Venice

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Why go now?

The crowds of tourists who fill Venice every summer have abated, as have the temperatures. Design buffs can visit the 11th Biennale Architecture Exhibition (00 39 041 521 8711; labiennale.org), which runs until 23 November in the Arsenale and Giardini Pubblici. This year's theme, 'Out There: Architecture Beyond Building', features highly regarded international names such as Zaha Hadid and Frank Gehry. Open 10am-6pm daily, admission €15 (£12.50).

Touch down

Venice's Marco Polo airport is on the mainland, about 12km from the city. BMI (08706 070 555; flybmi.co.uk) flies from Heathrow, easyJet (0905 821 0905; easyjet.com) from Belfast, Bristol, East Midlands and Gatwick, and British Airways (0844 493 0787; ba.com) also from Gatwick. The most pleasant way to get into the city is by waterbus – nothing quite compares with that first view of Venice as you cross the lagoon. Alilaguna (alilaguna.it) operates a regular service from the airport to the Piazza San Marco (1), taking just over an hour and costing €12 (£10) one way. A water taxi will set you back about €90 (£75). A speedier, if less romantic choice is the blue ATVO (atvo.it) bus, which departs from outside the terminal every 20 minutes (€3/£2.50) or the slower yellow ACTV bus 5 (€2.50/£2 one-way). Both will leave you at the Piazzale Roma (2) on the edge of the city.

Get your bearings

Often likened to a fish hooked by a line from the mainland, the "island" of Venice is a mosaic of 117 smaller islets linked by bridges and criss-crossed by canals, small streets and alleyways. The city is divided in six districts or sestieri and split in two by the Grand Canal. This creates a giant jigsaw with San Marco, Cannaregio and Castello on one side and San Polo, Santa Croce and Dorsoduro on the other. Most of the city is best explored on foot, although waterbuses and traghetti across the Grand Canal come in handy, too.

Venice's only square, the Piazza San Marco (1), is dominated by the Campanile, the Byzantine splendour of the Basilica San Marco (3) and the Palazzo Ducale (Doge's Palace) (4). This is the city's tourist epicentre – the further you move from here, the more likely you are to find the few remaining pockets of local Venetian life.

The two most convenient tourist offices (00 39 041 529 8711; turismovenezia.it) are at Piazza San Marco 71/F 9, which opens 9am-3.30pm daily and the Venice Pavilion (5), open 10am-6pm daily.

Check in

Overlooking the Grand Canal opposite Rialto, Ca'Sagredo Hotel (6) at Campo Santa Sofia 4198 (00 39 041 241 3111; casagredohotel.com) is one of the city's newest additions, housed in a 15th-century palazzo. Doubles from €240 (£200) including breakfast. Further along, the recently renovated Palazzo Stern (7) (00 39 041 277 0869; palazzostern.com) has canal views and double rooms from €200 (£167) including breakfast. Novecento (8) at Calle del Dose 2683, Campo San Maurizio (00 39 041 241 3765; novecento.biz), is a nine-room hotel dotted with antiques that evokes the spirit of fabric designer and erstwhile Venetian resident Mariano Fortuny. Doubles from €140 (£117), including breakfast.

Take a View

Hop on to the No 2 waterbus at San Zaccaria (9) and cross the Guidecca canal to the monastic island of San Giorgio Maggiore (10) (00 39 041 522 7827). Architect Andrea Palladio, whose 500th birthday is celebrated this year, designed its church, cloister and refectory. From on top of its campanile you can gaze down over Venice and the lagoon. It opens 10am-12.30pm and 2.30-5.30pm daily, admission €3 (£2.50).

Take a hike

Start at the Ponte della Paglia (11) with its views of the Bridge of Sighs, pass the Palazzo Ducale (4) and bear right into Piazza San Marco (1). Stop to admire the columns of San Marco and San Teodoro on your left – the original seafaring gates to the city. Cross the square and bear right after the basilica (3) then turning left into Merceria dell Orologio until you reach the church of San Zulian (12). Bear right before the church and continue straight until you cross a bridge and reach the Campo di Santa Maria Formosa (13) with its unusual church sporting two façades. Cross the square and continue along Calle de Borgoloco to the small Campo Santa Marina (14). Take the next right down an alleyway, cross the bridge and then bear left into the Calle Castelli. You will soon arrive at the exquisite, early Renaissance church Santa Maria dei Miracoli (15). Skirt around the church into Campo Santa Maria Nuova (16), turn left into Salizzada San Canciano and bear left again along Calle San Giovanni Crisostomo. On your right is the main post office (17), the Fondaco dei Tedeschi – so-called because it originally played host to German traders. Cross the arcaded courtyard and you emerge on to the waterfront at the foot of the Rialto Bridge (18). Climb the steps and look down over the Grand Canal.

