Caffé Florian, in the heart of Venice’s buzzing St Mark’s Square, has been serving coffee, wine and sweet treats for centuries. Opened in 1720, the bar was even used as a makeshift hospital during the 1848 Revolutions. It was also a regular haunt of legendary womaniser Casanova because it admitted women, a rarity for such establishments in the 18th century. All this history and the opulent interior – all red velvet seats and gilded mirrors – still pull in the crowds today.

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