A Snob’s Guide to Venice

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Venice is a place of elegance and grandeur. It’s also a place of overcrowded hotspots and selfie stick-wielding battalions of tourists, who descend en masse each summer and turn La Serenissima into what feels like its polar opposite. But for those who know where to look beyond the obvious—and who care to linger longer than a mere few hours’ cruise pit stop—a high season trip to Venice can still be a most opulent and delicious experience. If you’ve already checked off highlights like Doge’s Palace, Basilica di San Marco, and the Rialto Bridge, and you’ve cruised the canals at sunset in a gondola, upgrade the cultural experience this time around, which won’t be hard to do: the Venice Biennale is up through November 23, while the Venice Film Festival kicks off for two weeks at the end of August and turns the Hotel Excelsior Venice Lido Resort into the epicenter of cinematic glamour.

The city’s essence is best captured in its contrasts: opulence and decay, crowds and solitude, history and avant-garde. Whether you prefer to be seen sipping martinis on the Gritti Palace’s terrace on the edge of the Grand Canal or would rather disappear into secret corners only locals know about, here is how to do it right.

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Where to Stay

The Hemingway Suite at the Gritti Palace. The Luxury Collection

The hotel scene is a parade of sprawling palazzi, each with its own personality. The ultimate old world fantasy can be found at the Gritti Palace, a Luxury Collection hotel perched right on the Grand Canal, where centuries of Venetian glamour come alive through Murano glass chandeliers, hand-painted frescoes, and bespoke Rubelli silks (for true indulgence, book the Hemingway presidential suite). This is also where you’ll find the best martinis in town, which you can savor underneath Titian-inspired portraits and feel, for a moment, like you’ve stepped back to a time when doges roamed these halls. Level it up by booking the hotel’s boat for an afternoon—it’s the only authentic Riva in the city.

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Over by the Rialto Bridge, Venice Venice Hotel is the epitome of “postvenezianità”—a forward-looking, avant-garde celebration of local culture—housed in the 13th-century Byzantine-style Palazzo Ca’ da Mosto, the city’s oldest stone palace. “It has been carefully restored to preserve its rich past, seamlessly blending heritage with contemporary design,” says Aimee Hodgkin, hotel and villa partnerships director of Mr & Mrs Smith, who was quick to enlist the property into the brand’s portfolio of charming stays. All of the rooms are completely different, but consider splurging on #01: it has the city’s first-ever private ensuite pool.

The Library Bar at Nolinski Venezia. Nolinski Venezia

For a boutique experience that makes you feel like you’re in the private home of a globe-trotting aesthete, check into the Hotel Violino d’Oro, where Rubelli textiles, curated art, and the morning melodies of gondoliers set the scene for discreet Venetian luxury. In the laidback lounge, mixologist Francesco Adragna crafts stellar cocktails before guests slip into Il Piccolo, a hidden supper club tucked inside one of the hotel’s three buildings—the kind of exclusive hideaway you’ve always dreamed of discovering. Nolinski Venezia is a newer design darling, where emerald velvet and sleek marble meet the grandeur of a 1929 stock exchange. The suites, which include separate sitting rooms (some with terraces), will make you feel like you’re in the quiet countryside, while the Library Bar masters a sultrier vibe—complete with more than 4,000 books and a striking fresco by Simon Buret.

Need a little space? On Giudecca, the iconic Hotel Cipriani, a Belmond property, is where you can duck out to sip Bellinis by the Olympic-sized pool and watch the city shimmer from your sun lounger. Ball out in the Palladio Suite, which has 180-degree lagoon views, a private heated plunge pool, and personal butler service.

Advance planners, take note: an Airelles, a Rosewood, and a Four Seasons are all coming to town later this year and next.

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Where to Eat & Drink

Ignore your day-tripping friends who claim Venice is a culinary wasteland—on the contrary, it is a gold mine for delicious restaurants, cool bars, and off-the-beaten-path cafés. For a true taste of the evolving food scene here, look no further than Oro, where chef Vania Ghedini—along with maestro Massimo Bottura—has created one of the city’s best dining destinations.

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A short boat ride away on the private Isola delle Rose, where JW Marriott Venice Resort & Spa has held court for ten years, don’t miss Agli Amici Dopolavoro, where siblings Emanuele and Michela Scarello (he’s the chef, she’s the somm) deliver a menu steeped in Venetian tradition. For the best lagoon views, head up to Sagra, the hotel’s panoramic rooftop restaurant, for signature dishes like ovetto (poached egg with Montasio cheese and marinated vignarola salad) and spaghettoni with scampi tartare and Cetara anchovy sauce.