Window shopping

The most colourful retail feast for the eye (and stomach) is the Rialto market (19), held every day except Sundays. Here you can pick your way through the fish and vegetable stalls, as well as the various shops that populate its fringes. Stop at the Casa del Parmigiano (20) at Erberia Rialto, San Polo 214 (00 39 041 520 6525) for some delicious souvenirs.

Lunch on the run

The tiny hole-in-the-wall bar, Al Merca (21) at Campo Cesare Battisti, San Polo 213, is an obligatory midday stop for any self-respecting Rialto regular. Order the Venetian tipple of a "spritz" – Aperol, white wine or prosecco and soda – and as many bite-sized panini as you can manage and take your booty out to enjoy in the square.

Cultural afternoon

The fabulous Gothic confection of the Palazzo Ducale (4) (00 39 041 271 5911; museiciviciveneziani.it) was the seat of the powerful Venetian republic and also home to the Doge. It opens 9am-5pm daily (to 7pm Apr-Oct), €12 (£10).

An Aperitif

Cicheti are a Venetian version of tapas, washed down by a glass of wine known as an ombra (shadow). You will find the charming shop-cum-wine bar Cantinone Gia Schiavi (22), Dorsoduro 992 (00 39 041 523 0034), perching by the pretty San Trovaso canal. A glass of wine costs just over a euro (85p) and can be accompanied by tasty crostini topped with creamy salted cod called baccala mantecato. Open 8.30am-8.30pm daily except Sunday.

Dining with the locals

Trattoria Antiche Carampane (23) is tucked down a confusing series of alleyways near Rialto at San Polo 1911 (00 39 041 524 0165; antichecarampane.com). Seafood features heavily, including the local dish of deep-fried soft-shell crabs: moeche.

La Bitta (24) at Dorsoduro 2753a, Calle Lunga San Barnaba (00 39 041 523 0531), is an intimate osteria run by a husband and wife team. Expect the likes of gnocchi with Treviso radicchio or roast ham instead.

Sunday morning: go to church

There is a quiet, isolated feel to the 16th-century church of San Sebastiano (25) (00 39 041 275 0462; chorusvenezia.org) in Dorsoduro, making what lies behind its simple façade even more surprising: a dazzling cycle of frescoes by Paolo Veronese, whose tomb is also in the church. Sunday Mass: 11am.

Out to Brunch

Order a pricey cappuccino and feast your eyes on the lavish frescoed and velvet-clad salons of the Caffè Florian (26) (00 39 041 520 5641; caffeflorian.com) on Piazza San Marco. It has hosted Venetian café society since it opened in 1720 and was the haunt of literary greats such as Byron and Proust.

Take a ride

Vaporetti numbers 1 and 2 offer the best views of the opulent palazzi lining the entire Grand Canal. Admire the Ca' d'Oro (27), a textbook example of a Venetian Gothic palazzo, while the Baroque splendour of the Basilica of Santa Maria della Salute (28), built to commemorate the end of a plague in 1630, is another breathtaking sight.

Write a postcard

Seek inspiration at the one-time home of poet Robert Browning and his son Pen, Ca' Rezzonico (29) at Fondamenta Rezzonico, Dorsoduro 3136 (00 39 041 241 01 00; museiciviciveneziani.it), is one of the city's most opulent and best-preserved Grand Canal-side baroque palaces. It evokes the lavish lifestyle of 18th-century Venice through its frescoes, paintings, furniture and enormous ballroom. It opens 10am-5pm (to 6pm in summer), €6.50 (£5.40).

Icing on the cake

The fourth bridge over the Grand Canal – the Ponte della Costituzione – which opened last month, is one of the city's most talked about contemporary landmarks. This 90m-long glass bridge links Piazzale Roma (2) with the Santa Lucia train station (30) and has been mired in overspending and controversy throughout its lengthy construction.

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