Murano not only has glassworks, it also has churches: Santa Maria e San Donato has a stunning apse (from the outside) and an extraordinary marble mosaic floor on the inside; and San Pietro Martire contains my favourite Bellini.

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Make a pilgrimage to find every painting you can find by Vittorio Carpaccio, especially the Scuola Giorgio degli Schiavoni (in Castello), entirely decorated by him - the best kept secret of Venetian art.

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Renting an apartment allows you to experiment with the local cuisine - risi e bisi, fegato alla veneziana, and sarde in soar (sardines), all taken with polenta. There's two or three good cookbooks in English (mostly written by Americans, of course) available in the best bookshops (mostly behind San Marco).

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Venice for Pleasure, recently republished, takes you on gentle walks from bar to bar, with everything you need to know and more. Bernard Levin called it "not only the best guide-book to that city ever written, but the best guide-book to any city ever written", and for once, he was right.

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Take an ombra (a glass of wine) in a bar at mealtimes, and eat the delicious snacks on offer (whose special name I've forgotten) - all classic Italian antipasti. There are good cheap bars everywhere, each with their own ambience. Our favourite was facing onto the fish market.

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Buy a pass for the vaporetto as soon as you arrive for the number of days you're there. The back of a vaporetto is easily the best (and cheapest) way to see outdoor Venice, and as well, all life is here. The tickets also work for the quicker diretto lines too, and virtually all of the island boats as well.

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Once you've done the classic tour of the Doge's palace, do the extra one of the "hidden" bits, to see the torture chamber and where Casanova was imprisoned (and escaped from). You come out with a very clear idea of how the Venetian state really functioned.

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When the crowd turns right, turn left. It's remarkably easy to lose the tourists, and having equipped yourself with a decent map (there are plenty available) enjoy getting lost yourself.

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