Gift Ideas for Venice Lovers: What to Give Someone Obsessed with Venice

They got lost in the calli away from San Marco and felt the city open up. They had cicchetti at a bacaro at six in the evening and understood that Venetian drinking culture is one of the best things in Europe. They came home saying it was nothing like they expected and completely better. Venice people love a city that defies rational explanation, that shouldn't work but does, that is simultaneously dying and completely alive. Here's what to get them.

For the Venice Nerd

Jan Morris' "Venice" is the definitive literary account of the city and one of the finest books of travel writing in the English language. It is required reading for anyone who loves the place. For the art history angle, books covering Titian, Tintoretto, and the Venetian School of painting give depth to what they saw at the Accademia and the Scuola Grande di San Rocco. Donna Leon's Commissario Brunetti crime novels are set so specifically in Venice that reading them is a form of urban memory.

For prints, a vintage Biennale poster from a specific year is collectable and exactly right for the Venice art lover. A Canaletto-style Grand Canal view print or a vintage Carnevale mask illustration from Etsy is another option that suits the Venetian aesthetic.

For the Venice Experience Seeker

A Venetian cicchetti and bacaro tour through GetYourGuide, moving through the Cannaregio and Dorsoduro bars that serve the small plates of the city's drinking culture, is one of the better Venice experience gifts. A gondola building workshop at the Squero di San Trovaso, where you watch or participate in traditional boat building, via Airbnb Experiences is a more unusual alternative.

Venetian glass from Murano, specifically from a named Murano glassblower rather than a tourist shop selling imported glass labelled as Murano, is a specific and beautiful gift. A single handmade glass piece bought directly from a craftsman's studio is worth considerably more than the price suggests.

For the Venice Obsessive Planning Their Next Trip

Venice people want to go back in the off-season. November fog, February Carnevale, the October light before the acqua alta season takes hold. The ConciseTravel Venice guide helps them plan around the city's seasonal rhythms and get beyond the San Marco circuit. Find it on Etsy at https://concisetravelguides.etsy.com/uk/listing/4500248985/venice-city-break-guide-pdf-grand-canal.

A Venice Connected vaporetto pass via Actv covers water transport. For a travel accessory, a handmade Venetian leather journal or a marbled paper stationery set from a Venetian paper shop on Etsy is specific, beautiful, and completely right.

Venice obsessives have been to the most improbable city on earth and liked it. Buy them something equally unlikely to work but completely right.