Venice's Grand Canal snakes through the center of the city, serving as a vibrant conduit for water traffic both commercial and intimate. A ride on a gondola isn't cheap, but a dusk tour of the canal via Vaporetto, the Venetian equivalent of a city bus, can still be memorable.  

Dating to medieval times, the quayside Rialto Market remains the commercial heartbeat of Venice. Fresh produce appears daily except Sunday and can be combined with baked goods and other supplies from nearby shops for a memorable picnic.  

Venice is laced with more than 150 individual side canals coursing through atmospheric neighborhoods. A quick turn off one of the city's main walking thoroughfares will bring you to hidden treats—getting lost is one of Venice's great pleasures.  

A view from a room at the Cipriani, one of Venice's top hotels, situated on the neighboring island of Giudecca. The restaurant Cip's Terrace, on the dock in the foreground, is ideal for sunset cocktails facing the majesty of San Marco Square across the Giudecca Canal.  

The stylish way to arrive into Venice is via sleek water taxi from the airport or train station. Here, a captain pilots his varnished motor launch carefully through narrow canals of the San Marco district.  

The now-familiar pales of green, white, and red that constitute Italy's national flag was a design formally adopted only in 1948. But the colors have represented the country's spirit since 1797, when Napoleon's army crossed into Italy, and they can sometimes be displayed in unusual ways.  

The side canals of Venice are often a scene of quiet, a place to contemplate the ultimate fate of this doomed city where the buildings—built on closely spaced wood pilings on 118 marshy islands—are slowly sinking.  

Turning off the Grand Canal into a narrow side passage, a fleet of gondolas is the classic way to experience Venice. During their heyday as the principal transportation method, in the late 19th century, more than 10,000 gondolas plied the city's canals. Today, about 400 gondolas serve Venice, and except for ceremonial and competitive Regattas, they are used almost exclusively for tourist excursions.  

Although it is a winged lion that is the symbol of Venice, the row of lion statues at the entrance to the Arsenale shipyards are also handsome guardians, looted by Venetian commanders from Greek isles.  

Substantially completed in 1071, the Byzantine Basilica San Marco is one of Italy's most important monuments, an opulent embodiment of the Venetian Republic's wealth and power, as well as the final resting place of St. Mark.