A visit to La Serenissima, the most Serene Republic, as Venice used to be called, calms the mind, delights the senses, and, like all of Italy, awakens the taste buds. The quality of Italy's food and wine is legendary, and during the Renaissance Venice was most famous for its sophisticated cooking. Although today the city is known more for its art, beauty and peaceful way of life than for its cuisine, Venice does have its own traditional ways of enjoying the fruits of the field.

Arriving in Venice you make your way by foot or boat through a world of ancient wonders: Gothic and Renaissance palaces, ancient stone bridges, gondolas on the canals, busts of angels and faces in bas-relief on the facades of buildings, open-air markets, store windows displaying hand-blown glass, people of all nationalities mingling on the streets.

To read more about Venice's wine bars, click here.