Exploring Venice Beyond the Tourist Trail

Venice gives up its best moments to couples willing to walk a little further than the crowd. Leave the signposted route between the station and St Mark's and the city changes character within a couple of turns: washing strung above a quiet canal, a radio playing through an open window, the slap of water against a moored boat. The trick isn't finding a secret Venice, because there isn't one. It's moving through the known city at different hours and in different directions.

What follows is a gentle plan for two, built around early mornings, standing lunches, hidden gardens and glasses of wine. It works in any season, though spring and late autumn are kindest to walkers.

Begin in Cannaregio, before the city wakes

Head north of the station and you leave the tour groups behind almost immediately. Aim for Fondamenta della Misericordia and the canalside streets around Campo dei Gesuiti. Arrive before nine and you'll share the pavements with people going to work, not to sightsee.

This is the hour for a stand-up coffee. Order a cappuccino if you like, or do as the locals do after ten and take a macchiato at the bar. Drink it standing, pay, and move on. Two coffees and a pastry will cost you less than a single drink in the piazza, and the morning light on the water here is worth more than any queue.

From there, wander towards Madonna dell'Orto and the quieter stretches of the Fondamenta degli Ormesini. Keep your pace slow. This is the Venice that rewards couples who stop to lean on a bridge railing for ten minutes and say nothing at all.

Bacari, cicchetti and the art of standing still

A bacaro is a small Venetian bar, and its food is cicchetti: small plates eaten standing, usually with a glass of wine. This is the most sociable and cheapest way to eat well in the city, and it suits couples perfectly because you can graze across two or three places in an evening.

Look for bars with a handwritten menu, a few people standing outside at half eleven in the morning, and no photographs of the food. Stand at the counter, point at what looks good, and order one or two pieces at a time rather than a great plateful.

• Baccalà mantecato — whipped salt cod on grilled polenta, the city's signature bite
• Sarde in saor — sardines marinated with onions, vinegar, raisins and pine nuts
• Mozzarella in carrozza — a fried cheese sandwich, dangerously moreish
• Polpette — small meatballs, sometimes with a tomato sauce for dipping
• Crostini — toasted bread with liver, anchovy or soft cheese

Ask for un'ombra — literally "a shadow", a small glass of house wine — and settle in. Between six and eight in the evening, the same bars fill with Venetians for aperitivo, which is the best possible hour to be nowhere in particular.

Hidden gardens and green courtyards

Venice is stone and water, but it is greener than visitors expect. Behind high walls and at the edges of the city there are gardens that most people walk straight past, and they are ideal for a slow afternoon together.

The Giardini Reali, tucked behind St Mark's, are small, shaded and surprisingly calm given the crowds a few steps away. At the eastern end of the city, Parco delle Rimembranze near Sant'Elena offers lawns, tall trees and a view across the lagoon — take a picnic, a bottle of something cold and a blanket.

In Castello, the gardens around the exhibition grounds are open for walking for much of the year, and the little green courtyard by Campo San Giacomo dell'Orio in Santa Croce is a lovely place to sit with a book. Many of these spaces close at sunset, so plan them for late morning or early afternoon. Check the word giardino on a paper map before you set out; it will lead you to places no guidebook bothers with.

Wine to seek out, glass by glass

Venice sits between two great wine regions, so the by-the-glass list in a good bacaro is far more interesting than you might expect.

Prosecco is the obvious choice, but try it as the Venetians do: in a spritz made with the wine rather than soda water, or simply as a quartino, a small carafe. For still whites, look for Soave, Ribolla Gialla and Friulano. For reds, Valpolicella is the friendly everyday pour, while Raboso and Refosco give you something darker and more rustic. If you see Tai Rosso on a list, order it — it's a local grape with real character and it rarely travels abroad.

Ask the person behind the bar what they'd drink themselves. In our experience, that single question gets you better wine than any label you recognise.

A slow day, planned for two

Here is a shape for a day that avoids the worst of the crowds without turning your holiday into a timetable.

• 7.30am — coffee standing in Cannaregio, then a walk along the quieter canals
• 9am — ride a water bus along the Grand Canal while it's still calm; a timed pass pays for itself after a couple of journeys
• 11am — the Rialto market for fruit, herbs and lagoon fish
• 1pm — cicchetti crawl, two or three bars, no reservations
• 3pm — a garden, a bench and a rest
• 6.30pm — aperitivo, then dinner somewhere well away from the main routes
• 10pm — a last wander through floodlit squares when the day-trippers have gone

Wear soft-soled shoes, carry a refillable bottle for the public fountains, and accept that getting lost is part of the pleasure. Cross the Grand Canal by traghetto where you can — it's a shared gondola ferry, costs very little and feels like a proper Venetian errand.

Taking the mood home

The best souvenirs from this corner of Italy are edible. Bring back good olive oil, pine nuts, raisins and a bottle of Raboso, and you can rebuild the whole evening at your own kitchen table.

Try sarde in saor at home: fry lightly floured sardines, then layer them in a dish with softened onions, white wine vinegar, a spoonful of sugar, raisins and toasted pine nuts. Leave it overnight in the fridge. It improves for days and needs nothing more than bread and a glass of chilled white. For a main course, a simple prawn risotto made with a good fish stock will taste remarkably close to what you ate beside the canal — especially if you cook it slowly, with a glass of wine in hand and someone you like keeping you company.