Venice 3-day itinerary

Dating from 1720, world-famous Florian’s is a jewel-box of a café, all mirrors, stuccoes and frescoes. Join the locals perched at the bar rather than pay way over the odds for a table seat where a simple espresso is likely to set you back €10.

With its rose pink-and-white brickwork shimmering on the edge of the lagoon, the Doge’s Palace seems more mirage than monument. While other states fortified their power with forbidding castles, the Venetians showed off their security with this airy, ethereal palace.

The hub of the far-reaching political power of La Serenissima since the 9th century, today it is a testament to the best of Byzantine, Gothic and Renaissance architecture and painting.

Highlights include the arcaded courtyard, the frescoes by Veronese, Tiepolo and Tintoretto in the grand chambers and the collection of armour and weapons in the old Armoury. Tintoretto’s Paradiso is the largest oil painting in the world.

Surely the most exquisite place of worship in Italy, St Mark’s is a cathedral built to satisfy the wildest dreams of the Doges.

Built in the 11th century to house the alleged remains of St Mark, its Byzantine mosaics, Gothic carvings and sumptuous treasures were accumulated during many centuries of Venetian trading and looting.

From the Pala d’Oro (jewel-encrusted altarpiece, made in Costantinopoli in 976) to its wealth of sculptures and magnificent bronze horses rearing over the piazza, its OTT opulence, both inside and out, it is a testament to La Serenissima’s power and might.

Murano became the capital of glass in 1291 thanks to a decree banning all furnaces from Venice proper to avoid fire risk. The island soon became centre for glass-blowing, shipping chandeliers, mirrors, vases and glass tableware across the world. Today, Murano remains a unique place where the skills of centuries are still practised by latter-day artisans.

Watching a top glass-blower is an absorbing sight, from the ferocious heat thrown out by the yellow glow of the furnaces to the balletic genius of the Murano craftsmen as they blow, snip, twist and tug at their fiery blob of liquid to transform it into an exquisite vase or seahorse. Afterwards, you can buy pieces in the showrooms.

Venice is set in the middle of a lagoon joined to the mainland by a manmade causeway and surrounded by water and 39 islands.

Murano is the best-known island thanks to its glass-blowers, and colourful Burano is the subject of many an Instagram shot, but there are others that are worth exploring, especially if you fancy getting away from it all. Each offers a very different atmosphere; some are all but deserted apart from the odd church, and on others, life seems to continue almost oblivious of the tourist madness just across the lagoon. All are accessible via vaporetto from Venice proper.

Of all Venice’s many churches, the huge, barn-like Frari is one of the most art-packed. The Franciscans started on the present Gothic church in 1338 and finished in 1469; it boasts the second-highest bell tower in the city and a severe exterior, but once inside, the quality of the art is extraordinary.

The assault begins as you go in when your eyes are drawn immediately to the High Alter and Titian’s vivid, soaring Assumption. Other works by Titian to look out for include his Madonna di Ca’ Pesaro (1519).

The Sacristy contains one of Giovanni Bellini’s greatest paintings, the Madonna and Child with Saints. To the left of the high alter is the fabulous Reniassance tomb of Doge Niccolò Tron (1473) by Antonio Rizzo.

Although Carnevale falls in February/March, you can learn to make your own Venetian Carnival masks year-round at one of several workshops in the city. Experienced artisans teach the art of papier-maché mask making and decorating in traditional Venetian style. Great for kids and adults alike.