At Algiubagio, a map of Venice’s six districts is cheekily illustrated through variations of fish tartare. Massimiliano Sanson

The toughest table in town this season is undeniably Osteria Giorgione da Masa in Dorsoduro, where chef Masahiro Homma fuses Japanese cuisine with Venetian tradition. Algiubagio is another must—trust chef Daniele Zennaro’s seasonal menu, especially the gnocchi with cuttlefish and black garlic, and the “Venezia xe un pesse,” a playful take on fish tartare that tells the story of Venice’s six districts. In Zattere, locals head to Restaurant Adriatica for chef Denis Begiqi’s perfect spaghetti alle vongole and other innovative twists on classics.

As is good practice wherever you are, ask a hotel concierge for their favorites, too. Annabella Cariello, general manager of Violino d’Oro, recommends Bácan, in Santa Croce. “It’s the perfect mix of Mérida and Venice,” she says, noting the chefs’ experience at Noma in Copenhagen.

The Ginori Terrace at the St. Regis Venice. The St. Regis Venice

For a scene, book the Sunday Brunch at the Gritti Terrace: sunshine, Grand Canal views, freely flowing rosé, and chef Alberto Fol’s impeccable bites will make for a truly memorable morning (and if you miss brunch, Fol’s dinner tasting menu is worth it for the Mazorbetto artichoke dishes alone). For a more artsy vibe, the canal-side M’Art at the Venice Venice Hotel draws an eclectic crowd for its table-side bar cart service of fresh Moka pot coffee and sweet frittelle served with a selection of delectable creams. If you’re lucky, you might snag an invite to the Venice Bitter Club, a hidden, invitation-only spot at the hotel, where a titanium bar glimmers beneath an antique ceiling and a tapestry by Francesco Simeti steals the show.

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Venice’s bar scene is as inventive as it is glamorous. Bar Longhi’s wild fennel martini is a seasonal must, while at the Experimental Cocktail Club, a favorite hideout of the fashionable set, you should pull up a stool and let Pietro Lorefice guide you to the best drink of the day. Don’t skip Londra Palace Venezia, where Marino Lucchetti is known for his signature twists (like the Achilles Spritz spiked with Tabasco). And if you ask any local bartender for their favorite spot, you’ll hear the same answer: Il Mercante, which serves up inventive craft cocktails in a two-story, 19th-century café near Basilica dei Frari. Oenophiles will be impressed by the pours at Vino Vero, La Sete, and Ai Do Leone. And for the most Instagrammable tablescape, there is the Ginori Terrace at the St. Regis, which also happens to be a great spot for aperitivi and people-watching.

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What to Do

Peggy Guggenheim at home with her Picasso and Calder. Keystone Features - Getty Images

Here’s a tip: Arrange a private morning tour at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection so you can admire the Giacomettis and Pollocks in near solitude before the crowds roll in. Then cross the water to San Giorgio Maggiore, where Belgian artist Luc Tuymans’s site-specific commission is on view through late November 2025, and then lose yourself in the Palladian architecture and Veronese frescoes of the Giorgio Cini Foundation.

Among the exhibitions at the Biennale Architettura is one dedicated to—what else?—A.I. Simone Padovani - Getty Images

The city’s contemporary art scene is thriving, too. The Nicoletta Fiorucci Foundation—a new exhibition space in a historic Dorsoduro palazzo—offers a fresh take on homegrown creativity through cutting-edge installations. Nearby, SMAC (San Marco Art Contemporary) is also making waves with its avant-garde programming. And, of course, the Biennale Architettura (on through November 23, 2025) is the season’s hottest ticket, with installations at the Giardini, Arsenale, and Forte Marghera, plus a packed calendar of conferences, performances, and screenings at venues like Ca’ Giustinian and Teatro Piccolo Arsenale.

When it comes to shopping, Venice is a connoisseur’s paradise. At Spezeria all’Ercole d’Oro, you’ll enter a perfectly preserved 17th-century pharmacy, now home to the Merchant of Venice perfumery. Marvel at the baroque woodwork, antique majolica jars, and hand-carved walnut shelves as you sample gorgeous fragrances bottled in hand-blown Murano glass. You will also want to leave room in the suitcase for a few pairs of exquisite velvet slippers from the women-owned Teod’amar, sumptuous silks, velvets, and jacquards from Rubelli, and Danghyra’s gorgeous espresso cups and ceramics, which are favored by Italy’s top hotels and tastemakers.

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