Tour Venice Like a Star

It's the great sinking city: Venice is a romantic pilgrimage for wide-eye couples holding hands along cobblestone alleyways and cuddling side by side along canals navigated by cigarette-smoking gondoliers in pantaloons.

If not carefully planned, Venice is a bus-and-name tag nightmare of digital cameras and pigeon poop that never seems to get beyond St. Mark's Square. For others, it's a sexy small-town getaway enjoyed within well-selected restaurants and bars accessed via chic wooden motorboats that intersect the island without so much as a touristy ripple.

When to Go

The Venice Film Festival takes place at the end of August (Aug. 27-Sept. 6), with the city ignited by Hollywood parties and tinselly events. Cinema stars make grand entrances along private valet areas and red carpets laid at various festival sites along the Lido and St. Mark's Square.

While most festival packages and credentials are sorted well in advance, tickets are also available on same-day basis at the Piazzale Casino and PalaBiennale.

This year, the festival opens with the Coen Brothers' "Burn After Reading," starring George Clooney. Other stars expected for 2008 include Brad Pitt, Charlize Theron and Anne Hathaway.

Where to Stay

If money is no object, we suggest staying at the Cipriani, where Steven Spielberg, Madonna and Elton John make their temporary Venice home. It's one of the world's most exclusive and expensive hotels, located on a private island along Venice's Grand Canal, with trademark Olympic-size swimming pool and private chauffeur a la antique Riva.

For those looking for even more exclusivity, with the money to spare, Cipriani offers three historic villas available for private rental with room for up to 20 of your closest Hollywood friends.