About Venice
Built on stilts and forming an archipelago of 117 small islands, Venice reposes on a liquid tapestry of calm canals and lazy lagoons 2,5 miles (4km) from Venice's mainland. The city's luminous quality is glimpsed from gliding gondolas and explored on foot through narrow calli, linked to one another by ornate stone bridges. Painted palazzi, Byzantine basilicas and Baroque domes compete with the dove-flocked piazzas that reach the ultramarine waters.The wealth of Venice is evident in Piazza San Marco and alludes to when the Venetian republic was a dominant mercantile power, trading silks, spices and gemstones carried overland by Bedouin caravans and shipped to Mediterranean ports. Nowadays, modern craft navigate between six ancient sestieri, bearing carefree stowaways to St Mark's Basilica, the Palazzo Ducale and on up the Grand Canal to the Rialto, where palazzi lining unhurried channels display architectural styles spanning five centuries.
Become tempted by Venice's food market below the Rialto Bridge and after having enjoyed a meal head to the shopaholic joys of the Mercerie, which runs between Piazza San Marco and the Rialto Bridge. Perhaps cross the short stretch of water that leads to the glass-making island of Murano and the lace and linen enclave of Burano.
Venice Lido is the largest island here and benefits from an 8 mile (13km) long beach, which at the turn of the 19th century, created a premier resort for international aristocrats. Regular vaporetti, exclusive motor launches and public water buses transport visitor to another world in the time it takes to drink a cappuccino. Venice is a permanent carnival, rejoicing in a masked ball in February that swirls visitors into a sensual atmosphere peopled by gallant heroes and bewitching courtesans.