Venice

Italy

Things to do in Venice:

View the Gallery San Marco Square

Venice Restaurants

Cheap (42)

Osteria alle Botteghe

This little trattoria off Campo San Stefano offers Venetian and other dishes and good-value daily set menus. read more
Affordable (43)

Osteria Bea Vita

With its especially tasty lunch menus, this reliable trattoria is becoming ever more popular. read more
Good quality (38)

Mistr�

This old favourite has moved to cosy new premises just off the waterfront, by the Zitelle boat stop, where it's still serving Ligurian and Venetian dishes with an emphasis on fresh fish. read more

Venice Nightlife

Chilled (37)

Laguna Bar

Next door to the Gesuati Church, with a view over the Giudecca Canal, this is a prime spot in which to savour a sundowner. read more
Live Music (37)

Ancora

This attractive piano bar with a view of the Grand Canal in the market area of Rialto has live music and DJs nightly until 2am. read more
Clubbing (39)

Al Timon

Not a huge nightclub, but popular nevertheless due to its canalside location - you can sit inside or outside. Open till 2am. read more

This Month in Venice (March):

By Roderick Conway Morris

Shopping: Signor Blum sells hand-crafted wooden toys, mobiles, clocks and panels with charming Venetian and lagoon scenes (2840 Campo San Barnaba, Dorsoduro).

Sightseeing: The latest special show at the Correr Museum in Piazza San Marco features over 100 charming and amusing, previously unpublished drawings and paintings of the city and the lively social life found here in the 19th century (museiciviciveneziani.it).

Key areas: The kilometre-long quayside along the northern edge of the city, the Fondamente Nove, was completed in the late 16th century. The Jesuits built the Gesuiti church here in 1715. It has the most amazing trompe l'oeil marble and stucco work imitating heavy damask drapes and even a rucked carpet on the altar steps.

Day trips: Ignore the touts around Piazza San Marco offering trips to Murano and make your own way to Venice's ancient glass-blowing island by vaporetto - a 15-minute trip. The Museo del Vetro (Glass Museum) is well worth a visit.

Venice News & Gossip

Nicknames Made Legal in Small Town Near Venice

Visitors to Chioggia, about an hour out of Venice, might find it a little confusing if they try to get to know some of the people that live in this picturesque village. Of the 52,000 inhabitants, 8,000 have the surname Boscolo, and 5,000 Tiozzo. Authorities have just passed a law that allows local nicknames, which commonly include "mad" and "peasant", to be used to tell families apart, including on official documents.

Venice Trivia

March: The Venetian year used to begin on 1 March - the month in which the city was founded, as legend would have it, in 421.
February: The world's first state-licensed casino was opened in Venice in 1638, near Piazza San Marco. Games of Chance could be played during the Carnival season, which, by the 18th century, lasted six months of the year.
January: Opera was confined to royal courts until the first public opera house opened in Venice in 1637. By the end of the 17th century there were 16 theatres in the city and 388 operas had been staged.