What to do in Venice

Of course there’s the city’s highlights reel – and it’s iconic for a reason – but why not mix it up a little? We’re talking St Mark’s after-hours when the gold mosaics shimmer in the sun, and the Secret Itineraries at the Doge's Palace, that will take you deep into the old prisons. From there, walk the bohemian Dorsoduro and watch gondolas being built by hand, just as they were five centuries ago, then duck into a Santa Croce textile workshop to see the looms that have been turning for almost as long. Let an art historian guide you through Tintoretto at the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, then settle into the bacari around Rialto for cicchetti and ombre – the perfect ritual of small bites and wine. A gondola trip is always worthwhile, of course, but also try voga alla veneta, the standing-up Venetian row, then sail across the lagoon at sunset to Murano, Burano, or the Venissa wine resort.

Venice Lagoon at Golden Hour, by Boat

A wooden boat does what a gondola can't: it leaves the canals behind entirely and heads out onto the open lagoon, where the water has room to catch fire at dusk. You'll pass San Giorgio Maggiore reduced to a black cut-out against the orange and the domes of the Salute going pink, the city thinning to silhouette behind you. A glass of wine in hand, you've far more room than a gondola allows — enough to turn round and actually look. The light does the heavy lifting; the boat just gets you the best seat for it.