Venezia
Map: Hotels & Restaurants near St. Mark’s Square
Map: Hotels & Restaurants near the Rialto Bridge
Map: Hotels & Restaurants near Accademia Bridge
Map: Hotels & Restaurants near the Train Station
Cheap Dormitory Accommodations
North of St. Mark’s Square, near Campo Santa Maria Formosa
Soak all day in this puddle of elegant decay. Venice is Europe’s best-preserved big city. This car-free urban wonderland of a hundred islands—laced together by 400 bridges and 2,000 alleys—survives on the artificial respirator of tourism.
Born in a lagoon 1,500 years ago as a refuge from barbarians, Venice is overloaded with tourists and is slowly sinking (not because of the tourists). In the Middle Ages, the Venetians became Europe’s clever middlemen for East-West trade and created a great trading empire. By smuggling in the bones of St. Mark (San Marco) in A.D. 828, Venice gained religious importance as well. With the discovery of America and new trading routes to the Orient, Venetian power ebbed. But as Venice fell, her appetite for decadence grew. Through the 17th and 18th centuries, Venice partied on the wealth accumulated through earlier centuries as a trading power.
Today, Venice is home to 58,000 people in its old city, down from about twice that number just three decades ago. While there are about 270,000 people in greater Venice (counting the mainland, not counting tourists), the old town has a small-town feel. Locals seem to know everyone. To see small-town Venice away from the touristic flak, escape the Rialto-San Marco tourist zone and savor the town early and late, without the hordes of vacationers day-tripping in from cruise ships and nearby beach resorts. A 10-minute walk from the madness puts you in an idyllic Venice that few tourists see.
Venice is worth at least a day on even the speediest tour. Hyper-efficient train travelers take the night train in and/or out. Sleep in the old center to experience Venice at its best: early and late. For a one-day visit, cruise the Grand Canal, do the major sights on St. Mark’s Square (the square itself, Doge’s Palace, Correr Museum, and St. Mark’s Basilica), see the Frari Church for art, and wander the back streets on a pub crawl. Enjoy an evening gondola ride. Venice’s greatest sight is the city itself. While doable in a day, Venice is worth two. It’s a medieval cookie jar, and nobody’s looking. Make time to simply wander.
The island city of Venice is shaped like a fish. Its major thoroughfares are canals. The Grand Canal winds through the middle of the fish, starting at the mouth where all the people and food enter, passing under the Rialto Bridge, and ending at St. Mark’s Square (Piazza San Marco). Park your 21st-century perspective at the mouth and let Venice swallow you whole.
Venice is a car-less kaleidoscope of people, bridges, and odorless canals. It’s made up of more than a hundred small islands—but for simplicity, I refer to the whole shebang as “the island.”
Venice has six districts (sestieri, shown on map on here): San Marco (from St. Mark’s Square to the Accademia Bridge), Castello (the area east of St. Mark’s Square), Dorsoduro (the “belly” of the fish, on the far side the Accademia Bridge), Cannaregio (between the train station and the Rialto Bridge), San Polo (west of the Rialto Bridge), and Santa Croce (the “eye” of the fish, across the canal from the train station).
The easiest way to navigate is by landmarks. Many street corners have a sign pointing you to (per) the nearest major landmark, such as San Marco, Accademia, Rialto, and Ferrovia (train station). Obedient visitors stick to the main thoroughfares as directed by these signs...and miss the charm of back-street Venice.
Beyond the city’s core lie several other islands, including San Giorgio (with great views of Venice), Giudecca (more views), San Michele (old cemetery), Murano (famous for glass), Burano (lacemaking), Torcello (old church), and the skinny Lido (with Venice’s beach).
With this book, a free city map from your hotel, and the events schedule on the TI’s website, there’s little need to make an in-person visit to a TI in Venice. That’s fortunate, because though the city’s TIs try to help, they are understaffed and don’t have many free printed materials to hand out. If you need to check or confirm something, try phoning the TI at 041-529-8711 or visit www.turismovenezia.it (click on “Venezia,” then the English icon); this website can be more helpful than the actual TI office. Other useful websites are www.hellovenezia.com (vaporetto and event schedules), www.venicexplorer.net (detailed maps), www.aguestinvenice.com (sights and events), and www.veniceforvisitors.com (general travel advice), and www.museiciviciveneziani.it (city-run museums in Venice).
