Luxury things to do in Venice
The Doge's Palace and Ca' Rezzonico, dinner at Quadri and Glam, lunch on Burano.
This is Venice for people who want the real version: the seafood lunch every serious food traveller talks about, dinners worth the flight alone, and a Burano morning before the day-trippers arrive. It suits anyone who prefers a palazzo bar to a spritz in a campo and has no interest in choosing between the Doge's Palace and a proper tasting menu.
Day 1: San Polo, San Marco, the big table
Coffee at Caffè del Doge, Palazzo Fortuny, seafood at Carampane, the Doge's Palace, then Quadri on Piazza San Marco and the Gritti's canal terrace.
- 9:30 AM
Caffè del Doge
Venice's best specialty coffee roaster, right in San Polo, the ideal first stop out the door.
Map - 10:15 AM
Museo Fortuny
Museo Fortuny: the great designer's Gothic palazzo-studio, hauntingly atmospheric.
Map - 12:30 PM
Trattoria Antiche Carampane
A hard-to-find San Polo trattoria for lagoon seafood; order the fried moeche or the spider crab in season.
Map - 2:30 PM
Doge's Palace
Doge's Palace: the grandest monument in Venice, unmissable on day one, a short walk south from lunch.
Map - 7:30 PM
- 9:30 PM
The Gritti Terrace
The Gritti Terrace: legendary Grand Canal terrace bar, the city's most glamorous nightcap, close-in by water taxi.
Map
Day 2: Frari, Ca' Rezzonico, Glam
The Frari's Titians, lunch at Anice Stellato, Ca' Rezzonico's palace rooms, then Enrico Bartolini's Glam on the Grand Canal and a drink at la sete.
- 9:30 AM
Panificio Crosera
A neighbourhood bakery by San Canciano; get a warm pastry or a slice of focaccia to eat walking.
Map - 10:30 AM
Basilica S.Maria Gloriosa dei Frari
Venice's greatest Gothic church: Titian's Assumption altarpiece and Bellini's triptych are unmissable.
Map - 12:30 PM
Osteria Anice Stellato
A canal-side Cannaregio osteria on Fondamenta de la Sensa; start with the cicchetti, then the fish of the day.
Map - 2:30 PM
Ca' Rezzonico
Ca' Rezzonico: the grandest 18th-century palazzo on the Grand Canal, full of Tiepolo frescoes and Venetian rococo excess.
Map - 7:30 PM
Glam Enrico Bartolini
Donato Ascani's tasting menu in Palazzo Venart's garden rooms on the Grand Canal; lagoon fish, cooked precisely.
Map - 9:30 PM
la sete
La Sete is a buzzy Cannaregio wine bar, perfect for a final glass of natural wine steps from the hotel, well before midnight.
Map
Day 3: Burano: lace, risotto, the whole island
Take the early ferry, browse the island's finest lace atelier, step into the Lace Museum, and sit down to the risotto di gò at Al Gatto Nero before the crowds find the dock.
- 9:30 AM
Dalla Lidia Merletti D'Arte
Start the morning browsing Burano's finest lace atelier, the island's most storied craft shop, perfect with a coffee in hand from a nearby bar.
Map - 10:30 AM
Lace Museum
Burano's lacemaking school turned museum, with pieces back to the 1500s; closed Mondays.
Map - 12:30 PM
Trattoria Al Gatto Nero
Acclaimed lunch, Al Gatto Nero is Burano's most celebrated table and the heart of the day; don't skip the risotto di gò.
Map
Where to stay
Orient Express Venezia
Orient Express Venezia sits within easy reach of San Polo and San Marco, and its name alone signals the level of theatre this itinerary calls for.
Hotel Danieli, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Venice
Hotel Danieli puts you on the Riva degli Schiavoni, a short walk from the Doge's Palace and a water taxi from everything else on the plan.
Make Venice your trip
Swearby drafts the days from places people swear by. Swap any stop, then invite the crew by text, even friends without the app. Vote on dates, track costs as you go, and everyone gets one number at the end.
Get Swearby on the App StoreBefore you go
Book ahead
- St Mark's Basilica: weeks ahead
- Doge's Palace: weeks ahead
- Peggy Guggenheim Collection: weeks ahead
- Gallerie dell'Accademia: weeks ahead
- Teatro La Fenice: weeks ahead
- Musica a Palazzo: weeks ahead
Skip these
- Restaurants on Piazza San Marco and the Riva with photo menus, touts and tourist menus: the worst food at the highest prices.
- Murano free tour glass factories deliver you to a showroom hard sell. Go independently and look for the Vetro Artistico trademark.
- A gondola at midday on the Grand Canal is an overpriced traffic jam. Confirm the official tariff before boarding, or take a traghetto.
The full Venice travel guide: when to go, safety, getting around