With kids, give Santa Maria dei Miracoli a miss.
Tucked in Cannaregio, this small early-Renaissance jewel-box is clad inside and out in polychrome marble like a giant reliquary, with a barrel-vaulted gilded ceiling — Venetians' favourite wedding church and a serene antidote to the gilded giants. The catch: it's small and quick, it's a small-fee church (Chorus Pass), and its low-key beauty is lost on anyone chasing blockbusters.