If you must visit a TI, you’ll find five convenient branches. Two are near St. Mark’s Square (one in the far-left corner with your back to the basilica, the other next to the Giardinetti Reali park near the San Marco vaporetto stop; both of these are open daily 9:00-19:00). You’ll find a TI desk at the airport (daily 9:00-20:00) and another next to the bus station (inside the huge white parking garage building, daily 9:00-14:30).
At the train station, the main TI is inside, along track 1 (Carnevale-Oct daily 13:00-19:00; Nov-Carnevale daily 9:00-19:00). On summer mornings, you’ll also find TI staffers in a big, white kiosk in front of the station near the vaporetto stop (as this kiosk is shared with local transport companies, be sure to seek out a TI representative).
Be wary of the travel agencies or special information services that masquerade as TIs but serve fancy hotels and tour companies. They’re in the business of selling things you don’t need.
Maps: Of all places, you need a good map in Venice. Hotels give away freebies (similar in quality to the small color ones at the front of this book). TIs and vaporetto ticket booths sell decent €3 maps—but you can find a wider range at bookshops, newsstands, and postcard stands. The cheap maps are pretty bad, but if you spend €5, you’ll get a map that shows all the tiny alleys. Investing in a good map can be the best €5 you’ll spend in Venice. Map lovers should look for the book Calli, Campielli e Canali, sold at bookstores for €29.50, with 1:2,000 maps of the whole city.
Also consider a mapping app for your smartphone, which uses GPS to pinpoint your location—extremely useful if you get lost in twisty back streets. The City Maps 2Go app has good, searchable maps even when you’re not online.
Helpful History Timelines: For historical orientation, local guide Michael Broderick (listed later, under “Tours in Venice”) has produced three poster-size timelines that cleverly map the city’s history and art (sold at local bookstores; see www.venicescapes.org).
A two-mile-long causeway (with highway and train lines) connects Venice to the mainland. Mestre, the sprawling mainland section of Venice, has fewer crowds, cheaper hotels, and plenty of inexpensive parking lots, but zero charm. Don’t stop in Mestre unless you’re parking your car, changing trains, or sleeping there.
All trains to “Venice” stop at Venezia Mestre (on the mainland). Most continue on to Santa Lucia Station (a.k.a. Venezia S.L.) on the island of Venice itself. If your train happens to terminate at Mestre, you’ll need to buy a Mestre-Santa Lucia ticket at a machine for €1.25 and validate it before hopping any non-express, regional train (with an R or RV prefix) for the ride across the causeway to Venice (6/hour, 10 minutes).
Santa Lucia train station plops you right into the old town on the Grand Canal, an easy vaporetto ride or fascinating 45-minute walk to St. Mark’s Square.
On summer mornings, you’ll find the TI in a white kiosk out front, next to the dock for vaporetto #2; a TI desk is also open year-round inside the station (see “Tourist Information,” earlier, for exact hours). If the station TI is crowded when you arrive, skip it and visit one of the two TIs at St. Mark’s Square instead. It’s not worth a long wait for a minimal TI map (buy a good one from a newsstand or pick up a free one at your hotel).
The station has a baggage check (€6/5 hours, €17/24 hours, daily 6:00-23:50, no lockers; along track 1). WCs (€1) are at track 1 and in the back of the big bar/cafeteria area inside the station.
Before heading into town, confirm your departure plan (use the ticket machines or study the partenze/departures posters on walls). Minimize your time in the station—the banks of user-friendly ticket machines are handy but cover Italian destinations only. They take euros and credit cards, display schedules, and issue tickets. There are two train companies: TrenItalia, with most connections, has green-and-white machines (toll tel. 892-021, www.trenitalia.it); the red machines are for the high-speed Italo service (no rail passes accepted, cheaper in advance, tel. 06-0708, www.italotreno.it).
