From Naples in the south to Milan in the far north - with Rome, Sienna and Florence in between - we’ve enjoyed the delights of Italy’s great cities. But, incomprehensibly, we had never before visited Venice. Yet somehow we felt we knew it intimately, through the paintings of Canaletto, the evocative novels of Donna Leon, and the numerous appearances of La Serenissima on screen.

But nothing quite prepares you for the real thing. We began in style, stepping off the plane at Marco Polo airport and promptly boarding a high-speed water taxi - a motoscafi – for an exhilarating four mile journey across the lagoon, slowing down once we had reached the outskirts of Venice City to savour the sights in a fabulous half-hour glide down its principal, winding waterway, the Canal Grande.

Our destination was the island of Giudecca, in splendid isolation but just a short distance across the Canale della Giudecca from the main city ‘drag’. Here was our resting place for the next three nights – the Hilton Molino Stucky, once one of Venice’s most important industrial buildings (a flourishing flour mill in the 19th and early 20th centuries) but now, since 2007, a five-star hotel featuring 379 impressive rooms and suites.

The hotel takes its name from Swiss-born Giovanni Stucky, the industrial engineer, entrepreneur and patron of the arts (including the Biennalle, which was still running on our trip) who established his mill in 1884. Among his products was the internationally-acclaimed Molino Stucky Super Pasta!

A colourful past then – and certainly a vibrant present. The Hilton Molino Stucky is a busy, lively establishment clearly in demand post-pandemic, a haven across the water after a day’s walking around Piazza San Marco and beyond.

We had a deluxe room with the most thrilling canal-facing view, the beautiful panorama of the houses and churches of southern coast of the main island laid out before us, while the quietly chugging boat traffic in the water provided a constant source of fascination. Our king-sized bed was immediately nap-inducing, while when we needed to be up and about the stylish marbled bathroom contained the most invigorating waterfall shower.

Hotel eateries can be devoid of atmosphere and the food lacking a little in character. Not so the Hilton Molino Stucky with its exceptional Aromi restaurant, whose courtyard by the water we sat in as dusk approached, enjoying our meal while watching the bright orange sun on our left slowly sinking behind one of the city’s sublime churches.

Three days and three nights in this city of such resonant history means merely skimming the surface of available experiences. The main pastime is just getting to know it by wending your way through its labyrinth of narrow streets and alleyways and over some of its 391 bridges, a delightful square with an accompanying beautiful church invariably awaiting you around the next corner.

The latter provides you with a cool refuge from the baking sun and the crowds – and always there is an exceptional piece of artwork to appreciate. The 16th century Venetian School may not have rivalled its Florentine counterpart, but there is much to admire in its characteristically rich colouring, its emphasis on patterns and surfaces, and its strong interest in the effects of light.

To continue our cultural journey, we headed west of Piazza San Marco to Campo San Fantin, and the Teatro La Fenice. This gorgeous opera house – a luxuriant fusion of gilt, plush and stucco – was the setting for a murder backstage in Donna Leon’s novel Death at La Fenice, the first (of many) outing for her world weary detective Guido Brunetti.

No crime scene to observe on our tour, but we were fortunate to stumble onto a fascinating exhibition about Maria Callas, one of La Fenice’s greatest ever singers. It was through performances here that Callas shifted from being identified as a Wagnerian voice to a masterful interpreter of Italian opera.

It’s easy to be detained by the attractions of the city’s central areas, San Marco and San Polo, but we had a wider trip we wanted to make. We walked to the less well-trodden north-western district of Cannaregio, to visit Ghetto. The word is of course commonly associated with the forced enclosure of Jews in World War Two – but it actually originated here in Venice in 1516, when the governors defied an order from the Pope to expel all Jews from the city and instead opted to effectively lock them into the small enclave of Ghetto for their safety.

It’s still home to a small community of Jews, and the quietly atmospheric, expansive main square – Camp di Ghetto Nuovo – which is surrounded by buildings unusually tall for Venice, boasts a good café, a few shops and an excellent museum. And on one side of the square there are a series of poignant bronze bas-relief panels made by the Jewish artist Arbit Blatas, depicting various aspects of the Holocaust – deportation, forced labour, and executions. By the time the Nazis arrived in September 1943 many Venetian Jews had fled, but 150 were rounded up and sent to concentration camps.

We had packed a lot into our three days in the watery city, but it was time to take the train west to Como for the second half of our trip. The vast, deep water of Lake Como, framed against an awesome landscape of steep, pine-covered mountains, was an excellent contrast to the busy lagoon and cityscape we had left behind. We were staying at the sister Hilton hotel, situated on the outskirts of town but commanding spectacular views of the western end of the lake and just a short walk from it.

The Hilton Lake Como is a welcoming establishment with a youthful feel to it – a ‘new generation’ hotel welcoming families, business travellers and couples. Like its counterpart in Venice, the building was once a mill, only once producing silk rather than flour. And like its cousin, the staff have an energy and efficiency to be admired.

Of its 170 rooms, some have views of the lake, while others come with balconies facing inwards to the courtyard. We had one of the latter, a good spot to finish the latest Donna Leon book, and settle down in a nicely furnished room in modern style with comfortable bed and attractive bathroom.

One of the delights of the Hilton Lake Como is the rooftop eternity swimming pool, which is a good size for doing lengths, especially if you make it there early in the morning before breakfast to beat the inevitable crowds. A perfect way to set up your day. By night the adjoining terrace hosts a very lively bar and restaurant.

The queues for water transport looked long, so instead we elected to hire a car for the day and drive up to Bellagio, perched at the tip of the promontory straddles the two branches of Lake Como and Lake Lecco. A left-hand drive car on an often winding cliff top road was challenging, but a pretty hillside town awaited with elegant cafes, bars and shops along its arched promenade.

Keen to get out onto the lake – and escape the crowds – we hopped on a ferry for the 15-minute crossing to Lake Como’s eastern shore and the village of Varenna, where we wandered past colourful houses and through a beautiful botanical garden before taking lunch at a café on the Riva Grande lakefront.

Generously, the hotel allowed us to have a very late check-out before we caught a train to Milan and our late night flight back to Stansted. Post pandemic, it was great to stretch our travelling muscles once again. Arrivederci, Bella Italia!

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