In alternating summers, those beds are occupied by art lovers: The 52nd Venice Biennale runs through November 21. This year’s film festival—which honors Bernardo Bertolucci, Tim Burton and the spaghetti Western—runs from August 29 to September 8.

If you love a dramatic entrance, after clearing customs go directly to the Venice airport’s water-taxi dock. For 80 or 100 Euros, these low, wood-lined speedboats make your first moments in the city feel like a James Bond chase. If you’re a public-transit aficionado, stop at ACTV (Hellovenezia, 39-041-24-24) for a 30-euro, 72-hour biglietto turistico. The No. 5 bus drives over the causeway to Piazzale Roma, where vaporetti and ferry buses pick up.

A still from Tabaimo’s single-channel video dolefulhouse at the Biennale.

Photo courtesy Gallery Koyanagi, Tokyo and James Cohan Gallery, New York

I stayed at Pensione Seguso (Dorsoduro 779, 39-041-528-6858)—a threadbare relic with paper-thin walls—just down the canal from Gelati Nico (Zattere 922, 39-041-522 5293), which offers delicious nocciola (hazelnut) gelato. It’s been on the Fondamenta Zattere for decades, and there are usually a few sticky children running circles in front of it.

The next day—fortified by the hotel’s strong coffee—I made my way to Giardini della Biennale. This World’s Fair–like art park is home to a mini U.N. of architectural showpieces, which sit empty for most of the year.

This summer’s marquee artists include Britain’s Tracey Emin, France’s Sophie Calle and the United States’ Felix Gonzalez-Torres. Theirs is some of the most anecdotal, accessible and generous contemporary work out there. Emin has been more restrained lately, but might be best known for the tent in which she embroidered the names of everyone she’d ever slept with. Gonzalez-Torres, who died of AIDS in the mid-’90s, left directions for draping strings of lights and giving away candy in his absence.

After you’ve had your fill of modern-day art stars, hit The Accademia (Dorsoduro 1050, 39-041-522-2247), the city’s best museum of not-so-contemporary art. Along the way, stroll through Campo San Trovaso, where an outdoor gondola workshop faces a friendly local wine bar and Gelateria Artigianale lo Squero (Dorsoduro 990, 39-041-241-3601), where they’ve perfected red-grapefruit ice.

Vettor Pisani’s collage Museo Criminale Francese (Teoria della Follia) at the Biennale.

Photo: Fondazione Morra

Alas, beyond dessert Venice isn’t known for food. This might be because its waterways are dedicated to commerce rather than fishing, or because it’s been prey to short-stay tourism for the past few hundred years. Or both. A new generation of wine bars is improving things, like Osteria San Marco (San Marco 1610, 39-041-528-5242), hidden in the chaos of the tourist district. Street food also abounds in Campo Santa Margherita, where you can enjoy a beer and a thin-crust slice from Pizza al Volo (Dorsoduro 2944, 39-041-522-5430) in the piazza.

A trip to Venice isn’t really complete without a trip to the hyperfamous Harry’s Bar (San Marco 1323, 39-041-528-5777). This forefather of the Cipriani empire is an unmarked, low-ceilinged throwback, full of snotty barkeeps who will either turn you away for a cultural infraction like wearing shorts, or bring you the perfect bellini.

When I walked in, I was on my way to the Lido, the long, beachy barrier island between Venice and the Adriatic. If you have a few extra days, bike down the Lido, poke around the Murano glassblowing workshops or explore Torcello—a wild marshy haven whose single destination restaurant (also Cipriani) makes foodies quiver (Locanda Cipriani, 39-041-730-150). But one bellini later, I knew I was headed back for another ice-cream cone on the Zattere instead.

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THE TAB
(four nights, one person)
Flight $1,300
Hotel 700
Transportation 40
Bienniale ticket 20
+ Meals 300
TOTAL $2,360
Delta’s overnight flight from JFK takes about nine hours. A KLM ticket with a morning stopover in Amsterdam can save you a few hundred dollars.