Cannaregio - the Ghetto, the Ca' d'Oro, the real Venice

Together with Castello, Cannaregio is the largest sestiere, and both wear two faces: here you pass from the noise of the Strada Nuova - in Venice the only 'street', so called for its length rather than calle, fondamenta or riva - and of the Lista di Spagna, both full of shops, stalls and hotels, to the quiet and silence of the Fondamenta della Misericordia and the zone of the Ghetto.

In a nutshell: Cannaregio is Venice's most lived-in sestiere, and it wears two faces - the shop-lined Strada Nova on one side, the quiet fondamenta and the Jewish Ghetto on the other. The Ca' d'Oro is the golden palace on the Grand Canal; the churches hold Tintoretto at the Madonna dell'Orto and the marble-clad Miracoli; the Strada Nova links the station to the Rialto; the northern canals run quiet and calm; and the bars and tables are where Venetians actually drink and eat.