The tower view
All St Mark's before you, the lagoon behind — Venice's finest prospect.
Didier Descouens — CC BY-SA 4.0 · TeKappa — CC BY-SA 4.0 · TeKappa — CC BY-SA 4.0 · TeKappa — CC BY-SA 4.0
San Giorgio Maggiore is the white church you see from St Mark's standing alone on its little island across the water — Palladio's masterpiece with its luminous classical front, the view Monet painted again and again in sunset haze. The church is free and purely Palladian inside: whiteness, geometry and light, with two great Tintorettos at the altar. But the island's secret is its tower: a lift rises to the best view in all Venice — the only one that puts St Mark's Square, the Doge's Palace, the basilica and the campanile together in one frame before you, with the lagoon and its islands behind. The vaporetto ride takes two minutes from San Zaccaria — Venice's shortest sea crossing and its most profitable: a tower with almost no queue and a view that beats St Mark's own campanile.
All St Mark's before you, the lagoon behind — Venice's finest prospect.
The white classicism that taught all Europe how to build.
His spectral Last Supper — among his final works.
Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore, 30133 Venice
Le Stanze del VetroA museum in Venice that does not sell tickets. Entry to Le Stanze del Vetro has 2 minutes walk4.9
The House of the Three EyesAn early twentieth-century house on the Giudecca waterfront, built by the painte6 minutes walk4.8
Doge's PalaceThe Doge's Palace was the seat of the Venetian Republic for centuries: the Doge 7 minutes walk4.8
Bridge of SighsThe Bridge of Sighs is a small covered bridge of white marble crossing the canal7 minutes walk4.7
Giardini RealiA small garden between St Mark's Square and the waterfront in Venice, among the 7 minutes walk4.4For the view, unhesitatingly: from the square's tower you cannot see the square or the tower itself — from here you see both and the whole waterfront. Add no queues and a lower price; the Campanile keeps only height and zero-crossing convenience.
An hour: twenty minutes church, the same for the tower, the rest for the waterfront and little harbour. Best timed before sunset — golden light up top, a burning canal on the ride back.
The Cini Foundation in the old monastery, with exhibitions and a historic library seen by tour, and the Borges hedge labyrinth behind — fine extras given time, though church and tower suffice alone.