Global Staci

Yes, Venice is slowly sinking. This was reason enough for us to not delay a visit to this luxury jewel box of a city. “Unlike anywhere on earth,” is not an overstatement. Venice is a showstopper.

I found planning for this part of our trip overwhelming from the start. After all, it’s Venice. There’s so much to see and do! It helps to keep in mind that the attraction is the city itself. I found it a very easy and enjoyable place to wander. You don’t actually need to get onto a boat. As long as you are willing to walk, you can find your way pretty much anywhere you want to go on foot.

Keep These Tips In Mind

Venice is small. You can walk, tip to tail, in about an hour. Nearly all of the top sights are within a 20-minute walk of the Rialto Bridge or St. Mark’s Square. Because this was our first visit, I chose to stay on San Marco, one of six main islands that make up the heart of Venice, and the one with most of its top sites. Locals will refer to the “rest” of Venice as the mainland, and many of them live there as living in the center is far more expensive.

Having said that, with a permanent population of about 47,000, Venice hosts 35 million visitors a year. Holy smokes, that’s a lot of people. Travel during the spring or fall to avoid the largest crowds.

Build time into your itinerary to simply wander, sit at a cafe or on a lovely square, piazza in Italian. If there’s somewhere you really want to eat, make reservations as far in advance as possible. This is a city catering to tourists, and with so many mouths to feed, you may be disappointed when you show up and can’t get a table.

Venice has what’s considered one of the highest concentrations of art anywhere in the world. But it’s not a city for nightlife, therefore some of the most crowded spots during the day may be delightfully empty at night.

[PRO TIP: Score tickets to go the top of the Bell Tower in St. Mark’s Square just after the sun sets. You’ll get the best photos after the orange ball sinks below the horizon. Get tickets online; there’s a QR code at the entrance for on-the-spot tickets. Take the elevator to the top before 8:30pm when it closes.]

Day One: Arrive & Wander

Getting to our hotel proved to be more complicated than expected. We arrived from Bologna on the train into Venice Santa Lucia. Because of a train strike, we were delayed, but happy to be finally in Venice. We were all set to get tickets from the ACTV on the Vaporetto for a quick commute to our B&B. You can imagine my surprise when I was told that they were on strike as well; we’d have to take a water taxi! Apart from being expensive, the line for the water taxi was 60 people deep with all the other folks in our shoes. My family was less than excited when I said we’d be walking.

Dragging our luggage on the narrow bridges and alleys was the least fun part of our journey. You might imagine everyone’s surprise when Google Maps walking directions led to a water crossing. LOL! Onto the gondola we boarded with all our luggage and a four more people! For 12 Euro (us plus the bags) we crossed the canal and continued our walk. We made it safely to our B&B in about 25 minutes, in need of a stiff drink.

After meeting our host at our bed and breakfast and a short rest, we set out toward St. Mark’s Square in search of food. There are a lot of restaurants in Venice and it’s difficult to choose one when you are tired and hungry. If you don’t have set plans, I recommend just letting go of trying to make the perfect choice. In general, the further from the big sites you get, the better chance you have of a good meal. Also, avoid restaurants with food barkers out front, beckoning you in.

Needless to say, once we got our bearings, we were totally enchanted with the city.

[PRO TIP: I booked Gio & Gio Bed and Breakfast located on San Marco, right on a small canal. Our host was super helpful, and our stay included a fabulous breakfast every morning.]

Day Two: Getting to Know Venice

Something I like to do when I arrive somewhere for the first time is to take a walking tour. This helps me get oriented and allows me to see top sites with a local guide who can explain everything. Venice is a good place to do that, and they offer a lot of options. I chose to book an all-day tour that began with a historical off the beaten path walk, which allowed us to see things and learn about the city. Also included was a gondola ride.

On the walking tour we learned a bit about how Venice came to be, and how it keeps going. The photo to the left above shows how a building’s front entrance would have looked; many are no longer in use. The photo in the middle shows the place on the building where all the supplies, say for a restaurant, would be brought in, even today.

[PRO TIP: Don’t miss the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, known as Tintoretto’s Sistine Chapel. The Scuole Grandi of Venice were charitable and religious welfare organizations founded as early as the 13th century. After working in Titian’s workshop, at age 20 Tintoretto, known for his dramatic use of light and bold brushwork, was already a master painter. All contemporaries—the great Italian masters—Titian, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael produced some of the world’s greatest art in the 16th century during the Italian Renaissance.

After sitting down to lunch on our own, we continued with a new guide that afternoon who took us inside St. Mark’s Basilica with its mosaics, reliquaries, treasury, museum, and balcony offing a stellar view of the square.

We continued to the Doge’s Palace, its famous artwork, including Tintoretto’s masterpiece, Il Paradiso, one of the largest paintings on canvas in the world and the prison accessible through the Bridge of Sighs.

It was a long day, but we got to know our way around the city so that we could spend more time enjoying at a relaxed pace for the remainder of the trip.

We were lucky to score a table at Guna Restaurant, a short walk from our bed and breakfast. It was one of our favorite meals. Highly recommend.

Day Three: Murano and Burano

We all decided we wanted to visit the famed island of Murano and learn about Venice’s glass blowing history. But everyone who’d been to Venice also recommended Burano, another island famous for its lacemaking and colorful houses. Although you can reach the islands using the Vaporetto, I chose to book a private guided tour in the afternoon. This too turned out to be a good choice. Our guide was terrific and we learned a lot. Also, being on the water on our own boat was fabulous!

I had pre-booked a table at Trattoria Alla Rivetta. Everyone agreed, best calamari. Another great meal. And a lovely setting, we got a table next to the windows facing a small canal and enjoyed watching the gondolas go by.

Day Four: Photo Shoots and Shopping

Preferring to do tours at the beginning of the trip, I like to save the final day for sleeping in and doing things we didn’t know about before we arrived. You can get your luxury shop on in Venice. Keep in mind that all the shops selling leather are most likely selling goods made outside of Italy, but they can be had at a handsome price.

I very much wanted to visit Cannaregio, the neighborhood across the Rialto Bridge from San Marco. Luckily, we were able to make it to All’Arco [Sestiere San Polo, 436] before they closed. This is arguably the best place to eat cicchetti in all of Venice. A must try, cicchetti are small snacks, similar to tapas, typically served in the early part of the day at local wine bars called bacari. They are terrific cheap eats.

At the other extreme, there is the obligatory bellini to be had for a small fortune at Harry’s Bar. And an aperitivo or coffee at the oldest cafe in Italy, since 1720, right on Piazza San Marco, Café Florian. Both of these experiences are overpriced, but irresistible. There’s live music on St. Mark’s Square, making it all the more romantic.

Thousands of photos and hours of searching for the perfect souvenirs later, we ended with a fantastic and truly Venetian meal, celebrating the sea, at the much-loved Al Covo.

Day Five: One Last Boat Ride

My host at Gio&Gio booked a private water taxi for us to get to Marco Polo Airport for our morning flights. You can pay cash or credit card and go directly to the airport. Peace of mind is worth the price tag.

[PRO TIP: Three things to consider watching before coming to Venice. My husband and I enjoyed the film Casanova (2005), a rom com, set in 18th-century Venice, starring Heath Ledger. Watch their respective episodes on Venice: Stantley Tucci’s Searching for Italy (also has an episode in Bologna) and Somebody Feed Phil, both wildly entertaining.]