WHY GO NOW?

Venice in winter is magnificent. If the weather is bright and cloudless the light has a magical, intense quality. If it's cold and wet, you'll find acres of space in the glorious galleries and museums. At this time of year, there are barely any tourists in this beautiful city . . . even though the place is arguably looking its best.

TOUCH DOWN Ryanair has flights departing tomorrow from Dublin to Treviso airport outside Venice for 19.99 one way, excluding taxes.

Return flights for Friday 12 January are currently 14.99, excluding taxes. Log on to www. ryanair. com. Treviso airport is 35km north of Venice, flights connect with an ATVO Eurobus service to Venice's Piazzale Roma (1). Venice's Marco Polo airport is served by Aer Lingus (www. aerlingus. com) and British Midland (www. flybmi. com) from Dublin. You can fly next week with Aer Lingus for 14.99 departing and around 49 return, depending on the day you choose. British Midland fares departing next week start at 116 from Dublin, with a return fare from 126. You can also make a water connection: the Alilaguna fast ferry costs 12 and departs every hour for an hour's journey to the ferry stop at Piazza San Marco (2) via Lido.

GET YOUR BEARINGS The city is divided into six districts. San Marco, in the middle, is the biggest magnet for visitors and contains the leading sights, as well as the greatest number of hotels and restaurants. San Polo, immediately to the west, is the old commercial centre and is home to the Rialto markets. West again are the tiny and less trodden streets of Santa Croce; north is Cannaregio, where the old Jewish ghetto is set. South is Dorsoduro with the city's major art collections. To the east is Castello with some fine churches and palaces. The most central tourist offices (00 39 041 529 8711; www. turismovenezia. it) are at Piazza San Marco 71/F (3), which is open daily 9am-3.30pm; and in the Venice Pavilion (4) off the Royal Gardens, open daily 10am-6pm.

CHECK IN For exclusivity and atmosphere, book into the Hotel Gritti Palace (5), below, on the Grand Canal west of Piazza San Marco at Campo Santa Maria del Giglio (00 39 041 794611; www. hotelgrittivenice. com); doubles from 430 including breakfast). This 16thcentury palace became a glittering hotel in 1948 and has hosted celebrities such as Ernest Hemingway and Greta Garbo.

Just off Piazza San Marco at Calle dei Fabbri 4680 stands the Palace Bonvecchiati (6) (00 39 041 296 3111; www. llhotels. com), a sleek boutique hotel that opened in 2004.

Doubles from 190 including breakfast. As well as 70 contemporary-chic bedrooms with black marble bathrooms, the hotel offers a "wellness" centre with jacuzzi, sauna and steam room. In the Dorsoduro district, an excellent budget option is Pensione La Calcina (7) on Fondamenta Zattere ai Gesuati (00 39041 520 6466; www. lacalcina. com); doubles from 99.

TAKE A VIEW The tallest building in Venice is the Campanile (8), standing 98.5m high on Piazza San Marco. You can go to the top daily 9.30am-4.15pm for 6. At this time of year you'll get instant access to the lift that whisks you up to the viewing platform.

WINDOW SHOPPING Get into the festive spirit at Campo Santo Stefano (9) with its Christmas market. The Alpine stalls sell specialist foods from across Italy, wooden crafts and decorations.

TAKE A HIKE Meander down to the Ponte dell'Accademia (10) to begin a walk in an area popular with locals for a passeggiata. Cross the bridge and turn left at the Accademia (11) and then right down the side of the gallery until you reach the waterfront, with Santa Maria del Rosario ai Gesuati (12) on the corner; open 10am-5pm daily except Sunday, 2.50. This fine building by Giorgio Massari contains works by Tintoretto and Giambattista Tiepolo. Turn right along the Zattere, a busy quay with wonderful views across to Guidecca island. Turn right again down Rio Trovaso and, as you walk along the canalside, look left to see the little shipyard of Squero San Trovaso (13) where gondolas are repaired and built. Cross over the Ponte San Trovaso and turn left past San Trovaso church (14), which opens 8-11am and 3-6pm daily, admission free, and houses paintings by Tintoretto. Continue over the next bridge and back down to the Zattere where you turn right. Take the next turning right up Calle Trevisan over Rio Ognissanti and up Fondamenta di Borgo. Turn right and then right again into Calle Toletta, cross Rio Trovaso and return to the Ponte dell'Accademia along Calle Corfu.

LUNCH ON THE RUN Two of the city's most atmospheric bars are just north of the markets by the Rialto bridge. In the narrow street of Calle do Mori (15), behind the church of San Giovanni Elemosinario, choose between the Do Mori bar and All-Arco Calle dell'Occhiale where the cicheti, or bar snacks, include veal liver, and ricotta and ham rolls.

CULTURAL AFTERNOON Palazzo Ducale (16) . . . Doge's Palace . . . gives an intriguing insight into the workings and wealth of the Venetian republic, particularly if you take a 90-minute 'secret itinerary' tour of rooms not usually open to the public.

It opens 9am-5pm daily. The admission fee of 12 also gives access to all the museums in Piazza San Marco; or 13 for a secret itinerary tour for the palace only, to be booked at the ticket office the day before.

The Accademia (11) (00 39 041 520 0345; www. gallerieaccademia. org) houses an amazing collection spanning five centuries of Venetian art. Among the star attractions are Giorgione's 'The Tempest', a pieta by Titian and Paolo Veronese's 'Feast in the House of Levi'. It opens 8.15am-7.15pm Tuesday-Sunday and 8.15am-2pm Monday, 6.50. Further south down the Grand Canal is a superb display of modern art. During the 1950s, Palazzo Venier dei Leoni (17) was home to the American heiress Peggy Guggenheim, who opened her art collection to the public. After her death the palace became a museum showing her works by Picasso, Miro, Kandinsky and Max Ernst (towhom she was married). It opens 10am-6pm daily except Tuesday, 10 (00 39 041 240 5411; www. guggenheim-venice. it).

AN APERITIF Step into the wonderfully panelled and frescoed Caffe Florian (18) on Piazza San Marco. Order a spritz . . . a traditional Venetian aperitif of white wine with soda and a shot of Campari . . . and relish the atmosphere of Proust's and Byron's former haunt. To avoid spending a small fortune here, don't sit at a table but stand at the bar.

DINNER WITH THE LOCALS The Agli Alboretti restaurant (19), at Rio Terra Foscarini 884, (00 39 041 5230058;
www. aglialboretti. com) . . . once a favourite of Peggy Guggenheim . . . was reinvigorated this year with the arrival of new chef Pierluigi Lovisa. He serves dreamy, innovative dishes such as carpaccio of John Dory scented with liquorice ( 16) and swordfish and scallops sprinkled with ginger ( 26).

SUNDAY MORNING . . . TAKE A RIDE See the most glorious of Venice's palace facades from the Grand Canal aboard a vaporetto, the local waterbus. An hour's ride costs 5. Vaporettos 1 and 82 run between the railway station at one end of the canal and the church of Santa Maria della Salute at the other.

THE ICING ON THE CAKE Stand on the Rialto bridge and gaze southwards. With the view of palace facades and boats and bustling gondolas, coupled with the effect of light refracted from the water, it is like a living Canaletto painting.