plan the hotel and a driver by the hour through the week; the invitations come from the houses. Our private shopping guide sets out what we can arrange around fittings.

Venice Carnival, 23 January to 9 February

The Carnevale di Venezia is the city’s carnival of masks and costumes, in the weeks before Lent. The official dates for 2027 are 23 January to 9 February.

Rooms in Venice are scarce in carnival weeks, so the hotel comes first, and the weekends of the carnival are the first to go.

How we plan around these dates

Tell us which of these dates are yours, who is travelling and where you are starting from. We then plan the hotel, a private driver and the tables around them. Our drivers are priced on the website before you order: from €150 for an airport transfer and from €100 an hour in Paris, with the other cities on the same page. See Private Chauffeur.

Booking through us means partner rates on the hotel, with perks that depend on the property, and the same advisor from your first message until you fly home.

Frequently asked questions

Do you get tickets to the fairs and shows? Fairs sell their public tickets online, and the previews and the shows are by invitation from the galleries and the houses. We plan the hotel, the car and the rest of the days around them.

How early should we book for Christmas and New Year? One to two months is our baseline for families and groups; for the Courchevel peak weeks, three to six months.

Are the dates confirmed? They are the dates published by each organiser. Programmes can be updated, so we check them again with you when you book.

If you tell us the dates you are considering, we will come back with the hotel, the car and the tables that fit them.

Photo credits

• Peter S / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
• Nicolò Oppicelli / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
• Benjamin Smith / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
• Courchevel Tourisme / Courchevel Tourisme (official tourist office), Unconfirmed — sourced from the official tourist office site, commercial-use rights not yet confirmed
• Corentin Eustacchi / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
• Joe deSousa / Wikimedia Commons, CC0
• Lucarelli / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
• Valerii Tkachenko / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0