Things to do in Venice

Venice is built on wooden piles driven into a lagoon, and everything practical follows from that. There are no cars. Distances that look short on a map are long on foot, because the canals decide the route.

About fifty thousand people live here. The city takes twenty million visitors a year, and eight in the morning and noon are two different cities.

The set pieces, all within the same square kilometre:

• St Mark's Basilica. Byzantine, begun 1063, with gold mosaics covering eight thousand square metres.
• The Doge's Palace. The seat of the republic, and the Bridge of Sighs to the old prison behind it.
• The Grand Canal. Best seen from the water; the gondola is the short version, the vaporetto the cheap one.
• Murano, Burano and Torcello. Glass, painted houses and the oldest church in the lagoon, an hour out by boat.

Water shapes the offer as much as the city does. Gondola rides are sold by the boat and by the half hour, private or shared, and the city sets the price rather than the rower. Guided entry handles the basilica and the palace, both timed and both queued. Island excursions run all day from the Fondamente Nove.

Evenings turn to music. Vivaldi and baroque programmes fill the churches, and that is not a tourist invention — he wrote much of it here.

Practical

• Day-tripper fee. On peak days visitors not staying overnight pay an access charge, booked online. Check the calendar before the date.
• Acqua alta. High water floods St Mark's Square from autumn to early spring. Raised walkways appear; boots are sold everywhere.
• Basilica dress code. Covered shoulders and knees, and no large bags — there is a free left-luggage point nearby.
• Getting around. Vaporetto tickets are expensive singly and reasonable as a day pass. Walking is usually faster.
• Timing. The cruise crowds land mid-morning and leave by five. Early and late are quiet.