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Top 10 things to do in Venice
Finally my dream became true – I visited Venice. It is a really special city in Italy, because it is composed of 118 small islands separated by canals and connected by bridges. It is the capital of the Veneto region and really famous for its architecture.
Although I visited already a lot of European cities, Venice really amazed me. It’s something completely different from all other cities I travelled to so far. There are no cars and buses in Venice. This makes it very charming and beautiful because you don’t hear annoying sounds of cars and you don’t risk to get injured by a car.
There are only a few streets, most of Venice is built out of canals. This means that you just cannot cross the road, but you have to pass the canal over an existing bridge. Instead of buses or taxis, you take the vaporettos, which are water taxis or water buses in Venice.
Grand Canal
The Grand Canal is really one of the main attractions in Venice. Basically, you cannot miss it because it is the main water-traffic corridor in the city. It goes from the lagoon near the railway station of Santa Lucia to the Saint Mark Basin and in between is is formed like an S.
The Grand Canal it is a really busy canal, with a lot of vaporettos, gondolas and also private boats. You’ll not really miss the sounds of a real city. But to be honest, it is a lot more charming with the blue water and the stunning architecture. Most of the buildings are a little bit in a bad state. This is mostly because of the humidity and water. They are exposed 24/7 to the water, which is not that good for buildings.
Along the whole Grand Canal, you have shops and restaurants with terraces, which is really charming and unique for dinner. I really enjoyed eating just near the canal with the view over the canal and all the beautiful lights.
Gondola
You can’t go to Venice without taking a Gondola ride. I know that this is really touristic, but you it will give you the real Venetian feeling. When you walk along the Grand Canal, the Gondolas are everywhere and this makes you also want to do it.
The Gondolas are a traditional, flat-bottomed Venetian rowing boat which is propelled by a gondolier. Today, it is mostly for tourists, but for centuries, it was the common watercraft in Venice for transportation. The prices for a Gondola ride are fix, so it is almost impossible to deal with the gondolier.
If you want to take a gondola ride, be sure that you’ll avoid the Gondola rush hour. At that time, there is nothing with romance, you’ll be boat on boat or gondola on gondola waiting to enter the small canals. You can chose your point of departure, so we chose the one on the Zattere and not on the Grand Canal.
Even though the price of 80€ fir 30 minutes is very expensive, I think you should go for it once in your lifetime.
Piazza San Marco
The Piazza San Marco is the principal public square of Venice. You can observe different famous buildings there. The most impressive one is definitely the St. Mark’s Basilica. It is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Venice and the most known church in the city. It is connected to the Doge’s Palace, which is also located next to the Piazza San Marco.
Next to the St. Mark’s Basilica, we have the St. Mark’s Clocktower, which is a tower containing a very beautiful clock. It was built in the 15th century and placed where it could be visible from the waters of the lagoon.
The Piazza San Marco is always full of people and pigeons. There are some nice cafes on the Piazza, but if you want to drink something on that Piazza, be sure to have a seat while you’re looking at the prices. We paid 8 € for a 33cl coca cola in 2015
As the Piazza San Marco is located very close to the sea level, it can flood quickly during the Acqua Alta. When we were there, we noticed that at one point, there was a lot of water on the Piazza, which is really strange. People had to go over a plank to get into the church without having wet feet.
Campanile
The Campanile is also located on the Piazza San Marco next to the St. Mark’s Basilica. It is the bell tower of the St. Mark’s Basilica and also one of the most recognizable symbols of Venice. The tower is 98,6 meters (323 ft) tall and is standing isolated from the basilica alone in a corner of the Piazza San Marco.
The Campanile is absolutely worth to visit because you can visit the top of the tower. As I always want to climb up on every building, it was an absolutely must do. For 6 €, you can take a lift up on the top of the Campanile. Once you’re there, you’ll have an amazing view over the Piazza San Marco and also over the Lagoon of Venice with the Santa Maria della Saute.
San Giorgio Maggiore
San Giorgio Maggiore is one of the islands of Venice and located in the south of the main island. You can see it from the Piazza San Marco. Basically, it is known for its church and the bell tower, which is still in use.
