An Insider’s Guide to Venice

Venice is finally shaking its reputation as being a shrine to its own past.

The floating city is undergoing an undeniable period of revival (anchored in part by the reopening of the legendary Danieli as Danieli, Venezia, a Four Seasons Hotel)—the details of which we chart in more detail in Venice Reclaimed. There’s more to see and do than ever before in the floating city. Here, we share our curated guide of insider favourites handpicked by Venice’s new wave of cultural stewards.

Dries Van Noten, Co-Founder, Fondazione Dries Van Noten

Outing: “The Mercato di Rialto, early in the morning before the city fills up. There is something about a market that has always moved me: the colours, the noise, the vendors who have been coming every day for decades. It reminds you that Venice is a living city, not a postcard.”

Grocers: “Casa del Parmigiano in San Polo and La Baita are essential grocery stops, small shops run with the kind of quiet expertise and genuine passion for their product that I find deeply satisfying.”

Neighbourhoods: “Dorsoduro and San Polo. The independent bookshop Bruno, the small bakeries, the butcher [Macelleria] Fiore. That is where you feel the real texture of daily Venetian life, and I never tire of walking through it slowly and without a map.”

Restaurant: Wildner, near Piazza San Marco, for lunch or dinner. “It has a terrace on the waterfront, so the lagoon feels very close and very present. The food is honest, and the view does something to your sense of time.”

Stuart Parr, Owner, Piedàterre Venezia

Outlying Island: Sant’Erasmo, the lagoon’s second-largest island. Called the vegetable garden of Venice, it is a tranquil, sparsely populated retreat known for its vineyards, orchards, and vegetables, especially the prized violet artichoke. “I go there for a swim when it’s hot; the water is very shallow and flat, and everyone floats on the surface. Then I have lunch or dinner at Al Bacan, a charming fish restaurant overlooking the lagoon. It’s a lovely little island.”

Restaurant: Vini da Arturo, a tiny trattoria near Piazza San Marco. “That Venetian double-breaded pork chop—it’s so massive, you can share it. They make a gorgonzola pasta that is the best on the planet. And they are such nice people.”

Museum: The Olivetti Showroom, a mid-century modern gem designed by Carlo Scarpa, tucked under the arches of Piazza San Marco. “Scarpa’s ability to use wood, bronze, and brass, his door mechanisms— everything is extraordinary. And that Olivetti typewriter [the Lettera 22 portable, designed by Marcello Nizzoli in 1950]—it was the equivalent of the iPhone. It performed, and it was just so beautiful.”

Diane von Furstenberg, Designer

Outlying Island: “The Lido, with that beautiful beach that is in Thomas Mann’s book Death in Venice. I remember when director Luchino Visconti was shooting the film adaptation of the book there in 1971. My best friend, Marisa Berenson, was in the film, and I went to visit her during filming, so I was very much present in Venice then. Those beaches—so long, flat, and wild. Magical.”

Shop: Jesurum Venezia 1870, a 156-year-old linen shop near Piazza San Marco. “I did my dowry in Venice when I married Egon von Furstenberg in 1969. Jesurum is where I ordered my sheets. It’s still there. A very Venetian place.”

Book about Venice: Venice: A New History by Thomas F. Madden, director of the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Saint Louis University in Missouri. “There are so many books on Venice, but this is a great one. It’s a biography of Venice.”

Servane Giol, Author, Venice: A Private Invitation

Restaurant: Trattoria alla Madonna, near the Rialto Bridge, managed by the same family since 1954 and known for its spaghetti al nero di seppia—spaghetti with cuttlefish cooked in its own ink, which creates the glossy black sauce. “If I have to go out, that’s where I go. Such a wonderful, local historical place.”

Coffee Spot: Moro Café, at the steps of the Accademia Bridge in Venice. “It’s on a little garden, so it’s fresh in the summer. I love to sit in the shade of the trees there.”

Garden: Orto Giardino del Santissimo Redentore, a 16th-century monastic garden on Giudecca Island. “It’s so peaceful and magical.” Originally laid out by the Capuchin friars and recently restored by Paolo Pejrone, it is two and a half acres of vegetable plots, orchards, medicinal herbs, vineyards, and cloisters for quiet reflection.

Place for Drinks: “Aperitivo is probably the most important time of the day of a Venetian. My favourite place is [Cantine del Vino già] Shiavi, where we usually have prosecco.”

Marcantonio Brandolini, CEO and Art Director, Laguna~B

Restaurant: Do Farai, a classic trattoria in Dorsoduro, which Brandolini took over with Guillaume Pinaut earlier this year. “It offers simple yet extremely detail-oriented dishes that reflect the culinary taste of my family, in a homey, relaxed atmosphere. And it has great wines.”

Museum: Museo Storico Navale di Venezia, a naval museum in a 15th-century building near Arsenale. “It gives you culture about the maritime world of Venice.”

Art Gallery: Giorgio Mastinu, near the public square Campo Santo Stefano. “A small gallery that is a good place to find unique collectibles.”

Toto Bergamo Rossi, Director, Venetian Heritage

Church: “Santi Giovanni e Paolo, the basilica near the hospital, has the entire history of the Republic of Venice, with monuments and all the tombs of the doges. And it’s always empty.”

Restaurant: Bistrot Quadrino, at Gran Caffé Quadri. “They have a fancy restaurant upstairs, but I prefer the grill room on the ground floor. The quality of food is very good, and you are on San Marco Square. I go once a week.”

Outlying Islands: San Giorgio Island. “There’s Le Stanze della Fotografia, a big pavilion with exhibitions dedicated to photography, and Le Stanze del Vetro, a gallery where they do all the glass exhibitions. Bellissimo. You have the Fondazione Giorgio Cini . . . and the cluster of Palladio buildings. And you still have the Basilica di San Giorgio Maggiore, with the Benedictine monks inside.” Bergamo Rossi also recommends visiting Pellestrina, a nearly seven-mile-long spit next to the Lido. “It’s still like countryside in the 1950s. There’s a nature reserve called Ca’ Roman, with dunes, a wild beach, and migratory birds. And one restaurant, called Da Nane, with spaghetti alla vongole—the real one—and granseola alla Veneziana, which is spider crab served cold with olive oil, lemon, and parsley. To die for.”

Shop: Missiaglia 1846 Venezia, in Dorsoduro, near the Peggy Guggenheim Collection and the Accademia, by appointment only. It’s now run by sisters Caterina and Marta Croze. “When you have an important wedding or an important event in Venice, you give Missiaglia silver. They have all the shapes: tomatoes, peppers, pomegranate. Divini, divini, divini, and so chic.”