Where to stay in Venice

Extraordinary and genuinely crowded, and the two are easy to reconcile: stay the night. The day trippers leave around six, and the city that is left — quiet canals, lit windows, footsteps — is the one worth coming for.

Venice is six sestieri, sorted by distance from the Piazza. San Marco has the sights, the highest rates and the crush. Cannaregio, between the station and the Rialto, is the answer for most: the canals north of the Strada Nova, around the Ghetto, are quiet, and the station is walkable with luggage. Dorsoduro, over the Accademia bridge, has the Zattere and the student bars; Castello, east towards the Arsenale, is quietest and furthest out. Mestre is a mainland town a ten-minute train away; sleeping there forfeits the early mornings and late evenings that are the point.

It suits anyone who can carry a bag over bridges. It suits pushchairs, wheeled cases and unsteady legs badly: bridges are steps and palazzi have no lifts. Acqua alta comes on autumn and winter tides; MOSE stops the worst, but Piazza San Marco still floods on tides too small to raise it.

Two nights is the minimum; three buys Murano and Burano from Fondamente Nove. Arrive by train: Santa Lucia opens onto the Grand Canal, the airport bus ends in Piazzale Roma, and the Frecciarossa leaves Santa Lucia for Verona, Florence and Milan. Make it the last stop. Be in the Piazza at seven.

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