The insider secrets to avoiding Venice's summer crowds
Even at peak visitor periods, the worst excesses can be avoided and you're never more than a bridge away from secluded Venice with its quiet campi (squares), churches concealing luminous Madonnas, handsome Gothic palazzi – and bustling neighbourhood hangouts.
Because there's more to Venice than peerless artistic riches from centuries past: it's also a hive of contemporary activity (not to mention its recent role playing host to the wedding of the century). Beyond the alternating Art and Architecture Biennale shows, which showcase all that's cutting edge internationally, the city's dwindling population works hard to keep contemporary Venice creative, productive and very vibrant.
For further inspiration, explore our guides to the city's best hotels, restaurants, nightlife, shopping, attractions and free things to do.
What's new in Venice this summer
See: Photography exhibition
Le Stanze della Fotografia, on the island of San Giorgio, is hosting the striking, provocative and occasionally shocking works of American photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. This major exhibition examines the sensuality of the human body, the beauty of flowers and the dialogue between photography and classical sculpture, and is running from April 10 to November 23.
Relax: Greenery at the Redentore church
Venice's tantalising gardens are mostly behind high walls, in private hands. The Hortus Redemptoris – a glorious hectare of vegetable and herb beds behind Palladio's superb Redentore church on Venice's Giudecca island – has been restored and opened to the public last autumn. It's open from Thursdays to Saturdays, between 10am and 5.30pm.
Discover: Intelligence at the architecture exhibition
Intelligence in various forms – natural, artificial and collective – is the theme of this year's international architecture exhibition, running from May 10 to November 25, from the Biennale organisation. Architects and designers from 66 countries push the bounds of conceptual research in exhibits inside Venice's Arsenale and in the charming national pavilions dotted around the Giardini della Biennale.
How to spend your weekend
Day one: morning
Start the day in Da Bonifacio, a tiny café with a lovely crazy-paving mosaic floor, hidden away behind the Doge's Palace. The coffee's good – ask for the very Venetian macchiatone if you like the idea of a cappuccino with less milk – and it's difficult to resist cakes like the pasta con le mandorle (almond slice).
The wondrous, mosaic-studded interior of Venice's mother church, St Mark's Basilica doesn't open to visitors until 9.30am (2.30pm on Sunday), but anyone is welcome to attend morning mass. Take your pick between the 8am and 10am slots.
On Sundays and feast days, the 10am event is a sung mass in the central nave, and there's nothing like plainsong to bring out the magic of St Mark's. Afterwards, visit the Museum of St Mark's, which affords spectacular views over the piazza; entry is €7.
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