Venice

A sea of red-tiled roofs and grandiose Renaissance architecture rises from the blue banks of the Adriatic Sea, as the Italian sun glints off its marble squares and sporadic towers of Carrara stone. In the piazzas, crowds of camera-tapping tourists squeeze past masked entertainers, while the carved frontispieces of Saint Mark's and the Doge’s Palace sing odes to it’s glorious, powerful past; welcome to Venice! There are few destinations in the world more synonymous with romance and grandeur than this city in the sea. Its canals were eulogised by Shakespeare, its bridges were muse to Canaletto, its streets once the powerhouse of maritime Europe, controlling lands as far afield as the Bosphorus and Crete. Naturally this makes Venice’s downtown sights a wonder to behold, while its museums, from the Peggy Guggenheim (and its Picassos) to the Ca' Rezzonico are every history buff’s dream come true. But ask any Venice tourist guide why this bewitching town on Italy’s eastern edge has proved so timeless, and they may be hard pushed to give an abridged answer. One may point to Venice’s fantastically high density of artistic masterpieces that jostle for attention with a lively local crowd of pizza lovers and Lido-goers. Another may point to its unique topography where daily life is influenced by the Acqua alta and vaporettos replace cars in this otherwise pedestrian city. But all will agree that this canal town in the north is one of Italy’s undisputed gems.