Taiwan Travel Package - Visiting the Venice Carnival

Especially with the following useful information in hand, visiting the Carnival of Venice is easier than you might think! Parties and of course Venice's spectacular city attractions, balls, events, venetian Masks, hundreds of thousands of tourists come to Venice during the Carnival to enjoy the amazing costumes. There are many carnivals celebrated all over the world but the Carnival of Venice is one of the best known and most visited of them all.

When is the Carnival of Venice?

The Venice Carnival is an annual festival that's taken place every year since it was reborn in 1979 though historically the Carnival of Venice is hundreds of years old.

In 2011 the Carnival of Venice will be from Saturday 26 February until Tuesday 8 March but you can work out future years by knowing that it begins on a Friday or Saturday and runs for one and a half weeks until ending on Mardi Gras (or Fat) Tuesday. Depending on when Lent falls, the actual dates of the Venice Carnival are dictated by the religious calendar, like many carnivals around the world.

Getting to the Carnival of Venice

If you're planning to come along to the Carnival of Venice you should book your travel arrangements and accommodation as early as possible. The city of Venice is in high demand with tourists whatever the time of year but the peak summer season and the Venice Carnival season are the most popular times.

From the airport you can take a water taxi to the historic centre of Venice and arrive in style! The Treviso Airport is good for cheaper flights to Venice but unless you want a longer transfer time you'd be better off booking a flight to Venice's Marco Polo Airport instead. And the Treviso Airport, there are two airports that serve the Venice area - the Venice Marco Polo Airport.

Where to Stay in Venice

The centre of Venice is the most expensive place to stay and is over budget for many visitors to the Venice Carnival, however. Staying in the heart of historic Venice puts you right in the middle of all the action giving you easy access to those events and all of Venice's other attractions. During the Venice Carnival the streets of Venice are even more vibrant than the rest of the year and there's always something going on!

You could also consider staying on the Mainland (Terreferma) as prices of hotels are considerably cheaper here and it's easy to get over to the heart of Venice via boats and the bridge that connects the centre of Venice to the mainland.

Called vaporetti, and these are connected to central Venice via water buses, and Burano to name just a few, murano, another option is the outlying islands of the Venetian Lagoon such as the Lido.

Venice Carnival Events

And of course the famous masked balls, competitions, fireworks, children's events, parties, numerous events take place across the course of the one and a half week long Venice Carnival including performances! With Venice's reputation for being such an expensive city it's reassuring to know that the majority of events at the Carnival of Venice are actually free!

Most of the events that take place within the streets and squares of Venice are free to attend and you can pick up a calendar of events from the Venice tourist information centres at the beginning of your stay in Venice or check the posted schedules each day in places like St Mark's Square.

And to really look the part you'll need to splash out on buying or renting a costume and of course a mask, demand is high for these events even though ticket prices can be very high! If you want to get along to one of Venice's famous masked balls then you'll need to spend some money to do so!

Venice Carnival Opening and Closing Parties

Definitely one of the highlights of the Venice Carnival for many visitors, and the night ends with a spectacular fireworks show, the Grand Opening Party will take place on the first Sunday of the Carnival of Venice! Attracting thousands of people into the huge St Mark's Square, the opening and closing parties are usually the most popular events each year of the Venice Carnival.