Visa-free Christmas markets and New Year 2026/27: Tbilisi, Belgrade, Sarajevo dates

If you need a Schengen visa and want Christmas lights or a New Year's Eve abroad without waiting for one, five cities are the realistic choice this winter: Tbilisi and Batumi in Georgia, Belgrade in Serbia, Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Skopje in North Macedonia. Georgia admits Turkish, Russian and Saudi passports without a visa. Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina admit Turkish and Russian passports, and North Macedonia admits Turkish ones. Montenegro drops off the list: under a government decree adopted in July, it requires a visa from Turkish, Russian and Saudi citizens from 1 November 2026.

No city had announced its 2026–27 programme by 1 October 2026, so the dates below are last season's. Sarajevo's market opened on 3 December 2025, Tbilisi's Christmas village on 12 December, Skopje's Christmas market on 15 December and Batumi's New Year village on 20 December. We will update this guide as the new dates are published. The visa rules were read on government pages on 1 October 2026.

When do the markets and New Year events open in 2026–27?

Which countries can you visit without a visa this winter?

It depends on your passport. Stays are for ordinary passports, as read on the linked official pages on 1 October 2026.

Montenegro shows how quickly these rules can change, so open the official page again before you book.

• Georgia: the same list gives citizens of the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and Albania a year without a visa; Kosovo is not on it. Turkish citizens travelling directly from Turkey can also enter with a valid new-type ID card, but cannot travel on from Georgia to a third country on the ID card alone, according to Turkey's foreign ministry. Every visitor also needs travel insurance; see the documents section below.
• Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina: take your passport. Bosnia's list of nationalities allowed in on an ID card does not include Turkey, and neither the Serbian nor the Turkish ministry page on Turkish visitors to Serbia mentions ID cards. Both countries face EU pressure to align their visa lists, as Montenegro has, but neither had set a date by 1 October 2026: in August Serbia's minister for European integration said visas for Russians were "not being considered" (RFE/RL), and on 28 September Bosnia was reported to have left the decision for later (Oslobođenje).
• North Macedonia: Russian citizens have needed a visa since March 2022. North Macedonia's foreign ministry lets holders of a multiple-entry Schengen visa or an EU or Schengen residence permit, and, until 31 December 2026, holders of a multiple-entry US, UK or Canadian visa, stay up to 15 days per entry without one. We could not confirm the rule for Saudi passports on an official page, so ask the embassy.

If you hold a Schengen visa or do not need one, see our guides to Budapest, Vienna and Germany, Austria and Prague.

Montenegro: visas for Turkish, Russian and Saudi passports from 1 November 2026

Montenegro's government adopted the change on 23 July 2026: from 1 November 2026, citizens of Belarus, China, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Turkey need a visa to enter. Its foreign ministry says this completes the alignment of its visa policy with the EU's, a condition in its accession talks. Until 31 October 2026, Turkish, Russian and Saudi citizens can still stay up to 30 days without a visa.

The ministry's country pages list one exemption: holders of a valid Schengen, US, UK or Irish visa, or a residence permit from one of those countries, may stay up to 30 days, but not beyond the visa's expiry. Everyone else applies at a Montenegrin embassy or consulate, or at a VFS Global centre; centres were already open in Turkey, Russia and the UAE in July, and one is planned in Saudi Arabia. So without one of those visas, a December trip to Kotor, Budva or Podgorica starts with a visa application; if you go, our Montenegro data guide covers the rest.

Tbilisi: when and where does the Christmas village open?

Tbilisi lit its main Christmas tree and opened its Christmas village on First Republic Square at 20:00 on 12 December 2025. The village ran until 7 January 2026, and the ice rink and the main tree stayed until 14 January, according to City Hall as reported by Georgia Today. City Hall's plan listed food and craft markets, a Christmas fair, concerts, an ice rink, a funfair, a New Year city train and Santa's House. The city has not announced this season's opening (checked 1 October 2026). Listings also show a New Year market on Orbeliani Square, but they disagree on its dates, so we print none.

Georgia celebrates Christmas on 7 January, a public holiday, as are 1 and 2 January and Epiphany on 19 January.

The UK government's travel advice, updated on 15 September 2026, says demonstrations in Tbilisi focus mainly on the Parliament building on Rustaveli Avenue but can spread, particularly on Saturday evenings, and advises visitors to avoid large gatherings and demonstrations.

Batumi: what happens on Europe Square at New Year?

Batumi held its New Year programme on Europe Square from 20 December 2025 to 7 January 2026: a New Year village with food and trade stalls, children's activities and concerts, a New Year's gala concert, and a closing Christmas concert on 7 January, according to the information portal infobatumi.ge. This season's programme has not been announced.

Belgrade: is there a Christmas market or a New Year concert?

Belgrade's city government organised neither its New Year's Eve concert nor its Serbian New Year concert in 2025–26. In December 2025 Mayor Aleksandar Šapić called both off for security reasons, while promising other events on Republic Square, around the Church of Saint Sava and in Tašmajdan Park (N1). The one New Year's Eve programme announced by late November 2025, according to the daily Danas, was on the Sava Promenada, with a light show on the Kula Beograd tower, a drone show and fireworks. The season before, the city's Beogradska zima (Belgrade Winter) programme had held both concerts on Republic Square.

The city has not said what it will do this season (checked 1 October 2026), so don't plan a trip around a concert on the square. We found no official page for a Belgrade Christmas market with published dates.

Two later dates matter: Orthodox Christmas on 7 January, a public holiday in Serbia, and the Serbian New Year, welcomed on the night of 13 to 14 January.

Is there a Christmas market in Sarajevo?

