Venice

Venice needs no introduction, which is exactly why it is so easy to get wrong. Beyond the crowds of St Mark's is a city of private palazzi, quiet campi and candlelit canals, set in a lagoon full of islands: Giudecca just across the water, the Lido's long beach, Murano's glass furnaces, Burano's painted houses and the near-silent calm of Torcello. Guests landing at Marco Polo can step onto a private water taxi and be delivered to their hotel's own landing stage in around half an hour, which rather sets the tone.

For planners, Venice rewards small and mid-sized groups. Bridges, narrow lanes and boat-only logistics make it ideal for an intimate dinner in a palazzo on the Grand Canal and less so for a cast of hundreds; larger conferences tend to base themselves on Giudecca, where a converted flour mill holds the city's biggest hotel conference space, or out on the Lido. Fill the days with private boats across the lagoon and a morning at a Murano furnace, add a curated walk through the Biennale, and book Carnival early. Everyone else has the same idea.