Venice Travel Guide
A city built from fear, was soon to be heralded as the most dazzlingly beautiful city in the world. While the Florentines were regarded as great thinkers, the Venetians should be regarded as great doer' s. For they alone conquered the malaria-ridden swamps to build a city from nothing. The architectural and artistic treasures to be found throughout the city of Venice, reflect a continual process of enrichment through which the Venetians showed their great sense of nationalism at a time when the rest of Europe was in chaos.
St. Mark’s Basilica
It’s beautiful outside, with its big onion domes and multi-colored marble pillars, and the interior is floor-to-ceiling mosaics. There’s no fee to tour the main part of the basilica, and even booking an entry time online (so you don’t have to wait in the sometimes-long line out front) is free, so after you’ve wandered the city this should be your next stop. There are three smaller museums within the basilica which you’ll have to pay an entry to see; your budget and overall interest should dictate whether you visit all of them, but if you’re just going to pick one then by all means take the narrow and steep staircase in the entry alcove up to the museum that has the original horses which used to overlook the square – in addition to seeing the horses, you’ll also get to go out on the roof and overlook the square yourself.
St. Mark’s Square
The key here is to visit the square when everyone else isn’t there. Of course, in order to do this you’ll probably need to spend at least one night in Venice. The best times to catch St. Mark’s Square at her most vulnerable are early morning and late evening, before the day-trippers arrive or after they’ve left. Venice isn’t a nightlife town, so it doesn’t take long after the restaurants close for the square to be emptied of much of the crowd.
Vaporetto for a Grand Canal Tour
I think the easiest and most pleasant way to get around Venice is on foot, but the Grand Canal only has a few bridge crossings and taking a ride on Venice’s water-buses is a fun transport method. Even beyond the practical reasons for taking a vaporetto, however, there’s the fact that the slow #1 vaporetto that runs the length of the Grand Canal is the ideal equivalent to a city bus tour. I’d recommend either bringing along a self-guided tour (Rick Steves has a good one in his guidebook) so you can pick out the sights along the way, or just sitting back and enjoying the view no matter what the significance of the buildings is. You’ll enjoy the ride either way, even more so if you’ve got a good seat and some gelato.
Glass-Blowing Demonstration on Murano Island
This is kind of a tricky one, because so many of the glass-blowing demonstrations on nearby Murano Island are very tourist-trappy, but I have it on this list for a couple of reasons. First, most people I know have never seen anyone do glass blowing or glass sculpture, so it’s entertaining and educational even if it is touristy. Second, visiting another island in the Venice lagoon is a great idea during your stay, and since Murano is closest it’s the easiest one to visit (especially if you’re short on time). If you want to avoid the overly touristy glass demonstrations, catch a vaporetto to Murano (instead of a boat booked by your hotel or a particular glass shop) and walk around the streets until you find a studio that looks relatively open. There are more glass-blowing studios on Murano than just the touristy ones.
Doge’s Palace
Right next (and partly connected) to St. Mark’s Basilica, the Doge’s Palace is arguably the second most important “attraction” in Venice after the basilica. While there are several good reasons to pay the hefty admission fee to tour the Doge’s Palace (Palazzo Ducale in Italian), probably the most popular stop on the tour is when you get to walk over the famous Bridge of Sighs. You can see the bridge from the outside without buying an entry ticket, but the only wa to walk on the bridge yourself is as part of a Doge’s Palace tour.
Campanile
While you can get a great view of St. Mark’s Square from the roof of St. Mark’s Basilica, you can’t get a great view of the church’s roof when standing on it. For a view that includes both the basilica and the piazza, buy a ticket for the short elevator ride to the top of the Campanile, or bell-tower, that’s in front of the church. The views are great, and you get an up-close-and-personal look at the big bells that you’ll hear ringing out the time all over the city. If you want to avoid getting your ears blown off, I’d advise making the trip to the top of the tower at something other than the hour mark.
Burano Island
With a little extra time in Venice, after your visit to Murano take a vaporetto further into the lagoon for a trip to Burano Island. In general, the further you get into the lagoon from the core Venetian islands, the less crowded they get – Burano is usually less crowded than Murano, for instance. And with its almost cartoon-like brightly colored buildings, it makes the perfect backdrop for a stroll. Seriously, the colors are so brilliant and cheerful, I defy you to walk around Burano for even a half-hour and not have a smile on your face. Go ahead, try it.
Torcello Island
Get back on the boat and take the trip to Torcello. It’s a short trip from Burano, but can take up to an hour if you go straight to Torcello from Venice. Either way, it’s the ideal spot if you’re in the mood for less structure and more nature. Most of Torcello is a nature reserve, and while you can’t actually go hiking out in the fields, you can certainly get away from the tourist hordes and enjoy the tranquil view. There are roughly 20 people who still live on the island, and there’s only one (super expensive) hotel, although there are a few places to eat. The main “sight,” which I happen to just adore, is a 7th century church on the island with more exceptional mosaics (a must if you liked St. Mark’s).
Rialto Market
If you’re not a foodie, this may not be something you’d put in your top 10 Venice experiences. In Venice particularly, I think a food market is as culturally interesting as it is food-related. After all, this network of islands isn’t exactly teeming with vegetable gardens or grocery stores (not sure if you noticed, but there’s a lot more water than earth going on here). So visiting the famous Rialto market is a great way to see how real Venetians get their food supplies. All the locals shop here, from restaurateurs to ordinary folk just stocking their kitchens. The Rialto market is particularly known as a fish market, but there’s plenty of fresh veggies and fruit for sale as well. If you’re doing more than just browsing, remember that you don’t handle the merchandise until after you’ve paid for it – point at what you want and the vendor will choose and bag it for you. (As a bonus, it’s within sight of the Rialto Bridge, which is certainly worth a little bit of space on your camera’s memory card.)
The Rialto Bridge
The Rialto Bridge is a landmark structure on the Grand Canal in Venice, attracting visitors with its central location and scenic views of the Grand Canal.
The Bridge of Sighs
The Bridge of Sighs is a small stone bridge that connects the Doge's Palace with prison cells. The bridge received its name because of the sighs of the prisoners that were lead to the terrible prison cells.