‘It is as real and lasting as any other relationship I know of’: Everything you need to know about Venice in time for the 2025 Biennale

If you listen to anyone who spends a lot of time there talk about Venice, it can begin to sound like they are describing a love affair. Or anyway, I seem to. In my case, our relationship began as a fling, when I was an undergrad with a Eurail pass, and Venice, the older woman.

Later, we started something more serious. Long distance, but incredibly romantic. Familiar, deep. And then in 2021, we moved in together — I got an apartment in Cannaregio and she introduced me to all of her friends and familiars. I became a part of a kind of family of Venetians. And, to this day, I feel as at home there as anywhere. It is as real and lasting as any other relationship I know of, and my love affair with Venice is as intense as ever.

On a recent visit for a few weeks, I settled into a familiar routine, getting reacquainted with all of my favorite places in town, and even found some time to explore a bunch of Venice’s wonderful new developments.

True love will keep surprising you, you know.

Where to stay

Nolinski

The very great and new-ish Nolinski hotel, in the grand old casino on the Calle Larga XXI Marzo, has already become a hit with locals for the wonderful, red-velvet cocooned library bar. Rightly so. I regularly dug in here for a negroni or two, piled under a stack of art and reference books — to do some serious people watching. But the secret and spectacular part of this hotel I had utterly to myself for two days: a golden-tiled elevated pool with a 275-degree view overlooking the rooftops of Venice.

Violino d’oro

This wonderful new hotel from the Florentine-based, family-owned Collezione Em, made up of three adjacent palazzi in the heart of San Marco will be a very welcome haven for visitors in town for art fairs, fashion events, or just the odd romantic jaunt.

Each of the immaculate rooms, and the private spaces, as well as the jewel box restaurant, are appointed with the most magical little touches, many of them modern spins on deeply Venetian traditional craft — Venetian glassware from the Micheluzzi sisters, and from Carlo Scarpa’s time at Venini.

Located as it is right across the little bridge from the endlessly-under-renovation Bauer hotel, where Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie’s characters stayed in Don’t Look Now, and so where one of the most famous love scenes in cinema was shot, Violino d’Oro seems to me like the perfect place for the inevitable remake, the ideal place for an incredibly tasteful, internationally successful couple of sex symbols to stay on their trip to town.

Hotel Flora

Maybe my most recommended place worldwide, this absolute gem of a hotel run by my dearest pal Gioele Rommanelli, is perfectly located for any and all visitors (central San Marco, a few minutes walk from the Fenice). The rooms, with stained glass windows, damask wallpapers and chandeliers make you feel like you are staying in the guest room of your favorite auntie-Contessa’s palazzo (and, during a recent renovation, Gioele and his team kept finding layers of antique frescos which they are uncovering), but the two-seat bar and slate-tiled garden make it the perfect place to meet friends or make new ones.

And the others

The great old grande dames in town are great too: I have written about it a bunch, but the Aman Venice remains utterly perfect and one of my favorite hotels in the world; the Gritti too is a classic for a reason, and the Riva terrace still great for afternoon aperitivi; The Danieli has recently been taken over by the Four Seasons and I am very curious to see how the change in management (and light renovation) makes it feel; if you’d rather be a little bit outside of the hustle and bustle of the city, there’s The Hotel Cipriani, A Belmond Hotel, in what feels like a castle in the lagoon; if you are looking for more of a scene, the Venice Venice has one of the most popular terraces in town for drinks, as well as a more lively location.

What to eat

Of course, the most important thing in Venice, as everywhere, is the food. Venice is obviously famous for cicchetti, little bites taken with a sip of something nice in bar crawl mode.

My favorite spot for cicchetti is probably Adriatico Mar, but Cantina Do Spade and Enoteca al Volto are also great — just trust your nose and your wits; you will find your own favorite spot. That is the joy of Venice: the personal discovery. The two famous spots in Dorsoduro, Enoteca Schiavi and Osteria al Squero, are great places for meeting friends for a drink, and, make some local friends they’ll invite you to their fave spot, which is the whole enchilada.

All’Arco is widely beloved, but Cantino di Mori, just across the calle (street), and which has been open since before Columbus sailed the ocean blue, and is, according to legend, the place Casanova took his first dates, was and will always be my first love.

I have spent an ungodly amount of time at Bacaro Risorto in Cannaregio, for their great little tramezzino-ish sandwiches. And at the natural wino’s favorite, Vino Vero.

When you're ready for something more like a proper sit down, the restaurants in the Castello are rightly famous: Corte Sconta, Al Covo, CoVino, Local…and I love the pizza at Aciugheta. Andrea Lorenzon of CoVino recently opened a new place called Pietra Rossa which I am dying to get to (it was closed while I was in town). And then, if you're not in the mood for Italian (and it can be difficult to get anything but in Venice), I love Osteria Giorgione de Masa — for a kind of Japanese spin on Venetian dishes, and maybe vice versa — and think the chef/owner, Masa, may be a kind of genius.

But my absolute favorite restaurant in Venice (maybe the world) is Vini da Arturo, a tiny little room with the scale and detailing of a railway car. Ernesto and Hani are like adopted family members. And the deep friend pork chop in vinegar, the Milanese en limone, the filet in green peppercorn sauce and eggplant en saor subjects of my dreams.

Right around the corner, Ristorante la Feluca is easily the best seafood restaurant in town and the restaurant I have been to most in my life. Definitely let the owner Giacomo order for you, as I always do, and while away the afternoon watching the people go by (as you are eating the most screamingly delicious oysters, prawns, octopus...and drinking from the incredible wine selection) and joking with Giacomo.

If you are going farther afield, and have ever watched a Bourdain show, you know that Trattoria da Romano on Burano makes the most famous bowl of risotto in the world, and is well worth the trip. I love the Locanda Cipriani, on Torcello, with all of its Hemingway history and lovely gardens that light up with flowers and bellinis in the springtime. God, I am making myself hungry.

What to do

Back in town, if you are hankering for something to do — although, imagine wanting to do anything in Venice except be in Venice and wander and sit for spritzes and swan and swoon about — but I digress. Go to La Fenice. One of the great, and most brilliantly preserved little opera houses in the world, where, incidentally, Maria Callas got her first big break.

Go to the Fondazione Prada.

Wander the Borges labyrinth on San Giorgio Maggiore.

Rent a beach cabana on the Lido for the day and pretend you are in Death in Venice.

Get some great, museum quality art glass from Alessandro Zoppi gallery, some vintage murano from L'Angolo Del Passato, or some newly made great pieces from Marcantonio Brandolini d'Adda’s Laguna-B.

Get a negroni too many at Florian, or on the Zattere at the Il Palazzo Experimental and wander around at sunset, falling in love.

Then get ready to tell a story about it.