Five Stars Hotel in Venice

Ca' Rezzonico
To catch a glimpse of what life was like behind the facades on the Grand Canal, visit Ca' Rezzonico, a former palace now housing the Museum of 18th - Century Venice. It is filled with baroque paintings, stucchi, tapestries, Venetian chandeliers and ceilings covered with allegorical paintings. The Rezzonico family were non-Venetians who bought the unfinished palace, and reached their zenith when their second son became Pope Clement XIII. John Singer Sargent once had a studio there, and Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton danced in the ballroom (www.museiciviciveneziani.it).

Peggy Guggenheim Museum
An eclectic mix of 20th-century paintings, from Picasso to Dalì, are hung on white walls...exactly as the indomitable Peggy wanted them. Peggy bought the property, made it her home and opened an art gallery there. She's buried in the garden along with her beloved dogs.

Gallerie dell'Accademia
This is the Venice's single most important art collection with masterpieces by Titian, Giorgione, Bellini, Tintoretto and Veronese.

Santa Maria dei Miracoli Church
Recently restored by the Save Venice Foundation, the church was built between 1481 and 1489 by Pietro Lombardo, and considered one of the hidden gems of Venetian Renaissance architecture. Its multi-hued marble façade is squeezed on the narrow edge of a canal and one of those recommended "off the beaten track" locales. (www.chorusvenezia.org).

Isola San Giorgio Maggiore
Early chronicles of Venice refer to this part of the city as the "Island of Cypresses" with lush fruit and wine gardens. Benedictine monks established one of their most important Italian monasteries in the 10th century on this island. The famed Baroque architect, Andrea Palladio, began his work on the astounding Basilica in 1565. In 1952, Count Vittorio, of the world-renowned Cini Culture Foundation, assumed the patronage and research management of this monastery island. In 1954, in the middle of the lovely Cypress Gardens, architect and acousticians from the Milan Scala "Opera House" created Teatro Verde, an amphitheatre on the green. Visit the incredible library, Biblioteca del Monastero Benedettini...a "must-visit" destination and stroll around this incredible Palladian cloister.

Marciana Library
The great architect Palladio considered this building by Sansovino to be the most beautiful in the world. Tourists flock to see it, but few know they can also go inside to view its treasures. The library was built in the 16th-century to house an amassed collection of Greek and Latin works by Cardinal Bessarion of Terbizond. There are Titian-, Veronese-, Tintoretto- and Schiavon- adorned ceilings and walls, and leather-bound books with spine-stamps in gold with the names of Ptolemy, Euclide, Archimede and Pluto crammed among shelves with volumes and volumes of poetry and philosophy.

Convento of San Francesco del Deserto
This is one of the most important Franciscan convents on one of the most beautiful lagoon islands, Torcello. The grounds boast a magnificent garden with age-old trees. It's worth a stop, a lunch, and if you please, a reservation to sleep in the convent cells.