Fionn Davenport's travel desk

GET AWAY AT HOME
Italophiles and gardening enthusiasts will delight at two specialist weekends coming up at Renvyle House (renvyle.com) in Connemara. Catherine Fulvio hosts the Italian Flavours Food and Wine Weekend (February 20th-22nd), which includes cooking demonstrations, wine tastings and plenty of food. Two nights' B&B and full participation costs €215 per person sharing. Organic gardening expert Klaus Laitenberger and Kylemore's head gardener Anja Coyne are in charge of the Gardening Weekend (February 27th-March 1st): two nights' B&B, one dinner, gardening sessions and a field trip to Kylemore Victorian walled garden costs €175 per person sharing.

Meanwhile, Limerick's No 1 Pery Square (oneperysquare.com) is offering the Great Georgian Escape, two nights' B&B plus two dinners in the Sash restaurant and a guided walking tour of the city's cultural heritage, with visits to King John's Castle, The Bishop's Palace, the Hunt Museum and St Mary's Cathedral – all for €229 per person. Finally, Sheen Falls Lodge, above, (sheenfallslodge.ie) has a mid-term family break from €600 for two adults and two children that includes two nights' B&B accommodation, one dinner for the adults, complimentary access to the morning Kids' Club and children's tea on both evenings followed by a supervised movie and board games.

WORLD'S BEST LONG-HAUL ECONOMY AIRLINE IS . . .

. . . a tie between Etihad Airlines and Qatar Airways. This is according to travel website skift.com, which has sought to create a ratings system not "clouded by dubious associations and methodologies". Obvious factors such as seat pitch and width, room and comfort, meal and beverage service and onboard amenities from wifi to in-seat power were added to such factors as frequency, destinations and website user experience.

The variety of destinations restricted the number of airlines tested to just 25, including only four European carriers: Air France/KLM, British Airways/Iberia, Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines, the last of which was deemed the best in Europe.
South African Airways pipped Ethiopian Airlines for best in Africa; ANA was best in Asia; and American Airlines was considered the best in North America, though the scores of the four US airlines put them low on the overall list.
See skift.com

VIRGIN IN CHICAGO
Richard Branson has just cut the ribbon on the Virgin Hotel Chicago, the first of 20 planned over the coming years. The hotel is in the 27-storey Old Dearborn Bank Building, a 1928 art deco classic on The Loop near the Magnificent Mile. The building was designated a city landmark in 2003, but it hasn't stopped Virgin from offering guests a glimpse of the future of hotels. There's no check-in desk. Guests check in online via a mobile app called Lucy, retrieve the room key from an automated dispenser and then use the app to control the room settings, including temperature, room service orders and the TV. Rooms from $200 per night; see virginhotels.com

FIVE VENETIAN EXPERIENCES

Europe’s wildest carnival kicks off in Venice today, ushering in two weeks of wanton celebration, with or without masks. Here are five other things to see and do there.

Galleria dell’Accademia

(Campo della Carità, Dorsoduro 1050;

[ gallerieaccademia.org ]

; admission €11)

Virtually all of Venice is an artistic treasure trove, but this one gets an extra nod for being a rich repository of Venetian art from the 14th to the 18th centuries. Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese and Canaletto have starring roles.

A Night at the Opera

(Teatro La Fenice; Campo San Fantin 1965;

[ teatrolafenice.it ]

; tickets from €40)

Ever since it opened in 1792, La Fenice has been one of the world’s great theatres for lyric opera: Verdi premiered Rigoletto and La Traviata here and Stravinsky and Prokofiev composed for the house. Even if you don’t attend an opera, a tour is highly recommended.

Palazzo Ducale

(Piazzetta San Marco 52;

[ palazzoducale.visitmuve.it ]

; admission €16)

Of the cluster of breathtaking buildings on and around St Mark’s, the Doge’s palace is the most impressive. Walk up the Golden Staircase to the grand council hall, where you’ll get a sense of how prosperous Venice once was and how uninhibited its rulers were in letting the world know.

Travel By Boat

The best way to visit the city built on water is from the water. The obvious option is a gondola ride (30 minutes, €80) but the most effective way to get around is by vaporetto (€4-7 each way), which is Venice’s version of a city bus. Water taxis (

[ motoscafivenezia.it ]

or

[ venicewatertaxi.com ]

) are more expensive, but handiest if you’ve got tons of luggage.

Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute

(Campo della Salute 1b;

[ seminariovenezia.it ]

; admission free)

Everybody visits St Mark’s, but not all make it to this equally extraordinary church at the entrance to the Grand Canal. Commissioned by plague survivors after 80,000 Venetians succumbed to the disease in 1630, it is home – amongst other works – to 12 stunning paintings by Titian, who was killed by the plague at the ripe old age of 94.

HISTORIC MARCHES ON A BIKE
Fancy crossing the Alps in Hannibal's steps? Or retracing Napoleon's march to Moscow? Cycle tour company Ride & Seek has tours that follow the routes of some of the most famous marches of history. The 28-day Barcelona to Rome trip (¤8,095) takes cyclists over the Pyrenees, Alps and Apennines just as Hannibal did ; a week costs ¤2,295. The Grande Armée trip traces Napoleon's march from Paris to the Russian capital in 44 days. It costs ¤12,995 or ¤2,295 for a week. Prices include accommodation, meals, guides, transfers and support; airfares, bike hire and insurance are not included. See rideandseek.com