We first visited Venice more than a decade ago. Attempting to make the drive from Paris in a single day, we arrived sometime in the early morning hours and ended up sleeping in our rental car (a tiny grey Peugeot 206) to save money on a hotel. Unfortunately, it seems St Martha, the patron saint of hoteliers, was watching over our incredibly uncomfortable few hours of half-sleep, as we awoke to find a parking ticket on the windscreen! Failing to fully appreciate the irony of the situation, we grudgingly took the train from Mestre on the mainland to the island(s) of Venice proper - definitely worse for wear and not exactly in the best of spirits, but still intent on checking another famous city off our bucket list.

But Venice is not just another famous city. You always remember your first trip here, your first glimpse of buildings rising up out of the lagoon as you cross the causeway or approach by boat. Regardless of the mood you're in, it's impossible not to be enchanted by the mere sight of the Most Serene Republic.

Even for us, the city is still every bit as charming as it was on that morning more than a decade ago. Venice is a truly magical place, and there is simply nowhere like it in the world, which is our rather long-winded way of saying that we are very pleased to introduce our first, and much overdue, Venice In Your Pocket (mini) guide.

On the pages below we've just begun to scratch the surface of what Venice has to offer, and are currently preparing reams more content for the release of our full guide later this year. Until then keep up to date on our progress online at venice.inyourpocket.com or on Facebook. And if you have any questions, comments or feedback of any kind we'd love to hear it at venice@inyourpocket.com.