St Mark's Square at sunrise

Napoleon supposedly called it the drawing room of Europe, and at 6am it actually feels like one: an enclosed square of arcades with the basilica's mosaics catching the first light at the east end, pigeons, and the odd street cleaner. By mid-morning it holds more people than anywhere else in the city, so the difference between dawn and 10am here is bigger than at any other location in this catalogue.

Work the sequence: start in the square while it is empty, shoot along the arcades for the repeating-arch frames, then move to the Piazzetta between the two columns as the light reaches the lagoon, with San Giorgio Maggiore floating across the water as your backdrop. The waterfront edge — gondolas moored on the bacino, campanile behind — is the closing shot.

Acqua alta, the seasonal high tide, floods the square a few times each autumn and winter. It is a nuisance in boots and a gift in photographs: the whole basilica doubled in a mirror of water. If it happens during your dates, do not reschedule — go earlier.