Venice is a fascinating city! Its origins date back as early as the 5th century. The city consists of 118 small islands, separated by canals, and linked by over 400 bridges. For much of its history Venice was a wealthy city and was an important centre for commerce. Venice has been ranked as one of the worlds most beautiful cities many times. For me, it met and exceeded all my expectations. Today I’m going to be going over my complete guide to Venice, all my favourite things we saw, did and tried in this amazing city.
With such a long history it is no surprise that Venice has so many legends and stories attached to it. A quick search of “Venice Mysteries” on Google turns up tonnes of pages detailing famous legends, myths, haunts and stories of secret societies. The mystery doesn’t just stop at these stories, the entire city itself has a mysterious vibe to it. Maybe it’s the history or the narrow winding canals or something else more supernatural but this was part of the reason I fell in love with Venice. You can’t help but feel like you need to get out and explore the city.
Venice is a small city and the best way to get around is on foot; but, it is important to note that Venice can be a difficult city to navigate. Although having Google Maps on your phone is very helpful it isn’t always correct when determining your location. Make note of the streets you pass and buildings as this will help give you a general idea of where you are on the map. So let’s get started.
Getting to Venice
Chances are you’re traveling to Venice via Marco Polo Airport. The airport itself is located outside the city in mainland Italy and knowing how you are going to travel into the city ahead of time can save you a lot of time, money and stress. Here are the three most cost efficient airport transfers. The ATVO bus offers express service from the Airport to Piazzale Roma. Tickets are 8€ each and can be purchased at the ticket machines in baggage claims or at the ticket office in the arrival hall. Second, the ACTV bus. ACTV is the public transport company for Venice. This bus will also take you to Piazzale Roma. Tickets are 8€ each or 15€ roundtrip and can be bought at the ticket machines in the airport. The last option is the Alilaguna water buses. This was the option we went with. Tickets are more expensive 15€ one way or 27€ roundtrip and the trip runs longer than the land buses. The benefit to the water bus though is that it makes multiple stops around Venice and even stops at Murano and Lido. So if your hotel is nowhere near Piazzale Roma it could save you a lot of time walking and navigating your way through the streets with your luggage. Tickets for the water bus can be bought at the arrival gate. The dock for the boats is about a 10 minute walk through the airport.
Piazza San Marco
Known in English as St. Mark’s Square, it often goes by simply “The Piazza” because it is the only square to have the title of Piazza (all others are Campo or or Piazzale.) The Piazza is the main public square in Venice and is where you will find St. Mark’s Basilica, the Doge’s Palace, the Museo Correr and the Torre dell’ Orologio. The Piazza is a very busy place, understandable when you have so many famous attractions in one spot. The rest of the city is easily accessible from the Piazza as it is quite central to everything. For this reason it also makes a great starting point for your adventure in Venice.
The Bridge of Sighs
The Bridge of Sighs is one of the most famous bridges in Venice due to the legends and people who are associated with the bridge. It was designed by Antonio Contino, nephew of the designer of The Rialto Bridge, and construction started in 1600. The purpose of this white limestone bridge was to connect the New Prison to the interrogation rooms in the Doge’s Palace. So where does the name come from? Legend says that while crossing the bridge prisoners would get their final view of Venice through the windows before their life in prison, or worse, execution. Upon taking in their final view of the city, prisoners would sigh. This legend however is nothing more than a story. In fact, not much can actually be seen from the windows of the bridge and history suggests only low-level criminals were kept in the prison. In more modern times though the bridge has become a symbol of love. Local lore says if a couple in a gondola kiss as they pass under the bridge at sunset as the bells of St Mark’s toll, their love will last forever. Seems like a lot of timing must go into that. If you are interested in seeing the bridge from the inside you will need to book the Secret Itineraries tour through the Doge’s Palace. This tour is the only way to gain access to the bridge and walk the steps of Venice’s criminals.
Rialto Bridge
The Rialto Bridge is the oldest of four bridges crossing the Grand Canal. The bridge was originally built to connect locals to The Rialto Markets on the eastern banks. The first bridge was built in 1181 and the current stone bridge, designed by Antonio da Ponte, was built between 1588 and 1591. A sturdier, more permanent, bridge was needed to accommodate the increase in traffic considering all the previous wooden bridges had collapsed. The design of the bridge was unlike anything anyone had ever built before and Antonio faced a lot of criticism. Many said the bridge would never last and would collapse within a few years. However, it still stands today. Two inclined ramps are joined together to form a central portico for boats to pass under. Two rows of shops selling jewellery, glass and other souvenirs line each of the ramps. The bridge now stands as a symbol of Venice. It is a very busy spot but Rialto Bridge is one of the best spots to view the sunset in Venice.
Gondola Ride
My trip to Venice would not have been complete without riding in an iconic black gondola. The set rate is 80€ for a 30 minute tour. We decided that we’d tour around the smaller canals away from the Grand Canal to avoid a lot of the traffic. It was worth every penny for me. Our gondolier was fantastic, pointed out important buildings along the way, was super informative and friendly. By taking a gondola you are seeing Venice the way it was meant to be seen, from the water. To read more about the history of these boats, my tips for hiring one and our experience you can read all about it in my previous blog post here.
