Built in the 15th century and overlooking the Canal Grande (the Grand Canal) and the Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute, a stay at this gorgeous palazzo is like travelling back in time. No expense has been spared and no artsy authentic detail overlooked. If you’re hustle-and-bustled-out, have some downtime at the spa.
Piazza San Marco is packed with intrigue and deserves at least a full afternoon (your Instagram needs a pigeon picture after all), but the Doge’s Palace is the absolute centrepiece. A triumph of Gothic architecture, it includes lavish apartments, institutional chambers and old prisons; it takes you through to the famous Bridge of Sighs (Ponte dei Sospiri), which gave convicts being led to prison their last look at Venice. The view now is of a thousand selfie sticks, but still magnificent.
The Peggy Guggenheim Collection offers a dazzling array of modern painting and sculpture. It's found in her namesake's former home at the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni. The small graveyard is the resting place of Peggy’s dogs: a surreal highlight of any tour.
The famous Libreria Acqua Alta has gondolas, bathtubs and any other large object that might conceivably be called upon to fill with books...on every subject. A wall of battered encyclopaedias sit outside for tourists to climb for a panoramic view, and the owners' army of cats keep watch. You could take a gondola ride in Venice, but why not buy a book out of one.
A 3-minute walk from Piazza San Marco, the best pasta joint in Venice was previously known as Alfredo’s until the death of its beloved patriarch. Pick your pasta, sauce and topping and say "sí" when they ask if you want it al dente (you’re getting it that way anyway, but they’ll respect you for saying so). This is the pasta you came to Italy for.
Venetian nightlife is a highly sophisticated affair, if charmingly indistinguishable from Venetian day-life. Spritz (the classic Venetian aperitif), drinking and nibbling happens in every nook and cranny of the city. All day, every day. When you crave something different, visit Chet Bar in the centre of Campo Santa Margherita, for the punk decor and an unbeatable White Russian.
The centre of counter-culture in Venice, Laboratorio Occupato Morion is home to live music, protests, and performance art. With its rebel reputation for drug-taking, smoking inside and unlicensed alcohol (not to mention permitting squatters), previous attempts by its neighbours in the Castello district to shut it down have never quite stuck. Events are posted almost exclusively through their Facebook page. Long live.
A famously beautiful example of Italo-Byzantine architecture, and with great views of the city from the roof, you’ll want to queue early to visit San Marco. And dress appropriately...or you’ll be fishing through the shame bucket for a smock.
Two Venetian bridges you must (and definitely will) cross are the Rialto and Accademia bridge. Stand and admire the water taxis and gondolas floating in the stretch of water beneath you, the grand buildings surrounding you and the smell of food from the street markets wafting towards you. The view from the Accademia bridge stretches out to the Adriatic Sea.
