Hotels near San Giorgio Maggiore

Andrea Palladio laid the first stone of this church in 1566 and the main structure was standing by 1576, with the facade finished between 1597 and 1610. The bell tower is not the original: the 1467 campanile collapsed in 1774 and Benedetto Buratti's replacement, 75 metres tall, went up in 1791. It has a lift, which is the whole point during Carnival: height without the stair climb, and without the queue across the water in Piazza San Marco.

What you see from the top is the Carnival as a shape rather than a crush: Piazza San Marco, the Riva degli Schiavoni, the traffic on the Bacino di San Marco and the costumed crowd reduced to specks of colour moving along the waterfront. The basilica below is free to enter and holds Tintoretto's Last Supper and his Entombment. The campanile costs 8 euros for adults and 6 euros reduced, and opening runs 9:30 to 18:30 Monday to Saturday, with Sunday access cut around services.

The downside is the crossing. San Giorgio Maggiore is 500 metres from Piazza San Marco but the only public way over is the line 2 vaporetto from San Zaccaria, and on Carnival's peak weekends that pontoon is one of the worst pinch points in the city. Boats leave full, and losing 30 minutes in a queue for a 3-minute crossing is normal on the middle Sunday. The lift also takes only a handful of people at a time and the viewing chamber at the top is small, so there is a second queue up there.

Pro Tip: Cross on the first line 2 departure after 09:00 from San Zaccaria, before the day's costumed crowd gathers on the Riva degli Schiavoni. Buy the 8 euro campanile ticket at the desk inside the basilica and go up before you look round the church, not after.