Yes. Sarajevo's main winter market now runs as Zima na Vilsu (Winter on Vils) by Sarajevo Holiday Market, on Wilson's Promenade (Vilsonovo šetalište). Its fifth edition there, in the event's fifteenth year, opened on 3 December 2025 and ran until early February 2026, with market stalls selling food and souvenirs, an ice rink, a 33-metre Ferris wheel, funfair rides and Santa's Village, according to the organisers' announcement on Klix.ba. It marks Catholic and Orthodox Christmas, Hanukkah and both the Gregorian and the Julian New Year. The 2026–27 dates had not been published by 1 October 2026.

Is there a Christmas market in Skopje?

Last season, yes. The City of Skopje lit its New Year tree and opened a Christmas market on Macedonia Square at 18:00 on 15 December 2025, starting a holiday programme that ran until New Year's Eve, 31 December (Telma). The city presented it as its first continuous holiday programme, and nothing had been announced for 2026–27 by 1 October 2026.

How do you get there, and what should you carry?

Flights from Istanbul

Pegasus's route pages list direct flights from Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen to all five cities, taking about 2 hours 10 minutes to Tbilisi, 2 hours 5 minutes to Batumi, 2 hours to Sarajevo, 1 hour 45 minutes to Belgrade and 1 hour 30 minutes to Skopje (checked 1 October 2026). Check the winter timetable when you book.

Documents and insurance

• Georgia: since 1 January 2026, every tourist must hold health and accident insurance with at least 30,000 Georgian lari (GEL) of cover for the whole stay, arrival and departure days included, from a Georgian or foreign insurer and in Georgian or English, according to Georgia's foreign ministry.
• Serbia: Serbia's foreign ministry counts €50 per day of stay as sufficient funds, shown in cash or on a bank statement, and says border officers may ask for a return ticket, a paid hotel booking and health insurance covering at least €20,000. Turkey's foreign ministry also warns that if you entered Kosovo from another country, you cannot cross from Kosovo straight into Serbia; the route has to be Kosovo, a third country, then Serbia.
• Bosnia and Herzegovina: foreign visitors need at least 150 convertible marks (KM) for each day of the planned stay, or the equivalent in another convertible currency, according to the Bosnian ministry page linked in the table.

Money and cards

Each country has its own currency: the Georgian lari (GEL), the Serbian dinar (RSD), the convertible mark of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BAM, written KM locally) and the Macedonian denar (MKD). Visa and Mastercard cards issued in Russia have not worked abroad since March 2022, and Izvestia's January 2025 list of countries where Mir cards still work includes neither Georgia nor Serbia, so plan on cash or a card issued outside Russia.

Do you need a data plan in Georgia and the Balkans?

Yes, unless your home tariff already includes these countries. None of them is in the EU's roam like at home area, which covers the 27 EU states, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway and, since 1 January 2026, Moldova and Ukraine. Some EU operators sell reduced Western Balkans rates under voluntary commitments (European Commission), so EU readers should check their tariff.

With a Turkish, Russian or Gulf SIM, all four countries count as roaming, priced on your operator's terms. A travel eSIM adds a separate data line beside your usual number, which stays on for calls and bank codes.

For Tbilisi and Batumi, start from the Georgia eSIM; if you add Armenia or Azerbaijan, the Caucasus eSIM lists all three on one plan. For the Balkans there are country plans for Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and North Macedonia, and the Balkans eSIM puts Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey on one plan. Kosovo is not on that list (it needs its own plan), and neither is Georgia, so a trip that pairs Tbilisi with Belgrade takes two plans or the Global eSIM, which lists all four countries; compare the totals on the plan pages.

A long weekend in one city usually fits in a few gigabytes; a week across two or three countries is where 10 GB over 30 days makes sense.

Install the eSIM at home, on Wi-Fi, before you fly: its validity does not start until the eSIM first connects to a supported network at your destination. Turkey is one of the Balkans plan's countries, but the plan is for your trip: if you install it at home in Turkey, keep its line switched off until you land, or it can connect there and use up days of its validity before you leave. The installation guide walks through the steps. Personal hotspot is free on every Horizon plan.

Horizon plans have no throttling.

Short answers

Which countries have visa-free Christmas markets this winter? With a Turkish passport: Georgia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and North Macedonia, so all five cities in this guide. With a Russian passport: Georgia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. With a Saudi passport: Georgia. Montenegro requires a visa from all three from 1 November 2026.

When and where is the Tbilisi Christmas market in 2026? Not announced yet (checked 1 October 2026). Last season the Christmas village on First Republic Square opened on 12 December and ran to 7 January, with the ice rink and the main tree until 14 January.

Is there a Christmas market in Sarajevo? Yes. Zima na Vilsu by Sarajevo Holiday Market, on Wilson's Promenade, ran from 3 December 2025 to early February 2026. Its 2026–27 dates have not been published.

Is there a Christmas market in Skopje? Last season the city opened one on Macedonia Square on 15 December 2025, with a holiday programme until 31 December. Nothing has been announced for 2026–27.

Where can I spend New Year 2027 without a visa? Georgia is the one country open to Turkish, Russian and Saudi passports alike; last season Tbilisi's village and Batumi's Europe Square programme both ran until 7 January.

Can Turkish citizens enter Georgia with an ID card? Yes, with a valid new-type ID card on a direct trip from Turkey, but not to travel on from Georgia to a third country, according to Turkey's foreign ministry. For Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, take your passport.

Update log

• 1 October 2026: published. Visa rules read on official pages that day; event dates are last season's.
• Next checks: 2 November (Montenegro's rule in force; Bosnia after its 4 October elections; Serbia's rule for Russians), early December (Sarajevo, Tbilisi, Skopje and Batumi programmes) and about 20 December (Belgrade's New Year plans).