Check out the fish market nearby too, housed in 19th century neo-Gothic splendour, and its surrounding Mercato della Frutta, for fruit and vegetables. Even if you’re not buying, the spectacular displays are unmissable.
With 118 islands spread over the lagoon, all linked by pavements and canals, it can be a major task seeing everything you want to see in Venice – and there is always a fascinating side street or byway to catch your attention and take you back in time 500 years. But there are a few sights you must see during your stay in this most romantic of Italian cities. Luckily most are within walking distance.
St Mark’s Square is one. Bustling, and the hub of everything that happens in Venice, this is where visitors from all over the world have congregated for centuries. Make sure you take a trip up the 100-metre high Campanile. This belltower began life in 912AD as a lighthouse, and was rebuilt after collapsing in 1902. Now it’s quite safe and provides fantastic bird’s eye views of Venice.
There is the Basilica of St Mark itself, one of Europe’s most sumptuous and exotic cathedrals. The Doge’s Palace, once the seat of the rulers and government of Venice, is now an extensive art gallery, and sits above the Bridge of Sighs. Here Venetian criminals crossed the canal from the palace’s courts into the city jail.
There are another five sestieri to explore after San Marco, and that’s before you get on a waterbus and head out across the Lagoon to explore the outlying islands of Venice. This hotel in Venice is the ideal starting point for your Venetian adventure – not least because your first trip can be down the Grand Canal, which lies right outside your door.
