Venice Carnival 2027: Dates, Costs and Where to Stay

Venice Carnival 2027 is published as 23 January to 9 February, and those days are not equal. The official carnival site says the festival returns from 23 January to 9 February 2027. A news note on the same site, dated 19 October 2026, lists street performances on 23 and 24 January, 30 and 31 January, and 4 to 9 February. The last of those, Tuesday 9 February, is Fat Tuesday and the last day of carnival. If your only free nights are 1, 2 and 3 February, you are inside the overall dates and outside the published street-show list.

For a longer Italian route, see 10 days in Italy and its written version, Rome, Florence and Venice. 3 days in Rome fits if carnival is a long weekend added to a stay in the capital, not the whole trip.

Venice Carnival 2027: the dates that are published

Treat three calendars as separate.

The span, 23 January through 9 February 2027, is the line on the official programme page. It tells you the festival is on. It does not tell you that a square will be full of performers on a Wednesday in the middle.

The street-show dates are the narrower list in the 19 October 2026 casting call: 23-24 January, 30-31 January, and 4-9 February. That call asked artists to apply by 20 November 2026, with answers expected by 23 December 2026, "unless the programme is updated". The windows are official. The lineup can still move. Recheck the carnival site in December and again in January before you plan an evening around a particular campo.

The paid dinner show is a third calendar. At Ca' Vendramin Calergi, the English page lists public nights on Saturday 30 January, Sunday 31 January, and then from Fat Thursday 4 February through Fat Tuesday 9 February, each starting at 21:00. The same page lists 1, 2 and 3 February as corporate exclusive nights, which is a different product from a ticket you buy as a visitor. Rates start at 650 euros. The dress code is period costume. Evening dress and a tuxedo are not accepted. Tickets are sold online and, the page says, at Venezia Unica points including San Marco, Rialto, the station, Piazzale Roma and Marco Polo airport, with ticketing@velaspa.com for questions. This is the one carnival cost with an official floor. It is optional. The streets do not charge it.

Photo: Martin Falbisoner / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

What you pay if you skip the dinner show

Walking around in a mask, or without one, is free. You do not need a costume to stand in Piazza San Marco. You need one only if you bought the dinner show. A mask that blocks your side view is a bad idea on a bridge in a crowd. Buy one if you want the photograph, and take it off when you are walking.

The access fee does not apply to this festival. On 15 October 2026 the city approved 72 days for 2027, from Good Friday 26 March through 15 August, at 8:30 to 16:30, with the charge capped at 10 euros and the exact amount, exemptions and booking portal left to later acts. The fee site said those operating rules were due by 31 December 2026. None of the approved days fall in January or February. If the Italy trip continues past 26 March, the fee starts then. It does not start during carnival.

Vaporetto fares on the AVM visitor page are the transport number you can use now. A standard 75-minute ticket is 9.50 euros. A 24-hour pass is 25 euros, 48 hours 35 euros, 72 hours 45 euros, and 7 days 65 euros. Validate before you board. Marco Polo airport boats are not included in those passes. Three separate 75-minute rides cost more than the day pass, so buy the pass if you will cross the Grand Canal by boat more than twice in a day. Line 1 is the slow scenic service and the one that fills up. You still validate. A 2027 carnival surcharge on these tickets was not in the fare table checked here.

Water taxis are a separate per-ride purchase, and this check found no official 2027 tariff to quote. Use one if the bag will not survive the bridges. Wheels and stepped bridges are what ruin the first hour.

Hotel prices are not official and are not quoted here. Rooms tend to go in a predictable order: the last weekend, Saturday 6 February through Tuesday 9 February, sits inside the densest street-show block and ends on Fat Tuesday. Book that room before you book a 650-euro dinner. A dinner you can decline is less scarce than a bed you can walk to.

Photo: Didier Descouens / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Where to stay, by how you arrive

Everyone historic-centre bound arrives at Santa Lucia station or Piazzale Roma. There is no car drop-off at the door of a San Marco hotel. The first decision is whether you cross the city with the bag or sleep near the point you entered.

San Marco. Closest to the square where the costumes gather. Noisiest, hardest with luggage, and the least restful if your room faces a calle that stays loud until late. Choose it only if the square at night is the reason you came and you are willing to arrive by water taxi or to walk the bag once, early in the day.

Cannaregio. The station side. You can be in the room before you have crossed the Rialto. The walk to San Marco is a real walk, pleasant once the bag is dropped, long if you try it on arrival at noon. Fondamente Nove and the back canals are the quiet evening. This is the practical base for a first visit in carnival week.

Dorsoduro. Accademia, the Zattere and Campo Santa Margherita. One bridge district away from San Marco, or one vaporetto stop, and a better night's sleep than a room over the square. The art museums are here if you want a roof on a day when the streets are too full. Check each museum's own hours; carnival does not automatically extend them.

