Venice

Venezia, La Serenissima, Queen of the Adriatic, city of canals and palaces…or tawdry sewer alive with crowds and charlatans? Venice’s nature is dual: water and land, long history and doubtful future, airy delicacy and dim melancholy. When this precious place sinks, the world will be the poorer.

Take time to meander - losing yourself in the maze of canals and lanes is one of Venice’s principal pleasures. The cluster of sights around the Piazza San Marco are heart-clutchingly beautiful, but the more secret pleasures of the hushed backstreets are just as entrancing.