DETAILS

Venice

GETTING THERE: There are no nonstop flights from Washington to Venice. Connecting flights in mid-January start at $486 round trip (Northwest, from Dulles to Venice's Marco Polo International via Amsterdam). Air France has a flight via Paris for $639. You can also fly to London and get a cheap flight; British Airways flies nonstop to Venice for $181 round trip, Alitalia for $211 with a change in Milan.

WHERE TO STAY: Consider an apartment. My wife and I found a spacious two-room flat on a quiet square near the center of the city that cost $990 for six nights. Google "venice apartments" and you'll get at least nine sites, including Moveandstay ( http://www.moveandstay.com/ ) and VeniceApartments ( http://www.veniceapartments.org/ ). Many sites offer virtual tours of the apartments so you will have an idea of what you're getting.

Hotels rates range from about $350 to $825 at the Hotel Danieli (011-39-041-522-6480, http://www.hoteldanielivenice.com/ ), on the water near St. Mark's Square, to about $125 to $220 for a room without a water view at the small but tidy Pensione La Calcina (011-39-041-520-6466, http://www.lacalcina.com/ ) in the Dorsoduro district.

WHERE TO EAT: Venice is littered with cozy cafes and bars that offer small, tasty dishes and sandwiches. It's a great way to get an inexpensive lunch. Tip: It's often cheaper to eat at the bar than at a table.

For dinner, Alle Testiere (Calle del Mondo Novo, Castello, 011-39- 041-522-7220; reservations required) is a tiny, exquisite restaurant specializing in seafood. Entrees run from $17 to $29. L'Osteria di Santa Marina (Campo Santa Marina, Castello, 011-39-041- 528-5239) is not mentioned in many of the guides to Venice, but it's John Berendt's favorite restaurant there. The inventive lunch and dinner entrees run from $20 to $30. Osteria ai Assassini (Rio Terra degli Assassini, San Marco, 011-39- 041-528-7986), not far from La Fenice, is an informal wine bar and restaurant.

WHAT TO DO: Wander. Venice is one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and the way to see it is to walk, to take unexpected turns, to get lost (very easy in Venice, take a map). Around every corner is a fascinating shop, a church chock-full of old masters, a friendly cafe, a shimmering canal, a cobbler turning out one-of-a-kind shoes, a serene bridge that has been arching over exactly that spot for five centuries.

INFORMATION: Tourist Board of Venice , http://www.turismovenezia.it/ Italian Government Tourist Board , 212-245-5618, http://www.italiantourism.com/ .

-- John Pancake