Building the Lego Venetian Neighbourhood may be more fun than holidaying there

Lego has unveiled one of their last big adult sets for Christmas and it’s a gigantic diorama of Venice, complete with canal and luxury villa.

Visiting Venice can be the trip of a lifetime but it can also be a bit of a disappointment when you realise just how many visitors it gets and how much of a problem overtourism has become.

It’s still an amazingly beautiful city though and that’s been captured perfectly by this massive new Lego set, which is made up of 5,682 Lego pieces and measures 64cm wide, 48cm high, and 33cm deep.

The set is aimed very much at adults, and clearly would make a very desirable Christmas present, either for those that want a reminder of the real thing or anyone who appreciates a stunning bit of Lego design.

Venetian Neighbourhood is one of the biggest and most complex city environments Lego has ever made, with a detailed canal and waterfront, as well as a luxury villa and an artisanal glassblowing workshop.

There’s also a working (as long as you turn the dial at the side) astrological clock, with the tower – no doubt inspired by the famous St Mark’s Clocktower in Piazza San Marco – decorated with various minifigure-sized statues.

That’s not the only neat play feature though, since if you turn the flower vase on the special 3D-printed street piano it actually plays notes. Lego has only just started experimenting with 3D-printed pieces and it’s interesting this one has been designed to allow for more complex interactive elements than usual.

Naturally, there’s also one of the famous arched bridges and a gondola, but the whole model is modular, so you can switch the different buildings around to form two separate sections or take off the roofs and display the detailed interiors.

One of the towers has four separate sections, allowing you to peak inside at each floor, so if you do get this as a Christmas present it’s not going to be finished before the turkey is.

On top of this is 17 minifigures, so it’s entirely up to you whether you solve the tourism problem or add to it. Although you’ll definitely want to display the mask-wearing carnival-goers, gondoliers, and musicians. You also get a bunch of Lego pigeons to position as you wish.

The set is number 11388 and costs £449.99. It’ll go on sale from November 4, at Lego stores and the Lego website, but if you’re a Lego Insider, which only requires a free sign-up, you can get it from November 1.

There’s also a free gift with purchase available if you buy the set between November 1 and 8, with the Venetian Water Taxi (40898) set. This won’t be available any other way, and is only while stocks last, but includes an extra boat and dock, and two additional minifigures.

Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter.

To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here.

For more stories like this, check our Gaming page.