If you care about the Venetian cityscape at all, you really ought to visit the city's churches. They are a showcase for Venice's unique architectural and artistic heritage and a good way of getting close to it without the mad crush of the Accademia, the Guggenheim or San Marco.

The only problem is that the churches sometimes want you to cross their palms with a little silver. So unless you want to disguise yourself as a nun, it's worth investing in a Chorus Pass. It costs about a fiver, is valid for a year, saves you the effort of finding a lot of change and gets you into around 16 of the city's best ecclesiastical monuments. My personal favourites: Madonna dell'Orto, Santo Stefano and the Frari which is full of masterpieces. Knockout stuff.

If you find the time head for Torcello cathedral. It's got to be one of the most sublime buildings in the lagoon. See if you can make friends with the local cats.

You can buy the Chorus pass at any of the participating churches

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