Venice, Italy

Is Venice the most beautiful city in the world? You wouldn't get much argument from us if you said so. Everywhere you look here, you're stunned by the sheer beauty of the city's architecture and its absurd wealth of art; by the seemingly organic nature of the place, as if it had grown rather than been built; and by the inventive ways Venetians have found both to adapt their city to the modern world and to ensure that it doesn't simply sink into the lagoon. That eternal tenuousness -- of an ancient city that just keeps managing to stay afloat, no matter what nature and man throw at it -- gives Venice a gauzy, fairy-tale quality. It shouldn't exist, but it does.

The settlement that would become La Serenissima, the Serene Republic of Venice, was founded in the middle of the 5th century by refugees seeking shelter from barbarian invasions of the islands of the Venice Lagoon. In 727, the Venetians elected a duke (doge, in the local dialect) to lead them, thus beginning a system of government that was to last almost 1,100 years, making Venice the world's longest-lived republic. Over the centuries, the republic's power grew as its trading empire expanded, while mudflats, sandbanks, and other hazards of the lagoon proved a mighty defense against invading armies. From 1203 to 1204, the Venetian Doge Enrico Dandolo engineered the sacking of Constantinople (then the world's richest city) by the forces of the fourth crusade, and the transfer of the city's wealth, art treasures, and many of its lands in and around the Adriatic Sea to Venetian control. Today you can still see some of the riches from that period, along with a treasure trove of other paintings and statues, ornate churches and palaces, and other wonders assembled over the centuries of Venice's power.

Coming Ashore in Venice:

Ships generally dock west of the central tourist areas, near the train station and the western end of the serpentine Grand Canal. It's about 15 to 20 minutes by boat to St. Mark's Square, the epicenter of all that is Venice.

Getting Around in Venice:

One of the wonderments of Venice is that it's a major city that does completely without cars. All travel here is either on foot or on the water, the latter via water taxi (which will be pricey) or vaporetto water bus (which is much cheaper). Prices for vaporetto trips are about 6.50€ ($8.60).

Some ships provide free water transfers to a spot near St. Mark's Square.