How to Plan a Trip to the Venice International Film Festival

First held in 1932, the Venice International Film Festival holds a long tradition of excellence in film and is the oldest film festival in the world. For a film lover, it doesn't get much better than enjoying films from around the world in the company of other film lovers all while surrounded by the magic of Venice.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Passport
• Love of film

1. Determine when the Venice International Film Festival is being held. The information can be found at their official Web site or at film festival databases online.

2. Coordinate any flight, train, hotel, car or boat arrangements you may need. You may want to include Venice and the film festival as part of a larger European vacation. Look at all your options and decide what best fits your schedule and budget.

3. Pull out your passport and make sure it's up-to-date. Last thing you want is to get to the airport only to find that you can't leave or re-enter the country.

4. Buy advance screening tickets. You can buy tickets to individual screenings, passes for certain combinations of events and all-access passes for certain theaters. For all of the options and for information about the films, visit the Venice International Film Festival's website.

5. Find a good Venice travel guide. You can't be in Venice and not see Venice. You should plan on exploring the historic city while you're there.

6. Learn some Italian. Locals always appreciate it when you can speak some of the language-even if it's only a few words. Buy a phrase book or try a language program and see how much you can pick up.

Tips & Warnings

• The number of ferry services in Venice increase during the festival to meet the demand of festival-goers and tourists.