Eastern Castello and Giudecca. Castello gets quieter toward Sant'Elena, and every costume outing is a walk or a boat back. Giudecca starts every outing with a vaporetto, which is fine on a day pass and a poor idea without one. Luggage day on Giudecca is a boat day.

Mestre. The mainland stop when the historic centre is full. A short train brings you to Santa Lucia. You will not hear the crowd at midnight. Sleep there, spend the street-show days in the centre, and do not leave Fat Tuesday night to a last train you have not checked.

Once you know you want 4 to 9 February, book the room. The artist list can still move. The bed will not wait for that PDF.

Three days inside a street-show block

This shape fits a stay that lands on the published performance dates, for example arriving Saturday 6 February and leaving Tuesday 9 February morning, or staying through Fat Tuesday night and dropping the Giudecca hour. It is not a script for 1 to 3 February, when the street list is empty. Move the blocks in RoamerPlanner if a tide alert or a sold-out vaporetto stop deletes an afternoon. The dinner show, if you bought it, replaces that night's stop and requires the costume. Do not also promise yourself a long walk after a 21:00 seating.

Day 1, arrival. Morning at Santa Lucia station. Drop the bag in Cannaregio before you do anything else. Afternoon on a Cannaregio walk: the Ghetto, or the fondamente away from Strada Nova, not a march to the square with a suitcase. Evening stays on those Cannaregio fondamente, and San Marco waits until morning. Campo Santa Margherita is the alternative only if the room is in Dorsoduro. The first night is for arriving intact.

Day 2, the square. Morning in Piazza San Marco, early, before the day-trip boats have emptied. You are there to look, not to hold a spot for a show that has not posted a start time. Afternoon at the Rialto Bridge. The bridge is there every day. The market halls often shut on Sunday and Monday, so do not plan a market lunch on those days without checking the stall. Evening at Campo San Polo, which is a real square in San Polo where you can eat away from the densest costume press. If you hold dinner-show tickets, this evening is Ca' Vendramin Calergi instead, at 21:00, in costume, and the campo can wait.

Day 3, the other bank. Morning at the Accademia Bridge and a Dorsoduro walk while the light is still useful. Afternoon on the vaporetto to Giudecca (Zitelle or Palanca) and a walk along the water, then back on the same pass. Evening on the Zattere if you want a last quiet hour, or back in San Marco if this date is inside 4 to 9 February and you want the crowd once more. On Fat Tuesday, 9 February, make the evening San Marco and do Giudecca in the afternoon. It is the last published street-show day.

Check the city tide bulletin the morning you go out. Acqua alta is not reserved for November, even if that month is the one people name. If the sirens go, use the raised walkways. A flooded calle is a wet floor, not a backdrop, and it is worse with a suitcase you should already have left at the room.

Short answers

What are the Venice Carnival 2027 dates? 23 January to 9 February 2027 on the official site. Street performances are listed for 23-24 January, 30-31 January and 4-9 February. Fat Tuesday is 9 February.

Does the access fee apply? Not on the calendar approved on 15 October 2026. That calendar runs from 26 March to 15 August 2027, 8:30 to 16:30, with the exact fee (maximum 10 euros) and exemptions still to be set. Carnival days are not on the list.

How much is the official dinner show? From 650 euros, at 21:00, at Ca' Vendramin Calergi, on the public dates listed above. Period costume is required.

Where should you stay? Near Santa Lucia in Cannaregio if arrival with luggage is the hard part. In Dorsoduro if you want to be close but not on the square. In San Marco only if the night noise is acceptable. In Mestre if the centre is full.

Sources

Carnevale di Venezia official programme page (2027 returns 23 January to 9 February). Carnevale di Venezia news, 19 October 2026 (street-show dates 23-24 January, 30-31 January, 4-9 February; applications to 20 November 2026; replies by 23 December 2026 unless the programme is updated). Official dinner-show page (Ca' Vendramin Calergi; public nights 30-31 January and 4-9 February 2027 from 21:00; from 650 euros; period costume required; 1-3 February listed as corporate nights). Comune di Venezia, 15 October 2026 (2027 access-fee calendar, 72 days, 26 March to 15 August, 8:30-16:30, maximum 10 euros, later acts still due). cda.ve.it (same dates; 2027 FAQ not yet published; methods expected by 31 December 2026). AVM/ACTV visitor vaporetto page (75 minutes 9.50 euros; 24 hours 25 euros; 48 hours 35 euros; 72 hours 45 euros; 7 days 65 euros; airport boats excluded). Hotel rates and any 2027 water-taxi tariff were not officially confirmed in this check. Checked 24 October 2026.

Cover photo: Jorge Royan / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0