Murano
Murano is a short water bus ride away from Venice and makes a great day trip from the city. This small island in the Venetian Lagoon is famed for its high-quality glass making. Last week I talked about the history of the island and how to make sure you are buying real Murano Glass, you can find that post here. Getting to Murano is quite simple you just have to take the Vaporetto, water bus, from the ACTV dock. You will have to purchase tickets before boarding though. We downloaded the ACTV app and purchased our tickets through there. However an easier route would be to purchase them from the ticket counter or machine, or from the Hellovenezia/ACTV offices. A single fare for tourists is 7.50€ and is good for 75 minutes as long as you are traveling in the same direction. The single fare tickets are incredibly expensive especially if you are planning to take the Vaporetto between the lagoons other islands. If you are staying in Venice for any extended amount of time and plan to visit the other islands or take the Vaporetto around Venice you can purchase Tourist Travel Cards from ACTV. This card will, in the end, save you a lot of money. To get to Murano, you can take the boats on lines 4.1, 4.2, 12 or 13. The trip can take up to an hour depending on what stop you leave from.
Once on Murano we enjoyed wandering the smaller, quiet streets. Murano itself has a more laidback feeling about it. We found a tucked-away cafe and enjoyed some gelato in the winter sun. One of the main things to see on the island is the workshops of the skilled glassmakers. At their workshops you’ll find them doing live demonstrations of the techniques used to produce their world famous art. I was looking forward to getting to watch one of these demonstrations but we quickly realized Sunday is not a good day to visit the island. Between it being low tourist season (middle of January) and a Sunday we couldn’t find any workshops doing demonstrations. Furthermore, a good majority of the shops were closed for holidays. We still managed to find everything we were looking for and enjoyed Murano but if you really want to see the live demonstrations avoid visiting on a Sunday. I’d recommend visiting the Museo del Vetro, or Glass Museum. It is housed in a 17th century palace and is dedicated to the history of Murano Glass and life on the island.
Food and Drink
Always one of my favourite things to write about; the food and drinks we tried on our holiday. Venice is known to be an expensive city especially around Piazza San Marco. We saw a cafe in the Piazza asking 13€ for an espresso. You don’t always have to break the bank eating out though. There are a lot of really great options for cheap eats. One of our favourites was Farini. This is a chain with a couple restaurants in both Venice and Milan. They specialize in pastries, desserts and pasta all to be eaten in or taken away but their pizza steals the show. It starts at 3.80€ a slice and the slices are pretty big! One slice is like a quarter of the pizza and it was fantastic. Definitely some of the best pizza I’ve ever had, the crust was nice and fluffy and they offer such a variety of toppings. I tried the spek and brie pizza, spek is kind of like bacon. It’s not surprising that this place is busy no matter what time of the day.
On our first night we had treated ourselves to a nice dinner out at a small restaurant called Osteria alla Staffa. We tried some dishes with some traditional Venetian flavours. Squid ink is seen quite a bit in traditional Venetian dishes whether its in a risotto or pasta. We tried a sea bass and ricotta filled black ravioli in a saffron cream sauce and it was incredible. We also learned that neither of us are a fan of radicchio, however, radicchio tardivo is considered a gourmet specialty in Italy so it is always worth a try.
Italy is of course known for wine, and Venice is known for Prosecco. Prosecco is a sparkling white wine made from the Glera grape, formerly known as the Prosecco grape. Prosecco usually comes from the Prosecco region in the Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia regions about an hour from Venice. You can easily pick up a bottle of Prosecco from the grocery store for pretty cheap when you’re in Venice. Something about being in Venice makes the Prosecco taste even better, trust me, I’m an expert. Venice was also the birthplace of a popular Prosecco cocktail, the Bellini. It was invented by Giuseppe Cipriani between 1934 and 1948 in the bar he owned, Harry’s Bar. Bellini’s are made from white peach purée and Prosecco and you can still visit Harry’s Bar and grab a classic Bellini today.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, at the end of the day, two days is no where near enough time to experience Venice. It does however give us a taste of the city and a reason to go back. There’s still so much I would love to see and so many mysteries to uncover. I loved Venice and highly recommend it; but, it is always good to bear in mind that with such a high global reputation sometimes our expectations don’t match reality. From speaking with others who have visited the city, especially during high season, I heard a lot of stories of being disappointed or underwhelmed by the city. I feel a lot of this is due to the recent boom in tourism. Venice as of recent years only has a population of around 55000 full-time residents, this number has been significantly declining. Coincidentally, this is also the same number of tourists that Venice welcomes on average per day. Most of these tourists arrive on large cruise ships and only spend the day there. Having traveled to many other cities during cruise ship season I can attest that a boat full of people trying to see all the sites in one day causes nothing but major lineups. It is important to keep this all in mind especially if visiting the city in the high season. The city is only so big and was not built to handle the sea of tourists. Venice is definitely a city that needs to be experienced but take your time doing so.
Well there you have it, my weekend experience in Venice. If you want to stay up to date with my blog or see more photos and stories you can follow along on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest.
See you next week!