Venice day trip suggestion: Torcello

Charming Torcello. Photo: Graeme Churchard

The islands surrounding Venice are a godsend for travelers wanting to veer off the well-beaten Venetian path. Pack a picnic basket lunch and head over to the nearly deserted lagoon island of Torcello to relive Katharine Hepburn’s romantic picnic in the 1955 movie Summertime.

You’ll get lost in Torcello’s tranquil haven of enchanting rose gardens and ancient vineyards. Hemingway fell in love with the place and is even rumored to have written one of his novels on the island.

No Torcello jaunt is complete without a visit to the Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta, a stunning Romanesque church. The Cattedrale’s colorful 12th-century Byzantine mosaics are particularly amazing.

To get to Torcello, take the 12 or T vaporetto.