Venice Luxury Yachting Guide

The exquisite city of Venice is an island oasis beyond compare, a haven of seduction where dazzling ivory palazzi rise majestically from the tranquil waters of the Grand Canal. This is a city composed of equal parts chic elegance and opulent luxury, with a winding thread of medieval warrens linking each unique district like a string of luminous pearls.

History
Known to its devotees as La Serenissima, the city of Venice is a radiant sanctuary light years beyond all other travel destinations. Thick with lustrous palaces built in the Baroque, Renaissance and Byzantine styles, wealth has flooded this serene paradise for over a millennium.

Built 1400 years ago, the layout of the city mimics that of a maze, and with each district hosting unique treasures, Venice rewards intrepid meandering. As notorious for vast crowds of international tourists as for her faithful San Marco flock, it takes a keen eye and discerning tastes to discover the true wealth of treasures lying just below the well-trodden waterways.

Romantic Charm
Widely renowned for its inherent romance, the city of Venice is a gentle, gleaming sanctuary of indulgence whose seductive allure grips even beneath the heavy tread of a thousand wanderers. It is not often that a city so notorious for its pure beauty truly is, no matter the season or duress of the most vulgar level of tourism. Allow yourself to recede into the misty mornings and iridescent shimmer of this sparkling lagoon city that rises resplendent from the placid waters that enrobe it.

Districts
The districts of Venice are San Marco, Canareggio, San Polo, Sante Croce, Castello and Dorsoduro, with outlying islands of Lido, Burano, Murano and Torcello.

San Marco
The San Marco district is affected the most harshly by tourism due to its extensive collection of treasures which include the famed square and basilica of the same name, the looming Campanile bell tower and the iridescent radiance of the Doge’s Palace. Canareggio is home to an historic ghetto that was once an area of metal foundries, and is home to one of Venice’s rare wrought iron bridges.

San Polo
The San Polo district is a residential area, thick with locals and their favourite cafes as well as being home to the famous Rialto Bridge, which can become packed to suffocating conditions in the high season.

Sante Croce, Castello and Dorsoduro
The Santa Maria station is in the Santa Croce district, thick with tourists as they pour down the steps hungry for their first look at the Grand Canal. Castello is home to a sight most are unprepared to see on this bustling island: a spacious tree-lined avenue and verdant manicured giardini, gardens, complete with moss-covered statuary. The district of Dorsoduro is home to the city’s university and the streets throng with students and art museums, two of which house high-profile works from the past and present: Gallerie dell’Academia and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection.

Islands
The island of Murano is home to the numerous glass ateliers that have helped to make Venice famous, while the island of Burano is famous for its kaleidoscope of brightly-coloured house fronts and a historic lace museum. The island of Torcello is home to a magnificent Byzantine-Italian church dating from 639 a.d. and a vertiginous bell tower. Lido is a lovely island made famous for its glamorous beach, though it is a tranquil haven from the maddening crowd that can choke the otherwise blissful streets of this sparkling metropolis.

Cuisine
One of the blackest myths to tarnish the reputation of Venice is in regards to the quality of her restaurants. The canal-side establishments of San Marco fronted by raucous hawkers are dismal tourist traps and lure the naive audience they desire. To the perceptive, go the spoils: head deep into the heart of the city to find impeccable restaurants serving delectable Venetian cuisine. Wrought from the fruits of the sea upon which she rests, Venetian cuisine is as intriguing as the city herself.

Specialities
Though much of the produce comes from the mountains north of the city, the seafood is freshly caught, innovatively prepared and artistically stained with the richly-flavoured ink of cuttlefish and squid. Home to its own version of tapas known as cicchetti, these diminutive mouthfuls of savoury tastes are enjoyed around sunset with an ombra, or ‘shadow’ of wine. Locals will frequent several different places, engaging in lively conversation with friends they may know only from meeting at this time of day.

Events
Carnevale
The amenities of glittering Venice are innumerable as well as wholly specific to the city herself. Hosting an elegant Renaissance-themed version of Carnevale every February, the city bursts into vivid flames as the winding streets resonate with the pulse of drums and the chilled air warms with the sound of jubilant voices.

Vogalonga
The Vogalonga is another Venetian institution, described as an act of adulation for the local people and their beloved lagoon. Hundreds of boats are rowed from the incandescent Piazza San Marco to the colourful island of Burano and back again, in celebration of the ‘people of the oar’ and the water-dwelling traditions of Venice and the passionate Venetians.