Venice in winter: Where happiness is a tradition

Do you know the winter blues that make you melancholy but happy at the same time? Then travel to Venice now, the city has enormous addictive potential - as a true connoisseur, our author Claudia Bette-Wenngatz prefers to visit the lagoon during the cold season.

Let's start with the greatest compliment I can pay as a devoted admirer of a grande dame like the Serenissima: Even in bad weather, you find it simply enchantingly beautiful! It can be cold and damp in Venice in winter, rainy and foggy. But the light is velvety soft, just a few rays of sun transform even the dilapidated palaces into pastel-colored gems, small bridges and narrow alleyways are now almost deserted and reveal the magic of hidden corners. Quiet melancholy hovers over the canals, and only a few gondolas glide almost silently through the waterways. Piazza San Marco and the smaller campi and campielli are once again what they used to be: a backdrop for the hustle and bustle of the city, where I start my day with a morning read and an espresso and end it late at night with a glass of wine, "un ombra" and plenty of "ciacolar", a cozy chat in Venetian.
What a feeling of happiness: as soon as I wake up in my room and then at breakfast in the Hotel Gabrielli, I look across the Riva della Schiavoni, the famous waterfront promenade, to the church of San Giorgio Maggiore, which is already bathed in an unreal light in the morning. Sitting here, watching Venetians buying newspapers at the kiosk (those who buy here still read analog!), is already like pure meditation in a city that sometimes seems to have fallen out of time.
I am in the newest and yet one of the most traditional hotels in the city, which was reopened in summer after five years and is now revealing its true charm as a hideaway in the lagoon city in winter. Grand Tour travelers from the Orient Express have stayed in the 14th century palazzo, and its excellent location - very close to St. Mark's Square and yet away from the tourist center - has always made it a "home away from home" for artists and intellectuals. Now in its fifth generation of private ownership, the owner, Francesca Perkhofer, and her family decided to carry out a general renovation to create a 5-star luxury hotel, with a reduction from 120 to just 66 generously designed rooms and suites. However, the very special atmosphere of the hotel, consisting of several historic buildings, with one of the largest private gardens in Venice and a roof garden bar with the best view over the rooftops of the city and the lagoon, was carefully preserved - and enriched by many documents from the guest book, which were distributed throughout the hotel. Add to this the star-worthy cuisine of Mirko Pistorello in the atmospheric Felice restaurant, named after the fiancée of the writer Franz Kafka, who wrote letters home from here.

CARNEVALE DI VENEZIA 2026, the spectacle will take place from January 31 to February 17

" HOTEL GABRIELLI reopens legendary hotel in a legendary location "



UNARDELLI cabinetmaking since 1967


With numerous artistic and local handcrafted design details such as lamps by the famous designer Mariano Fortuny, fabrics by Rubelli and antique glass chandeliers from Murano, the Auletta design studio from Milan has created an ambience in which past and present have entered into a successful symbiosis. Due to its close proximity to the Arsenale and the Giardini, the hotel - now under the management of the family-run Starhotels Collezione - will be a hotspot during the next art biennale (from May to November 2026), which this time takes place together with "Homo Faber", an exhibition of creative arts and crafts on San Giorgio Maggiore.

" NARDI fine address for the finest treasures "

Private visit to traditional artisan workshops

Throughout the year, hotel guests can enjoy the Starhotels project "La Grande Bellezza" and visit exclusive artisan workshops such as wood manufacturers, mask workshops, art palaces and the Teatro La Fenice. For me, one of the best experiences in the lagoon city is always simply drifting along the canals, which is easily possible in winter before the carnival season without large crowds: over small and large bridges, through countless winding alleyways, past classy boutiques and original stationery and mask stores, across romantic squares and into tiny trattorias and café bars, where you can now also meet some of Venice's population of just under 50,000. They try to avoid the tourist hustle and bustle as much as possible, like the dedicated German writer Petra Reski (latest book All'Italiana), who has lived here for over 30 years, and her husband Lino Lando, a Venetian who is reviving the artistic legacy of the Spanish-born all-round artist Mariano Fortuny in his stores in Dorsoduro and San Marco.

