Luxury hotels in Venice

Venice guide

Venice: St. Mark's and the Grand Canal

The basilica before the crowds, a private boat on the canals and the day-tripper fee to know about.

St. Mark's Square, with its Byzantine basilica and the Doge's Palace, is Venice's most cited sight; go early, or book an after-hours visit to the basilica. A private water taxi or gondola along the Grand Canal, past the Rialto Bridge, is the other essential experience.

On certain peak days, day visitors pay an access fee, while hotel guests are exempt and register online. The islands of Murano, Burano and Torcello, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection and the Biennale complete a stay, and spring and autumn are the best seasons.

Murano, Burano and Torcello

The islands of the Venetian lagoon are the most cited excursion from Venice: Murano, where glassmakers have worked since the thirteenth century, Burano, with its brightly painted houses and lace tradition, and Torcello, whose cathedral has Byzantine mosaics from the eleventh century.

A private boat lets you visit a glass furnace before the groups arrive, lunch at one of Burano's or Torcello's celebrated trattorie and return at sunset across the lagoon. Mazzorbo, linked to Burano by a bridge, has a walled vineyard.

The Doge's Palace and the Secret Itineraries

The Doge's Palace, seat of the Venetian Republic for centuries, is one of Venice's most cited sights: the Hall of the Great Council holds Tintoretto's Paradise, one of the largest oil paintings in the world, and the Bridge of Sighs leads to the prisons.

The Secret Itineraries tour, in small groups, reveals hidden offices, the torture chamber and the cell from which Casanova escaped. Booking a timed entry or the guided tour in advance avoids the long queues on Piazza San Marco.