Category: Blog

The first time an American guest looks down at a scrap of paper with their hotel address — something like

1. The Horses on the Facade Aren’t the Real OnesThe four bronze horses above the main entrance are what everyone

I’ve walked American visitors past these three symbols hundreds of times, and I’ve noticed something: most people see them without

Most visitors leave Venice having seen St. Mark’s, ridden a gondola down the Grand Canal, and photographed the Bridge of

1. The patron saint smuggled home in a barrel of porkEvery great city needs a patron saint, and in the

Most visitors’ first encounter with a Venice water taxi is standing at the airport with their bags, slightly overwhelmed, watching

I’ve walked the Ghetto with hundreds of visitors over the years, and it never fails — even people who’ve read

1. The Twin Doorways of Scuola Grande di San MarcoNow the entrance to Venice’s civil hospital, this Renaissance facade hides

Venice has more than a hundred campanili — bell towers — rising out of the rooftops, and after thirty years

You don’t need a reservation to experience some of Venice’s grandest interiors. Several of the city’s historic hotels occupy genuine

Venice doesn’t have grand boulevards lined with monuments the way Paris or Rome does — there simply isn’t room. Instead,

Ask most visitors to picture Venice and they’ll see canals, gondolas, maybe a mask shop. Few picture Fendi, Cartier, and

Venice’s history spans roughly 1,100 years as an independent republic, and in that time thousands of doges, merchants, artists, and

Venice has somewhere north of four hundred bridges, and I’ve written elsewhere about what that number really means for the

After nearly thirty years of walking this city with visitors from every corner of the world, I still get asked

I’ve already written the practical case for a July trip — the access fee windows, the heat management, the crowd

Here’s what most people don’t realize about the Venice Film Festival: you don’t need a ticket, an invitation, or a

Most visitors watching a gondolier glide past assume they’re seeing a performance for tourists. What they’re actually watching is the

If you only have one day for the Biennale, here’s exactly how I’d structure it — a realistic hour-by-hour route