Venice Carnival
Blitz winter blues in Venice with the eight-day February party, the
Carnevale di Venezia, which runs up to Shrove Tuesday. The island city wakes from hibernation with a colourful extravaganza of serenaded gondola tours, balls held in the
Grand Canal palazzi and Venetian baroque music concerts. It’s admission by mask only – the more elaborate the better – to events on central
St Mark’s Square. Here’s the place to see the face-painted revellers parade in fancy dress and try festive pine nut and raisin
frittelle cakes from the food stalls.
Christmas market
Campo Santo Stefano square in the
Dorsodoro district transforms into a festive emporium for the month of December.
Chiesa di Santo Stefano bell tower is the backdrop for alpine-style market stalls selling stocking fillers like Venetian masks and coloured Murano glass trinkets. Warm up with choc- flavoured grappa or fizzy prosecco wine while you stock up on sweet and savoury Italian delicacies from Christmas panetone fruitcake to rich balsamic vinegars. Cross the Grand Canal to the
Rialto Bridge area for gifts of hand-painted ceramics, leather gloves and handmade chocolates.
Venice gallery days
Winter months, minus the summer throng of visitors and ticket queues, give you the space to explore Venice’s galleries. Meet Venetian masterpieces face to face while you stay warm in palatial venues. The warm glow of Titian’s altarpiece painting of the Assumption, is the highlight of the grand
Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari in the San Polo district. Bold- coloured Renaissance treasures by Bellini and Tintoretto hang in the rooms of the former convent at the
Accademia Gallery. Colourful, abstract brushstrokes in Picasso and Kandinsky originals hanging on the whitewashed walls at the contemporary
Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Dorsoduro brighten any grey winter day.
New Year’s Eve celebrations
Restaurants serve banquets of several courses, including lentils and stuffed pigs’ trotters, to kick off a traditional Venetian New Year’s Eve, or
La Festa di San Silvestro. For midnight, head to
St Mark’s Square to see the Venice skyline lit up with fireworks and join thousands of people to exchange celebratory kisses in the annual “kiss- in”. Revive yourself New Year’s Day and join crowds of brave bathers for a cold dip in Venice’s saltwater lagoon on
Lido Beach. Lido is just a short water taxi trip across the lagoon from St Mark’s Square.
Venice mists
Wake up early during your winter break in Venice and see the romantic city softened by the winter mist. The mist creeps in from the
Adriatic Sea, just as it was depicted in Renoir’s painting,
A View of Venice Fog. After seeing the domes of
St Mark’s Basilica breaking through the haze, huddle with a hot chocolate or espresso under the gas-lit heaters on
St Mark’s Square café terraces. Or wrap up warm on a gondola ride through narrow canals, past baroque mansions lit by the low winter sun and under the limestone
Bridge of Sighs.
