National Geographic Traveller (UK)
14 hours in VENICE
8.30AM
BREAKFAST AT PASTICCERIA RIZZARDINI
Step into one of the city’s oldest bars and start the day in style with a cappuccino, plus a fiamma — choux pastry filled with booze-laced custard, one of Venice’s best treats. Chatty owner Paolo Garlato is a fih-generation Venetian who keeps the retro, wood-clad bar authentic, despite it being on the main tourist drag. If it’s Carnevale time, try the frittelle — yeasty doughnuts stued with currants and pine nuts. San Polo 1415
9.30AM
VISIT THE SCUOLA GRANDE DI SAN ROCCO Be there when the doors open and you might have Tintoretto’s masterworks to yourself. In the grandest of Venice’s six confraternity buildings, two sprawling floors are swathed in over 60 of his paintings. Don’t miss the carved figures propping up the seats along the walls. scuolagrandesanrocco.org
10.30AM
WALK THE ZATTERE
Venetians love their daily passeggiata along the Zattere — the ever-sunny stretch of ‘coastline’ that forms the bottom of the centre’s Dorsoduro district, overlooking the Giudecca Canal. Stop at Gelateria Nico for a gianduiotto: a slab of chocolate-hazelnut gelato dunked in a beaker of whipped cream. Follow the water down to the Punta della Dogana art museum, at the mouth of the Grand Canal, for dreamy views, then head around the corner to the Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute (home to a Titian).
12PM
SHOP AT PAOLO OLBI
A short walk away is the workshop of Paolo Olbi, who’s been bookbinding for over 60 years. Pick from his beautiful diaries and notebooks, covered in Venetian motifs (gondolas, lions and Byzantine designs), or go big with a hand-stamped leather photo album or a marbled jewel box. olbi.atspace.com
1PM
LUNCH AT AE BRICOE
This bar, run by three siblings on the buzzy Fondamenta della Misericordia waterfront in the Cannaregio district, is one of the city’s best. Fill up on cicchetti (bitesize portions of cheese-loaded crostini or boiled egg with anchovy) and tramezzini (crustless sandwiches stuffed with things like radicchio and porchetta, or spicy ham and mayo), washed down with local wine. ae-bricoe.business.site
2PM
ADMIRE CHURCH ART
Two of Venice’s loveliest churches are nearby. The hulking Madonna dell’Orto is where Tintoretto is buried, and his paintings are all around, along with work by his son, Domenico. A short walk along some of the city’s quietest waterways is Sant’Alvise, with its astonishing trompe-l’oeil ceiling, featuring swirled Grecian columns and chubby putti (winged infants) hovering in a bright blue sky.
3.30PM
VISIT THE FONDAZIONE QUERINI STAMPALIA AND PALAZZO GRIMANI
See how the other half lived at Palazzo Grimani, a 16th-century mansion that spent most of the 20th century in a semi-derelict state (it’s the spooky murder scene in the 1973 film Don’t Look Now). A museum since 2008, the stuccoed, frescoed, marble-clad rooms have been left atmospherically empty apart from the odd piece of art, including three Tintorettos depicting the Grimani family. Nearby, is the Fondazione Querini Stampalia, a low-key art gallery in another grand palazzo. Bellini’s Presentation at the Temple is its most famous work, but don’t miss the 30 scenes of 18th-century Venetian life by Pietro Longhi. querinistampalia.org polomusealeveneto.beniculturali.it
7PM
ENJOY A TIPPLE IN PIAZZA SAN MARCO
No trip to Venice is complete without a drink in what Napoleon called ‘Europe’s drawing room’. Follow the locals’ lead and drink standing at Quadri, one of the most historic cafes on the square. Or channel Lord Byron and Brangelina by sitting outside, where prices are much higher but you’ll be serenaded by an orchestra as you soak up the views. Alternatively, head to Gran Caffè Chioggia, opposite the Doge’s Palace — less iconic, but sans seating supplements. alajmo.it