Seasonal pumpkin pizzas in Venice: which would you choose? Mine's the pumpkin, gorgonzola and walnut option and it's delicious. Find all the best locations and my favourite addresses for food in my Venice guidebook www.italyheaven.co.uk/veneto/venic...

Ian Rankin receiving the 2025 Venice Noir award, a Murano glass dagger. A festival in fab historic settings that combines autumnal Venice, books and crime (plus advice on murder methods) - plan ahead to be here for next year's edition #VeniceNoir

I don't think I've ever been dolphin-spotting in the Venetian lagoon before. Thrilling but also worrying to see 'Mimmo' in this busy waterway by St Mark's. My second sighting from the vaporetto today #Venice www.instagram.com/stories/autu...

I got glimpses this morning of the dolphin that has chosen to live in the lagoon near St Mark's (an attempted relocation failed yesterday; he came back). #Venice

After-dark Venice from the Accademia bridge this evening. I'd just passed a gondolier trying to entice a Spanish couple into booking his last tour for the noche

Venice Noir in the glamorous Ateneo Veneto. I switched to an early flight so I could get here in time for this interesting discussion about the many Venices in books, popular culture & the imagination #venicenoir

Hello Venice

From the archive: walking along the Murazzi, the great walls protecting Venice's lagoon from the sea. An unforgettable stroll italyheaven.blogspot.com/2016/04/veni...

Looking through some of my Venice photos and here's one that I like: early signs of spring, St Mark's Square (March 2024). Blue skies and optimism

Planning to come to Venice Noir in November? Well, it's time yo put down your name for free tickets to the events you'd like to attend. I explain a bit more here... davidhewson.com/free-tickets...

The dramatic Hogarth Stair at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London - restored and open to the public 2/3 times a week. bartsnorthwing.org.uk/history-and-...

Italy to launch a festive rail service linking Rome with the magical Christmas markets in Arezzo.

I'm wearing tweed, cashmere, corduroy and MMM By The Fireplace and working in a library - autumn is definitely arrived in London 🍂

Bath Botanical Gardens today

The Combe Down Art Trail this weekend has been a wonderfully varied experience of art, with so many different styles and media to appreciate around the village. I really fell for some of the pieces! Lots of beautiful affordable art and gifts to buy too www.cdarttrail.com

What would Jane Austen think if she looked out of her window into the future and saw today's Jane Austen Festival promenade passing her Gay St lodgings in Bath? #JaneAustenFestival #JaneAusten

Regency ladies in the landscape 😍. The Jane Austen Festival is back and attendees are out and about enjoying sunshine between showers at Prior Park Landscape Garden #janeaustenfestival

Yesterday's RBO Tosca rehearsal. Set in 1800 yet somehow also the 1980s, with a justifed content warning for 'gore' & no concessions to an audience looking for beauty or sightlines. Gorgeous singing from Anna Netrebko & Freddie De Tommaso, but I'll miss the previous production

Today in Venice it's the feast day of St Roch/San Rocco, plague saint & useful instrument of healthcare messaging. Mass & celebrations still take place every 16th August, as painted by Canaletto. And there's €1 admission to the Scuola Grande di San Rocco www.scuolagrandesanrocco.org/home/

A poem from this morning.

Back from seeing Shakespeare/Marlowe two-hander Born with Teeth. Edward Bluemel is fantastic as Shakespeare,  a booming Ncuti Gatwa has a lot of tittering fans, the play has its moments (but I'd have liked more of them)

One of my favourite Venetian secrets. Because of course you want to know who's arriving at your elegant, decadent or political gathering. Read about this & many other secrets from the city's past in my Venice guidebook: www.italyheaven.co.uk/veneto/venic... #Venice

Somerset countryside

What a wonderful Summer Performance by the Jette Parker Artists yesterday at Covent Garden. Great young artists and witty staging - and only £5 for my ticket

Cycle out into the Venetian lagoon - discover rural scenery & Roman history on an excursion from Venice to sleepy Lio Piccolo www.italyheaven.co.uk/venice/lio-p...

Poor Clare at @orangetreetheatre.bsky.social today: a touching, humorous & ultimately hard-hitting 'Clueless'-style take on the story of St Clare. Excellent performances & well-worth a trip to Richmond.

Street art on Venice's mainland

Coming up in Venice: the year's biggest party www.italyheaven.co.uk/veneto/venic...

I passed Sant'Eufemia on the Giudecca every day last week hoping to find the church open, and I finally struck lucky when I was pulling my suitcase to the ferry jetty on departure. Ancient origins, picturesque garden, St Roch altarpiece by Bartolomeo Vivarini #Venice

I was very happy to return to the monks' garden behind the Redentore church to see it in summer for the first time. Heavy scents, the sound of cicadas, flowers, grapes on the vine & that same sense of peace #Venice

British Airways have sent me a survey after my flight asking how they can make their service more 'British'. I've suggested beginning announcements with 'What ho!' or 'If you wouldn't mind terribly'. Should cover all eventualities

Waterfront lunch at La Palanca, as recommended in my freshly-updated Venice guidebook (buy it for more top tips!). Summery vegetarian pasta with yellow & green courgettes & courgette flowers, classic fondi di carciofi & a glass of ribolla gialla, plus chocolate and almond cake

Yesterday evening this fluffy Giudecca cat came to keep me company on a bridge. Today he was snoozing on a restaurant windowsill. A bold, sociable and popular cat - I saw him sitting with a dog the other day, & today a young American boy was looking for him #venice

Every Thursday morning outside the women's prison in Venice (on the Giudecca) there's a market stall selling organic vegetables, fruit & cosmetics produced by the inmates. I bought myrrh-scented soap & handcream. There's a new handcrafts shop on Salizada S Pantalon malefattevenezia.it

Evening light #Venice

Today I went on a boat and bike adventure from Venice and explored a place I've never been before

Good morning from Venice! A fresh feel in the air today. I'm setting off on an adventure. More later...

Gondoliers exchanging news. A little Venice moment this afternoon as I crossed a bridge

Lightning incoming #venice

Venice this afternoon. One of my favourite views

I treated myself to a delicious lunch at my favourite restaurant in Venice, La Zucca, to celebrate finishing my massive guidebook update

Venice news: the 2025 edition of my Venice guidebook is LIVE. Hugely detailed, months in the updating, the same favourite walks and sights, but with a few super additions, updated prices, layouts etc. Share my off-the-beaten-track Venice! amzn.eu/d/4IhENAC

Wind Spirit (max 148 passengers) in Venice tonight with a storm for a backdrop. One of the cruise ships that's small enough to be permitted to dock here

The lovely waterfront garden of the Villa Hériot on the Giudecca, and the sound of cicadas #venice

Years ago I drafted a walking itinerary around the Giudecca, like the walks I created for my guidebook (which had great reviews!) - maybe I should revisit my notes and publish it. There's a lot to discover on this secretive island

Housing complex by Gino Valle on the Giudecca island, Venice, 1980. There's some really interesting modern architecture around the island including low-cost and social housing

View from the Giudecca

Cloister cats, Venice (Giudecca)

Evening walk, Venice

Now one of my favourite Venetian secrets - cool down and join me on my February walk through the tranquil monastery garden behind the Redentore church in Venice with its hidden lagoon views and sunny café tables. I'm hoping to revisit soon to see it in summer youtu.be/3SyQQ28HI9A