Walking around...

While in Venice there are so many things you cannot afford to miss. The interior of San Marco is probably the most obvious of these but try and avoid the crowds by visiting at either end of the day and allow plenty of time to look around the vast Palazzo Ducale next door as well.
The Piazza San Marco and the adjacent Piazzetta also contain other attractions like the Libreria Sansoviniana, the Campanile, the Torre Orologico and the Museo Archeologico.

A trip along the Grand Canal is an unforgettable experience and be sure to call in at one of the great Palazzi, possibly Ca Rezzonico or Ca d’Oro
Another unmissable experience is a night at the opera at La Fenice – it’s only a few minutes walk from the Luna Hotel. It is fascinating to take an early morning walk around the Rialto fruit and vegetable and fish markets to see the wonderful array of ingredients that restaurants have at their command.
A walk up to Castello as far as the Arsenale or a Sunday stroll along the Zattere in Dorsoduro are also a great pleasure . If you have time. try a visit to some of the islands like Torcello, Burano and Murano. Art lovers will not want to leave Venice without a visit to the Museo Correr just around the corner, the Accademia, the Scuola San Rocco, or the magnificent Frari. In the same block as the hotel is the famous Harry’s Bar where Hemingway once passed the time. This brief list of suggestions still overlooks many other splendid places to visit. But you will be back again, for sure

La Serenissima, the most serene republic of Venice began when the isolated ancient fishing settlements in the 118 tiny islands of the lagoon were swelled by mainland residents trying to escape the barbarian invasions of Attila the Hun around the middle of the first century. The small island of Torcello was the main area of settlement to begin with and a cathedral was established there in 639 but malaria drove many away and by the following century the area around Rialto became Venice’s centre.
In the early years the inhabitants looked towards Byzantium for their political hierarchy but in 726 the Venetians chose their first Doge and established their own provincial government and by 814 work had begun on the first Palazzo Ducale.
The first Basilica San Marco was built by 832 while the one we see today was started in the 11th century and embodies these Byzantine influences.

The city prospered as a great maritime trading nation with a far flung empire culminating in its capture of Constantinople in 1204 and for centuries had sufficient wealth to become patrons of the greatest art and architecture.
By the eighteenth century it had lost its military and naval power and became a city of aristocratic decadence, famous for its exotic parties and gambling until Napoleon arrived in 1797 to end ducal power and hand the city over to his Austrian allies. It continued to be a popular place with writers, musicians and such as Ruskin, Wagner, Browning, Stravinsky and Pound. The absence of vehicles in the city means that the unspoilt character has been preserved and the city still attracts millions of tourists year after year.