If you want to get there, you have to take the Vaporetto. I really enjoyed it, because this little island is not so crowded with people as the city center of Venice itself. It is a very charming place where you have a view over the whole Venetian Lagoon.
As for the Campanile, you can also get up on the bell tower of the church of San Giorgio Maggiore. This one costs only 4 € and you’ll also get up by lift. It is more relaxed as the Campanile, because there are not so many people.
If you want to have a little rest, take a Vaporetto to this small island, it is absolutely worth it!
Murano
Murano is also a series of islands which are linked by bridges located in the Venetian Lagoon. It is about 1,5 km (0,9 miles) away from Venice and also reachable by Vaporetto. Basically, Murano is known for its glass making. This all started in 1291, where all the glassmakers in Venice were forced to move to Murano because of the risk of fires.
Immediately when you arrive in Murano, there is a guy who will take you with him to a glass factory. As we didn’t know where to go, we followed him, but at the end, you couldn’t see how the glassmakers work and all the things that you can buy in their shop are more expensive as in the other shops in the center of Murano – so don’t fall for this one. Explore Murano on you own.
Basically, there is one big street in Murano with plenty of shops where you can buy all things made out of Murano glass. Most of them have a sign in its window that you aren’t allowed to take pictures, but some of the works are so amazing, that I simply couldn’t resist to take pictures.
Even if you don’t buy something, it is just amazing to look at all the shops and glass fabrications. They can do anything out of glass.
At one point, we saw some people looking inside a building and there we go, there was a glass factory. A man was forming some hot glass. For me this was the highlight of the day and my mission of Murano island was accomplished.
I recommend you to visit Murano in the morning, because it is less crowded compared to the afternoon.
Rialto Bridge
The Rialto Bridge or in Italian, the Ponte di Rialto, is the oldest bridge across the Grand Canal and also one of the four bridges spanning it.
Unfortunately the Rialto Bridge was partly covered by a scaffold. The place where the Rialto Bridge is located is always very crowded with people, so you really have to pay attention on your valuables.
Even though the bridge was under construction, there were some really nice shops on it.
Vaporetto
As I mentioned above, the Vaporettos are the public transportation in Venice and therefore you have to give them a try. If you have a 72h ticket for public transports, you can take as many Vaporettos as you want to.
They don’t serve only as public transport. If you don’t want to discover Venice by foot, you can take the Vaporetto number 1 which will take you to all the main attractions in Venice. On the rush hours, the Vaporettos are so full of people, that is no more space on the boat.
Doge’s Palace & Bridge of Sighs
The Doge’s Palace was the residence of the Doge of Venice, the supreme authority of the former Republic of Venice. Nowadays, it can be visited as a museum and is one of the main landmarks of Venice.
The Courtyard of the Palace is closed by the St. Mark’s Basilica. All the Courtrooms inside the Palace are so pompous and golden. It is really amazing to walk through this historical building.
The Bridge of Sighs is the link between the Doge’s Palace and the New Prison. The bridge contains two separated corridors next to each other. One linked the prisons to the chambers of the Magistrato alle Legi and the Quarantia Criminal and can today be used by visitors. The other one linked the prisons to the State Advocacy rooms and the Parlatorio.
It got its name from the Romantic period, where the bridge was the last thing the prisoners saw while leaving the courtroom and entering the prison. Through out a small window, they could see the lagoon of Venice and the island San Giorgio Maggiore.
If you have some time, visit the Doge’s Palace because it reflects a lot of history of Venice and you can go visiting the old prison via the Bridge of Sighs.
Zattere
The Zattere was built in 1519 and was meant to be a landing dock for the delivery of timber which was used for the construction of ships and buildings. Today, it is a spacious waterfront promenade which runs along the southern shore of the Dorsoduro District.
It is a relatively peaceful promenade with a lot of charming restaurants just in front of the water. It is a really nice place for dinner and watching the sunset.
Venice is one of the most beautiful cities that I visited so far. Even if it is really touristic, it is absolutely worth to visit. What about you? Have you ever been to Venice? Is there something that I forgot to mention?
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Great photos and tips! I agree that Venice is a very special place. I didn’t go on a gondola ride, so I’ve got a good reason to return one day 😉
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