Venice

Venice begins on water.

Six nights on the water, with Sharon. The places, the walks, the boats.

The Venice Venice Hotel (Stay, Cannaregio, at the Rialto): Where I stayed, and where I'd send almost anyone.
The Gritti Palace (Stay, San Marco, on the Grand Canal): For the grand version.
Aman Venice (Stay, San Polo): For the quiet version.
Hotel Cipriani (Stay, Giudecca): The one across the water.
Osteria Bancogiro (Eat, San Polo, at the Rialto market): The house's own first meal in Venice, a half past three lunch on the first day, straight off the boat and the unpack, and Sharon's verdict was "good and perfect".
Francy's (Eat, Cannaregio, at The Venice Venice Hotel): Six o'clock on the canal, then dinner two minutes from bed.
Antiche Carampane (Eat, San Polo): The dinner I'd fly back for.
Club del Doge (Eat, San Marco, at The Gritti Palace): The ultimate glam moment.
Riviera (Eat, Dorsoduro, on the Zattere): The house's own Saturday lunch, half past twelve, after the walk through San Polo past the Frari and San Pantalon to the Accademia.
Cip's Club (Eat, Giudecca, at the Hotel Cipriani): The one night to really dress.
Al Covo (Eat, Castello): The house's own last dinner, the Monday, a quarter to nine after the Biennale afternoon and the aperitivo at Bar Longhi.
Al Timon (Eat, Cannaregio, on the Fondamenta degli Ormesini): A wine bar and bacaro on the fondamenta, the tables outside along the water, cicchetti and a glass at the neighbourhood's own pace. Confirm the hours before you go.
Osteria alla Vedova (Eat, Cannaregio): A standing-room bacaro of the old kind, cicchetti at the counter and a glass of the house wine.
Osteria da Alberto (Eat, Cannaregio): Old Venetian cooking in an osteria, and the one on the concierge's list that takes a booking. Confirm before you go.
Al Ponte (Eat, Cannaregio): This is Ostaria Al Ponte on Calle Larga Giacinto Gallina, not the Antica Osteria al Ponte and not the Osteria Sora al Ponte, which are elsewhere in the city.
Ostaria dai Zemei (Eat, San Polo): The other aperitivo bacaro on the hotel's concierge's list, cicchetti and wine by the glass; the house has researched it and not been.
Didovich (Eat, Castello, Campo Santa Marina): Campo Santa Marina, Castello, the pasticceria on the campo; the house holds the campo and not the door number, which is printed two ways.
Ponte delle Paste (Eat, Castello): The hotel's concierge's other café, paired with Didovich; the house has researched it and not been.
La Mela Verde (Eat, Fondamenta de l'Osmarin): The hotel's concierge's ice cream, the cone to walk with along the water after the Doge's Palace; the house has researched it and not been.
Suso Gelatoteca (Eat, San Marco, at Campo San Bartolomeo): The gelateria the hotel's concierge named for Campo San Bartolomeo, under its correct name; the house has researched it and not queued.
Bar Longhi (Drink, San Marco, at The Gritti Palace): Where I hid from the heat. Confirm before you go.
Aman Bar (Drink, San Polo, at Aman Venice): The aperitivo for a guest whose dinner is Carampane through the San Polo lanes, or who wants the grand-hotel drink without crossing to San Marco. Confirm before you go.
Caffè Florian (Drink, San Marco, on the Piazza): The one thing on the piazza the house still does in the afternoon, because the rooms are what they were and the coffee is the excuse; go after Olivetti, never at noon.
La Biennale di Venezia, the Arsenale (See, Castello): The reason to come in an odd year, and the reason to come in an even one. Confirm before you go.
Peggy Guggenheim Collection (See, Dorsoduro): The house's own Saturday, two o'clock, after lunch at Riviera: the unfinished palazzo on the canal, the collection, the garden, the terrace over the water.
Chiesa di San Pantalon (See, Dorsoduro): A ceiling almost nobody goes to see.
St. Mark's Basilica (See, San Marco): The gold, the mosaics, the horses, and out again before noon; the Doge's Palace next door at half past eleven is the second half of the same morning.
Doge's Palace (See, San Marco): The city supplies the drama, which is the story's own line under its photograph of this palace; the register's answer is to dress down the grandeur.
Negozio Olivetti (See, San Marco, on the Piazza): Carlo Scarpa's showroom for Olivetti, restored and run by the national heritage trust: the staircase, the floor, the typewriters.
Chiesa di San Vidal, Interpreti Veneziani (See, San Marco, by Campo Santo Stefano): Vivaldi in the church: Interpreti Veneziani, the ensemble that plays San Vidal, in a church with the sound of a small hall.
Cannaregio and the Ghetto (See, Cannaregio): The house's own Monday morning: the walk up, the campo, the tall houses, the wandering, and Al Timon on the Fondamenta degli Ormesini for lunch at half past twelve.
Punta della Dogana (See, Dorsoduro, at the Salute): The house has researched it and did not go on its own trip; it is the natural third stop of the Dorsoduro day after Riviera and the Guggenheim, further along the water.
Venice M'Art (Shop, Cannaregio, at The Venice Venice Hotel): The good kind of cool, downstairs at the hotel. Confirm before you go.
Fondazione Dries Van Noten (See, San Polo): A designer's foundation in a Grand Canal palazzo, and it's about hands.
Bar All'Arco (Drink, San Polo, by the Rialto market): Cicchetti standing up, by the market.
Casa Codognato (Shop, San Marco): The jeweler you have to be let into. Confirm before you go.
Tessitura Bevilacqua (Shop, Santa Croce): Velvet on eighteenth-century looms.
Gianni Basso Stampatore (Shop, Cannaregio): Letterpress in a room the size of a closet.
The lagoon (See): The lagoon, from The Traveler's Edit No. 1.
Rialto Bridge (See): Rialto Bridge, from The Traveler's Edit No. 1.
Venice at night (See): After dinner, whichever way home is longest.

FDV Concierge, curated by Sharon Lombardo