GETAWAY: When Venice is a celebration

If there is one time when Venice's alleys come alive with magic, it is certainly during the period of its carnival. The city with the feet in water, joyfully renowned as the City of Masks, thus attracts more and more tourists. Transported where time seems to have stopped, you will discover Venice accompanied by the songs of street artists and cross paths with many masks such as La Bauta or La Mauretta.

This carnival tradition, perpetuated since the middle Ages, includes the Mary’s Feast and the Flight of the Angel on Saint Mark's Square. Nevertheless, its program goes well beyond the parade of the prettiest girls of the lagoon. Ice rink, competition for the most beautiful mask, concerts and travelling theatres, the festivities open at the beginning of February with a water show on the Cannaregio Canal.

From the windows of your Palazzo Signorile, rented for the holidays, or from the terrace of a café, you can see an infinite parade of masks and costumes, each one more flamboyant than the last. Once the exploration of Venezia is over, the city's traghetti (ferryboat) will take you to the colourful island of Burano or Murano, the Mecca of blown glass.

Finally, if the cold of February stops you from spending Carnival in the City of the Doges, almost at the same time, Rio de Janeiro in Brazil unfolds its range of feathers and colours in a carnival with legendary warmth.