BAUER PALAZZO, Venice 2-hour 10-minute flight from London
Vesper Lynd sipping a martini with pillar-box red lips in Casino Royale. Gwyneth Paltrow sauntering up side streets with a straw basket at the end of The Talented Mr Ripley. These are the scenes I picture when I imagine Venice, the water-y Italian city known for romance, decadence and, of course, the Bellini. Luckily, the glamorous visions I had are spot on. Seeing Venice for the first time feels like stepping back in time; the moment I arrive in the marble lobby of the Bauer Palazzo, it’s as if I’m starring in an 18th-century film.
The Venetian decor is irresistibly old-fashioned – Murano glass chandeliers, mosaic floors, stucco ceilings and lavish fabrics in reds, golds and greens. Many of the rooms in the 18th-century palazzo – including ours – boast canal views, which means you can fling open the windows and watch gondolas glide by in the morning, or order linguine with clams via room service to eat on the balcony at night. Our room has a marble bathroom so beautiful that it makes me feel like Sophia Loren prepping for a party.
The best thing about the Bauer is its location; it’s two minutes away from the Piazza San Marco (where we climb St Mark’s Campanile bell tower for fantastic views) and perched on the water’s edge. So whether you sip a Negroni cocktail in the canale bar or dine on gnocchi and scallops in the De Pisis restaurant, you’re never far from a view. On the seventh floor, we enjoy croissants and espresso on the highest outdoor terrace in Venice, with seagulls for company.
Another joy of Venice is that you can walk everywhere (if you’re in flats!), so we follow winding streets to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection (for modern art), Gallerie dell’accademia (for classic sculptures) and Cà D’oro alla Vedova. It’s a cosy eaterie with small tumblers of wine for one euro each, heavenly meatballs, copper pots swinging from the ceiling and old wine bottles littered around wooden shelves. It’s the kind of restaurant made for four-hour lunches where you forget to look at your watch. After plates of delicious ragù, we head to the infamous Harry’s Bar for a nightcap.
Some say Paris is the city of love, but Venice, I would argue, really is the city of romance. It’s in the air wherever you look – in the sun glinting off the canals, in the reflection of the gorgeous pastel buildings in the water, in the hum of laughter and conversation that seeps out of merry little wine bars when the sun goes down. It is a place to eat spaghetti and tiramisu, drink Aperol Spritz’s and laugh long and hard with someone you love. And what could be a better reason for a city break than that?
NATASHA LUNN