Tucked away in a back street near the Fondamente Nove is the best pasticceria in Venice, and one of the most mouth-watering window displays I've ever seen. Chestnuts dipped in chocolate, 'budini' (little rice and egg custard cakes), castagnaccio (chestnut cake), all kinds of chocolate sweets, and at reasonable prices. The owner, Roberto Puppa, tries to create the most authentic, traditional Venetian recipes - ask for advice and recipes. And you can get a cup of coffee, too.

Follow Rio tera SS Apostoli, heading towards the Gesuiti church

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Famous for its glass work (and apparently where mirrors were invented and exclusive to for quite a while). Walk down
the main street of Murano and you will return with more small glass
ornaments than you can carry - the street is just glass shop after glass shop! You can also go and watch the handymen at work at the factory, not very far from the water bus station.

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Lovely for a walk - especially in spring. Littered with cafes and restaurants, you can sit for a drink or just soak up the sun.

Take a book or munch on a Gianduiotto di passeggio from the Da Nico gelateria in the summer.

Wistful in winter: take a midnight walk in the freezing cold and take in the sound of the Giudecca Canal.

Go to the water bus (vaporetto) stop Zattere, or walk up from the Accademia stop; www.actv.it/english/home.php

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A great website by Krysve. Hotel information and booking for four good hotels (Salieri, Art Deco, Al Sole, Florida) as well as photos of Venice (including some taken in March this year - really a fantastic experience in Venice!). This site is well-maintained and a wonderful resource for anyone who is in love with or who wants to visit Venice. Certainly the creator of the website loves the city maybe more than anyone I else I met during my stay. Try it!

www.veniceroom.com

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Although there are around 450 bridges in Venice, only four cross the Grand Canal. The most famous is the Rialto, the district around it once the most important financial centre in Europe when the Republic was at the height of its power. Although the banks and bordellos of the renaissance have gone, what makes the Rialto worth visiting, apart from the bridge itself, is the market concentrated around a few tiny alleys and on the quayside. For a thousand years, housewives, servants and chefs have bought their daily supplies here, from a handful of scampi from the lagoon to fresh fruit from the Veneto. This colourful and animated spectacle has to be the best free show in Venice and is open every morning apart from Sundays and holidays.

www.cheapvenice.com/rialto-markets.htm

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Went to Venice a couple of months ago to shop for glass beads. Found out there's a useful website with information about where to buy what and even to hire a personal shopper. Worth a look.

www.venezia.net

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Even if Venetian masks are not to your taste, the shop is a little treasure box to wander into. They did the masks for Eyes Wide Shut and I think the unpainted white ones that they sell are the most dramatic. The Ponte dei Pugni and floating greengrocers are also nearby.

Dorsoduro 3172;
www.camacana.com

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It's an island with a far more vibrant and less touristy atmosphere than the main part of the town. The shopping around St. Marks Square is in places spectacular and glamorous, but most of the glass (for instance) is Chinese tat. The market on the South side of the Ponte Vecchio is something like the real thing - almost like a French country weekly market - fresh veg, people buying food instead of just eating out.On the other hand, St. Marks Square at night is one of the most stunning places I have ever seen - even when it's flooded!

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