VENICE FANS writer Petra Reski, fashion entrepreneur Lino Lando and CC author Claudia Bette-Wengatz (from left)



On my walks in the winter silence, I can once again clearly hear the sounds of Vivaldi or Mozart, luring me like a siren song into concerts in hidden churches and palazzi. The Violino d'Oro boutique hotel, once a hostel for artists, was named after a golden violin and opened around two years ago as a small, fine, family-run boutique hotel in three 17th century palazzo buildings with just 32 rooms. Sarah Maestrelli and her aunt Elena have created a little gem here, just three minutes from Piazza San Marco and yet hidden away on a small side canal with a gondola station. It quickly became an insider tip for artists and actors, who can still maintain their privacy here even during the famous film festival. Quiet luxury is celebrated here, with local craftsmanship, valuable materials and sustainable cuisine with fresh produce from the lagoon and the neighboring vegetable islands such as Sant'Erasmo.
From here, I can take the gondola or the vaporetto, Venice's floating bus, to see the most beautiful palaces on the Grand Canal. And I can easily get a seat, which is like winning the lottery in high season. Typical Venetian districts such as Dorsoduro or Cannaregio are now revealing their almost rural charm again, and the local market around the Rialto Bridge is once again firmly in the hands of cheerfully haggling Italian traders and housewives. If you take a boat over to the glass-blowing island of Murano or to the small sister islands of Burano and Torcello in winter, you will experience a journey back in time to what Venice must have been like many decades ago.

The sounds of Mozart and Vivaldi lure you into hidden churches and palazzi.

Over an espresso or a hot chocolate at Caffè Florian on St. Mark's Square, which opened in 1720 and is the oldest coffee house in Italy, I plan a visit to Palazzo Fortuny, a small, very special museum palace in the San Marco district, accompanied by live concert music with piano and violin in the shadow of the Campanile, as well as a guided tour of the famous Scuola Grande di San Rocco with paintings by Titian, Tiepolo and Tintoretto or a trip to the Guggenheim Museum, a mecca of modern art. But not without at least taking a look at Nardi's shop windows a few steps away from the Florian. The jewelry from the "jeweler to kings" is so special because it reflects Venetian craftsmanship to perfection. Here, too, what is a tourist hotspot during the season is an insider's hangout in winter.

For a cocktail with José Carreras

At the aperitivo in the famous Arts Bar at The St. Regis Venice on the Grand Canal, you will meet an international travel community that is as affine to Venice as it is wealthy, as well as famous regulars such as tenor José Carreras and conductor Daniel Harding, who perform at La Fenice in the evening. The luxury hotel fascinates above all with its very design- and art-oriented lifestyle ambience. Claude Monet once lived here and painted his famous Venice pictures, which is reflected in the exclusive Monet suites - equipped with probably the most beautiful private roof terraces the city has to offer. The famous gallery owner Adriano Berengo celebrates contemporary glass art at the St. Regis, while the bar serves cocktails from glasses inspired by Banksy, Mondrian and Andy Warhol. Over lunch on the terrace on the Grand Canal, which is also open in winter, I can think about whether the dress from the latest collection by Patricia Pepe or Max Mara would be a sensible addition to my closet or whether I'd be better off buying a pair of chic rubber boots: for Acqua Alta, the flood, which is of course always to be expected at this time of year. After all, MOSE, the flood protection system, only kicks in when the water reaches a height of 1.30 meters ...

