La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy

Where? Venice, Italy

When? 1st of June - 24th of November

No one really needs an excuse to visit Italy's most romantic city, but here's one anyway. This is the year when the city of gondolas plays host to the great and not-so-great of the international art-world, with country-specific pavilions occupying the Giardini and the Arsenale, and chattering art world types thronging the canal sides.

The Venice Biennale  is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years (in odd years) in Venice, Italy. The Venice Film Festival is part of it. So too is the Venice Biennale of Architecture, which is held in even years. A dance section, the "International Festival of Contemporary Dance", was established in 1999.

For further information: www.labiennale.org