Undercover Venice
A raft of films from Don’t Look Now to Woody Allen’s Everyone Says I Love You have tried to capture Venice’s subaquatic soul. Yet it still staggers.
Its maze of interconnecting backstreets, tiny piazzas, cloistered chapels and grand churches effortlessly seduces travellers on weekend breaks in Venice, as it has done for centuries.
As you gaze down on Piazza San Marco (St Mark’s Square) from the Campanile bell tower, you grasp why Napoleon called Venice “Europe’s finest drawing room”. Neat 18th-century cafés, jostling with conversation and fenced in by Romanesque colonnades, line the square.
Beaus still frequent the Rialto district, gazing dreamily at their reflections at dusk in the Grand Canal. In the day there is more bustle, as traders set up their stalls and shout to passers-by, offering cheap imitations of Armani, Laura Biagiotti and Missoni. (On blow-out weekend breaks in Venice, the real versions await in Calle Larga XXII Marzo.)
You cross the Rialto, heading west following the signs for the Santa Maria Gloriosa basilica. You find her in the centre of San Polo, imposing yet plain. But inside, she reveals her true colours...
Afterwards, a drink. A man is propped at the bar. He drains his cup of espresso; the distant whirr of vaporetti is faintly audible. “Prego, prego,” he says, his arm extended, raising the briefest of eyebrows at the waiter.
You decide on something a little stronger. Nothing beats a Bellini in Harry’s Bar – it was Hemingway’s favourite joint after all.
Dream
as your vaporetto shuttles down the Grand Canal. Look over at the Gothic architecture of the Ca’ d’Oro, or House of Gold. But…it’s white? The original gold foil facade now long gone, there is still much to admire: the ogee windows, Oriental pinnacles and marble tracery all whisper of the East.
Gape
at the naked man on a bull. It’s a Marino Marini sculpture, so it’s allowed - but this doesn’t stop visitors’ embarrassed looks in the Peggy Guggenheim museum. From Umberto Boccioni’s futurist sculpture, Dynamism of a Speeding Horse + House, to Jackson Pollack splattered canvasses, art here is alive.
Cultivate
an ear for opera at La Fenice. The theatre has burned down twice (once in 1836 and again in 1996), yet risen from the ashes like the phoenix (fenice). Verdi and Rossini premiered here. Its opera is less elitist and more democratic – the background hum of the street ever-present.
Lewis, systems analyst, NorwichI could agonise over my choice of second favourite city, but I never hesitate over my first. Venice is incomparable for sheer beauty, improbable history and art. Tip: wake early and explore at first light; you'll see a different city
Quick search
Weekend breaks in Venice
Hotels in Venice
Sightseeing and tours
Venice life
3-day Venice blue card (covers most travel)
€34
Panini/tramezzi/pizza slice
€2-3
View from San Giorgio Maggiore bell tower
€3
Tourist visas to Italy
No - Nationals of UK, EU, Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada, Japan
Yes - Nationals of South Africa, India
Guide only – always check with embassies before travel
Travel to Venice
Flights to Venice
| from | duration |
|---|---|
| London | 2h00 |
| Manchester | 4h10* |
| Edinburgh | 4h30* |
*average, including 1 stop
Airports
Marco Polo (VCE)
12km (land), 10km (water) to Venice
Treviso (TSF)
30km to Venice
All figures approximate
Average daily highs °C