From eating gelato in St Mark’s Square to being serenaded by gondola men as you take in the sights - Venice is a favourite among many tourists.

None more so than Ros Dee, associate editor and travel columnist with the Mail - it’s her favourite city.

However she argues that there’s so much more to Venice than these popular attractions, and she joined Pat this morning.

Listen to the full interview here: 

16 million tourists a year. Population of only 60,000. Beautiful, fragile, city – best seen, in my opinion, off-season. Autumn/winter great times to visit – less tourists, no cruise ships, easier to get around and see the sights.

Six sestieri – districts. San Marco, Castello, Cannaregio; San Polo; Santa Croce; Dorsoduro (includes island of Giudecca).

PRACTICAL TIPS:

*Vaporetto tickets: this is the public waterbus. Don’t pay as you go – it will cost you 7euro a go and ticket only lasts for 60 minutes. 48-hour pass with unlimited travel  is 30euro; 7-day pass is 50euro.

*Gondola rides are about 100 euro. Catch a traghetto instead – the public gondola that has six crossing points on the Grand Canal. You’ll pay around 1euro to cross. Stand up if want to feel like a local!

*If watching your money, avoid sitting down to eat/drink in any of the cafes in St Mark’s Square. If you want a real treat, however, head to Florian’s – oldest café in world, allegedly – with its really beautiful, interconnected, frescoed rooms.  Coffee/hot chocolate will cost around 9/10euro. Across the square in equally swanky (but not as beautiful) Quadri, if you stand at the little bar you’ll pay just  1.50/2 euro for an espresso/macchiato.

OFF-THE-BEATEN-TRACK – PLACES TO SEE:

*Jewish ghetto in Cannaregio. Once 6000 Jews in Venice, now only a handful.

*Arsenale – mentioned in Dante’s Inferno. Once the greatest shipyard in the world. Catch vaporetto to here and just wander around soaking up Venice’s imperial past. (Can see it from vaporetto No 52, if feeling lazy!)

*Saint Elena: Beyond Arsenale (walkable, one to the other), this is a green and canal-free part of the city.

*San Michele: island where Venetians bury their dead. Just a few minutes on vaporetto. Ezra Pound, Stravinsky, Diaghilev and Joseph Brodsky all buried here. Beautiful cemetery. Quieter during week – at weekends you will be jostling on the vaporetto with all the flower-carrrying widows of Venice.

*Campo Santa Margherita – on Dorsoduro/Santa Croce border. Great (local) people-watching territory. 

CHURCHES:

Apart from Basilica in St Mark’s Square, make sure to take a look at:

*San Giovanni e Paolo in Castello – massive church and where many Doges are buried.

*Santa Maria dei Miracoli, also in Castello (only two minute walk from San G e P). Small marble-clad church – inside and outside. Locals call it ‘the jewellery box’.

*Angel Raffaele: in Santa Croce. One of my favourites. Made an appearance in Salley Vickers’ book – Miss Garnet’s Angel.

MUSIC:

*Vivaldi looms large in Venice – he was organist at the Pieta church here. Lots of Vivaldi concerts to choose from.

*Musica a Palazzo – opera in a Grand Canal palace. (www.musicapalazzo.com for programme and to book)

*Venice Jazz Club – near Campo Santa Margherita. Small venue, great jazz. (www.venicejazzclub.com)

*La Fenice – Venice’s opera house. Even if not into opera, you can pay (modest enough) to do the tour. Stunning,  recently refurbished after fire of 1996.

EATING OUT:

Cichetti are Venetian tapas and city awash with places that serve them – some better than others. Two of the best places for cichetti:

*Do Mori (not far from Rialto Bridge vaporetto stop or San Silvestro stop) Great choice. Features in Donna Leon’s detective novels.

*Gia Schiavoni (not far from Accademia Bridge vaporetto stop) – across canal from the squero, one of the few remaining  gondola-making boatyards in the city.

Good-value restaurants:

*Antico Panificio – good value, comforting food and an amazing choice of pizzas (more than 50). (San Silvestro vaporetto stop)

*Al Portego – cichetti  and also sit-down food. Great spaghetti vongole (clams) and pasta with asparagus when in season. Good value. (Rialto stop)

*Marisa’s – all meat here, no real menu. (Tre Archi stop on Cannaregio canal)

’Foodie’ restaurants:

*Osteria Santa Marina on Campo Santa Marina – just around corner from Al Portego. (Rialto stop.) Bit stuffy, but great food. Heading towards a Michelin star.

*Alle Testiere – Walk here from St Mark’s or from Rialto. Seats only 22. Book well ahead. Superb, simply executed fish dishes.

RECOMMENDED HOTELS:

*Hotel Santa Marina – hotelsantamarina.it . Great winter ‘specials’, especially November and early December.

*La Calcina – lacalcina.com -  on the Zattere facing Giudecca Canal. Family-run. Again, good winter deals.

*Hotel Flora – hotelflora.it – just five minutes’ walk from St Mark’s Square. Distinctive, small hotel with great atmosphere and delightful small garden.

FLIGHTS:

Aer Lingus from Dublin to Marco Polo (main Venice airport) four times a week until end of October. Twice a week (Tuesday and Saturday) from November to March.

Ryanair from Dublin to Treviso three times a week until end of October. No winter flights with Ryanair.