Theres perhaps no other city in Italy that can leave you as disillusioned.

Illustration by Tanya Cooper.

Source Photos: Getty Images.

Venice Grand Canal from the Rialto Bridge

The Grand Canal.Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Keep walking.

Entrance fees are low, and your money helps preserve these spaces.

Shop smart.

An illustration of Venice.

Illustration by Tanya Cooper. Source Photos: Getty Images. Food Courtesy of Nevodi

Skip the glass trinkets and instead visitArchivio CameraPhoto Epoche, a gallery and boutique overseen by photographer Vittorio Pavan.

It holds more than 300,000 black-and-white images taken in Venice, from the postwar years to the 1980s.

Its a private collection, but it belongs to all of us, Romanelli says.

Santa Maria della Salute in Venice, with the Patriarchal Seminary of Venice of the left.

Santa Maria della Salute, one of the most iconic landmarks in Venice.Hans Peter Schaefer/Wikimedia Commons/CC-BY-SA-3.0-migrated

Sail away.

Take a vaporetto, or water bus, to the northern islands of Burano, Mazzorbo, and Torcello.

Think small.

Fondazione Querini Stampaliais one of the museums most loved by Venetians, says tour guide Luisella Romeo.

The mix of Neoclassical and Rococo is beautifully presented, and theres an incredible art collection, Romeo notes.

It also has the most beautiful gardenin Venice.

Meal plan.

One of her favorites isNevodi,in Castello.

But dont count on getting a same-day table at any of the best spots.

Venice requires that you do your homework and that means reserving in advance, even in the so-called off-season.

Get real.

But those workers disappear on weekends and are replaced by tourists.

Thats why he recommends avoiding weekend trips.