' THE VENICE VENICE HOTEL with a box seat above the city '


ST. REGIS Luxury residence on the Grand Canal '




VIOLINO D'ORO music to the ears of 5* fans

The carnival once lasted several months

In winter - until the start of Carnival on January 31, 2026 - Venice belongs to the Venetians again on many days, when they can even enjoy a gondola ride through the canals or a dinner in the Michelin-starred restaurant on St. Mark's Square, attractions that regain their very special charm in a Venice almost without tourists. I can also get a seat in traditional gourmet restaurants like the Antico Martini during this time without having to book in advance. For "un ombra de vin", a glass of wine in a bàcaro, the small bar, Venetians prefer to meet in the area around Rialto, and the tables in the Bancogiro restaurant are in great demand after a visit to the market. If you want to relax at the highest level after long walks, book one of the signature treatments in the spa of the noble Aman Venice, the hotel where George Clooney got married, and look out over the Grand Canal. The view of the city's main artery is one of the most fascinating moments of a visit to Venice at any time of day or year, and not just for me. Of course, this also applies to the time when Venice awakens from its Sleeping Beauty slumber to transform itself from a gently dozing princess into a queen of the carnival. In the Commedia dell'Arte era, the heyday of the masquerade in the 18th century, when the people of the Serenissima played at being the wrong side of the world, the masks blended class differences and the beautiful illusion was intended to displace the harshness of everyday life, the carnival lasted for several months. In 1797, Napoleon put an end not only to the Republic of Venice, but also to the carnival. In 1979, the city council revived the old tradition, but only for a few days (2026 from 31.1.-17.2.).

" FORTUNY An institution for fashion and interior design "



When mysterious figures once again stand on the Rialto Bridge, fantasy figures stride through the alleyways and magnificently masked couples lean against the gondoliers' landing stage like a painting, the lagoon city becomes a huge stage with probably the most beautiful "ballroom" in the world: Piazza San Marco. In front of the Doge's Palace, Venetians and foreigners are transformed into jugglers, pranksters, sorcerers, colombines and majestic queens. There is no loud carnival music to be heard, no jesters shouting through the streets. The secret of the Venetian carnival is its romantic, quiet magic, which is not lost even when the city is bursting at the seams. If you want to party like the Venetian princes, visit the "Ballo del Doge" (14.2.2026), organized by Venetian Antonia Sautter in the atmospheric Palazzo Misericordia, a historic institution in the Cannaregio district. Hollywood stars and Italian aristocrats have already hidden behind magnificent masks and in historical costumes here. Tickets, including dinner, are highly coveted and the experience was even voted one of the "Top Ten Events to do in a Lifetime" by Vanity Fair magazine. Then the Serenissima will once again have the glamor it deserves. Even if I have to share my great love with many people again these days ...

ANTONIA SAUTTER invites you to Venice's most exclusive ball event.

Hotels in the lagoon city

HOTEL GABRIELLI VENEZIA
LHW hotel opened in summer 2025 with 66 rooms and suites at 5-star level directly opposite the island of San Giorgio Maggiore. Roof garden with views over the lagoon and city, between Piazza San Marco and the Giardini.
www.collezione.starhotels.com

SPLENDID VENICE
Located right in the heart of Venice, this hotel with 165 rooms and suites and an atmospheric roof terrace also offers interesting encounters with artists and guided tours of artisan workshops.
collezione.starhotels.com

VIOLINO D'ORO
Intimate boutique hotel, 5 minutes from St. Mark's Square, 32 rooms in three 17th century palazzo buildings. Personal family project with Italian design and craftsmanship. Restaurant Il Piccolo with 9 tables, cooking school and cocktail classes. Member of Leading Hotels of the World.
www.violinodoro.com

ST. REGIS VENICE
Luxurious 5* accommodation on the Grand Canal with 124 rooms and 39 suites, various restaurants and bars such as Gio's Restaurant & Terrace and the Arts Bar as well as a spa and fitness center.
www.marriott.com

THE VENICE VENICE HOTEL
A few steps from the Rialto Bridge, designed by the Golden Goose founders. Classic palace architecture meets experimental design. With numerous works of art and a very trendy restaurant right on the Grand Canal.
www.venicevenice.com

" SWEET TASTING at Gio's in the St. Regis Venice "