Travel: 48 Hours in Venice

3pm Ditch your bags and take a stroll along to St Mark's Square. Have your picture taken while feeding the pigeons.

7pm Enjoy dinner at Le Bistrot de Venise and stay until the wee small hours at their wine bar (San Marco, 4685 Calle dei Fabbri, 00 39 041 523 6651).

Saturday, 8am Rise bright and early for breakfast and indulge yourself with one of the invigorating treatments provided by the hotel spa.

11am Take in some art at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection (Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, 00 39 041 240 5411, www.guggenheim-venice.it). Housed in the American collector's former home on the Grand Canal it includes works by Picasso, Kandinsky, Klee and Magritte.

2pm Stock up on wine, bread and cheese from aromatic shop Aliani (Ruga Rialto, 00 39 041 522 4913) and have lunch al fresco.

4pm Go shopping in the Calle delle Mercerie. But if you can't afford pieces from boutiques such as Louis Vuitton and Gucci, confine yourself to window gazing – or just buy a souvenir mask (left) to take home.

6pm Grab a pizza at La Perla (Rio Tera dei Franceschi, 00 39 041 523 0531) – a favourite with locals.

8pm Take in an opera at the historical Teatro La Fenice opera house (Campo San Fantin, 00 39 041 786 575, www.teatrolafenice.it).

Sunday, 7:20am Return flight to Edinburgh.

The Facts Flights from Edinburgh to Venice start at 288 with Lufthansa (0871 945 9747, www.lufthansa.com).

This article was first published in the Scotsman, May 8, 2010