Room With A View / VENICE, ITALY
As dusk falls and bells of San Marco echo across the lagoon, I’m on a speedboat cutting back across the water, half-wanting to miss another flight. Venice does that to you. A couple of days become a loop you don’t want to leave. It gets under your skin.
We’d been staying at Hotel Danieli, the grand Gothic dame just off the Riva degli Schiavoni. It’s velvet and Murano, unapologetically cinematic and steeped in history. The place where de Musset wrote fevered poetry, where Elizabeth Taylor once honeymooned (twice). But the real trick is to come in winter—when there’s mist on the canal, boots on the locals, and a soft, strange quiet that settles over the stones like a spell.
At high tide, when acqua alta floods San Marco, you step onto raised walkways while the square becomes a mirror. Inside the Basilica, golden mosaics glow in the half-light. Outside, the lagoon laps and exhales. There’s nowhere like it.
You don’t need a plan. Wrap up. Walk. Lose yourself. Venice is better that way. Around the next corner, always, another crumbling palazzo, another faded fresco, another pocket of wonder. At Osteria alle Testiere, a tiny wood-panelled spot tucked into Castello, we sit elbow-to-elbow with the locals. No frills, just seafood at its absolute peak: razor clams with lemon zest, mantis shrimp spaghetti, a bottle of cold Soave. Book ahead. Don’t tell too many people.
We run along the Riva in the morning, past dogs and dockworkers, to the Giardini. Cappuccinos on the Danieli’s rooftop terrace after, and then over to the Palazzo Ducale, where Tintoretto’s Paradiso spans the sky. The Guggenheim on the Grand Canal is a personal favourite—Pollock, Kandinsky, Brâncuși—all in what was once Peggy’s eccentric Venetian home. Her throne still sits in the garden, her ashes scattered nearby.
Afternoons are for the Zattere—wide, sunlit, and local—or for chasing light through shuttered lanes. We find ourselves at Bar Dandolo, sipping white peach bellinis that edge out Harry’s. Supper might be tavern-style clams in chilli, or black ink risotto in Cannaregio. Venice isn’t fussy. The good stuff’s everywhere if you look close.
After dark, we step into the Palazzo Barbarigo Minotto for an intimate opera—The Barber of Seville—performed across faded salons with candlelight flickering against silk walls. A young Figaro sings to a Russian woman in the front row. They vanish before the applause ends. That’s Venice. Art and romance, always half a step into legend.
The next day, we stroll through Rialto market, buy glass baubles and velvet slippers. We stop in to the Santa Maria dei Miracoli, a quiet marble dream. A few winters later I came back, crossed the lagoon by Riva in my wedding dress, and was married there—just us, the priest, the soft hush of December air.
We climb the Campanile before leaving. From the top: domes, rooftop terraces, towers rising through mist like a hallucination. The whole city spread out like a secret.
In the end, I’m half with Peggy Guggenheim—
‘to live in Venice—or even to visit it—means you fall in love with the city itself. There is nothing left over in your heart for anything else.’
But the truth is, it hands you back to yourself—just a little clearer, a little slower, a little more awake. And that’s reason enough to miss the next plane.
Photography with special thanks to Emma Castagno and Max Milligan.
Viewfinder: Venice, Italy
Room Key
• Hotel Danieli – Iconic Venetian grandeur just steps from San Marco. Think red velvet, Murano chandeliers, and lagoon views that defy belief.
www.luxurycollection.com/danieli
Tel: +39 041 522 6480
• Hotel Gritti Palace – Hemingway’s favourite hideaway. Intimate, opulent, and directly on the Grand Canal.
www.luxurycollection.com/grittipalace
Tel: +39 041 794 611
• Hotel La Residenza – A quietly elegant Castello retreat with vintage charm and leafy courtyards. Tucked away from the crowds, just minutes from the lagoon. Favourite of visiting artists and VIPs who want to be tucked away but still near all the action of the famous Venice Art Biennale. I took up residence there during a summer heatwave, which gave it a languid charm all of its own.
Tel: +39 041 528 7336
The Table With A View
• Osteria alle Testiere – The city’s cult seafood osteria. Tiny, seasonal, perfect. The only view you need is the daily special. Bookings essential. Or turn up early, it’s Venice after all, so you never know.
Calle del Mondo Novo 5801, Castello
Tel: +39 041 522 7220
• Terrazza Danieli – Lobster and lagoon views on one of the world’s most romantic rooftops.
[Via Hotel Danieli]
• Bar Dandolo – For peach-perfect bellinis in chandeliered surroundings. Skip the tourist traps.
[Via Hotel Danieli]
• Harry’s Bar – Legendary and lively. Worth a stop if only to say you’ve been.
San Marco 1323
Tel: +39 041 528 5777
Viewfinder
• Peggy Guggenheim Collection – Masters of modern art, right on the water. A highlight.
Tel: +39 041 240 5415
• Musica a Palazzo – Immersive opera in a candlelit palazzo. The closest you’ll come to a private recital.
Tel: +39 041 241 7863
• Palazzo Ducale – Tintoretto, grand history, and the Bridge of Sighs. Go early.
Piazza San Marco
Tel: +39 041 271 5911
Through The Lens
• Vaporetto (Waterbus) – For the best views and slow travel vibes, skip the taxis and float with the locals. Or take the Traghetto for just a couple of euros.
• Winter is the secret season – Mists, silence, and Venice at her most magical.
• Walk often, eat late, don’t overplan – Venice reveals herself best to those who wander.
On The Road
There are no roads in Venice — but no shortage of cinematic entrances. Charter a Riva Aquarama, the Rolls-Royce of the water, all varnished mahogany, stitched leather, and twin V8 engines that idle like jazz. Designed by Carlo Riva in 1962, the Aquarama was favoured by Brigitte Bardot, Sophia Loren, and Richard Burton, who famously had one moored in Portofino. Glide into the Grand Canal from the Lido or Giudecca and arrive like royalty. Venice Classic Boats offers original models with or without skipper, while Riva Experience arranges curated transfers from airport lagoon to hotel dock. Tip: request hull no. 92 if it’s available — a 1960s original with immaculate lines and just enough swagger.
Future Frame: For The Global Citizen
Venice walks a fine line between living city and open-air museum. Consider staying in locally run guesthouses and travelling by train via Milan or Trieste to reduce aviation impact. Support foundations like We Are Here Venice, which works on lagoon restoration and campaigns against oversized cruise ships. For a slower pace with substance, visit the Arsenale’s Maritime Museum or book a lagoon ecology tour with a marine biologist from Laguna Viva. The future of Venice isn’t just preservation — it’s regeneration.
Originally published in the Hampstead & Highgate Express (Ham & High), and syndicated across London titles.