Ticket offices (for both TrenItalia and Italo) are in the corner, near track 14. If you need international tickets or live help, head to the ticket windows (open 6:00-21:00). Or you could take care of these tasks online or at a downtown travel agency (€5/ticket fee, see here).
Getting from the Train Station to Downtown: Walk straight out of the station to the canal. You’ll see vaporetto docks and ticket booths on both sides. The electronic signs show which boats are leaving when and from which platform. The slow boat down the Grand Canal is #1. The fast boat is #2; make sure that “Rialto” is among the destinations listed. See here for details on vaporetto tickets and passes. A water taxi from the train station to a hotel in central Venice costs about €60-70 (the taxi dock is straight ahead).
Venice’s “bus station” is actually an open-air parking lot called Piazzale Roma. The square itself is a jumble of different operators, platforms, and crosswalks over busy lanes of traffic. But bus stops are well-signed. The ticket windows for ACTV (local public buses, including #5 to Marco Polo Airport) are in a building between the bridge and vaporetto stop. The ATVO ticket office (for express buses to Marco Polo and Treviso airports and to Padua) is at #497g in the big, white building, on the right side of the square as you face away from the canal (office open daily 6:40-19:35).
Piazzale Roma also has two big parking garages and the People Mover monorail (€1.30, links to the cruise port and then the parking-lot island of Tronchetto). A baggage-storage office is next to the monorail at #497m (€7/24 hours, daily 6:00-20:00).
If you arrive here, find the vaporetto docks (just left of the modern bridge) and take #1 or the faster #2 down the Grand Canal to reach the Rialto, Accademia, or San Marco (St. Mark’s Square) stops. Electronic boards direct you to the letter of the dock you want. Before buying a single-ride vaporetto ticket, consider getting a transit pass (see here). If your hotel is near here or near the train station, you can get there on foot.
The freeway dead-ends after crossing the causeway to Venice. At the end of the road you have two parking choices: garages at Tronchetto or Piazzale Roma. As you drive into the city, signboards with green and red lights indicate which lots are full. (You can also park in Mestre, on the mainland, but this is less convenient.)
Parking at Tronchetto: This garage is much bigger, a bit farther out, a bit cheaper, and well-connected by vaporetto (€3-5/hour, €21/24 hours, discounts for longer stays, tel. 041-520-7555, www.veniceparking.it).
After parking in the big Tronchetto garage, cross the street to the brick building. While you can head left for a long walk to the People Mover monorail (described later), it’s easiest to go right to the vaporetto dock (not well-signed, look for ACTV). At the dock, catch vaporetto #2 in one of two directions: via the Grand Canal (more scenic, stops at Rialto, 40 minutes to San Marco), or via Giudecca (around the city, faster, no Rialto stop, 30 minutes to San Marco).
Don’t be waylaid by aggressive water taxi boatmen. They charge €100 to take you where the vaporetto will take you for €7. Also avoid the travel agencies masquerading as TIs; deal only with the ticket booth at the vaporetto dock or the HelloVenezia public transport office. If you’re going to buy a local transport pass, do it now.
If you’re staying near the bus or train station and don’t mind a walk, you can take the €1.30 People Mover instead of paying €7 for the two-stop vaporetto ride. The monorail brings you from Tronchetto to the bus station at Piazzale Roma, from which it’s a five-minute walk across the Calatrava Bridge to the train station (buy monorail tickets with coins or credit card from machine, 3-minute trip, runs Mon-Sat 7:00-23:00, Sun 8:40-21:00).
Parking at Piazzale Roma: The two garages here are closer in and more convenient—but a bit more expensive and likelier to be full. Both garages face the busy square (Piazzale Roma) where the road ends. The big, white building on your right is a 2,200-space public parking garage, the Autorimessa Communale (€26/24 hours, TI office in payment lobby open daily 9:00-14:30, tel. 041-272-7211, www.asmvenezia.it). In a back corner of the square is the private Garage San Marco (€30/24 hours, tel. 041-523-2213, www.garagesanmarco.it). At either of these, you’ll have to give up your keys. Near the Garage San Marco, avoid the Parcheggio Sant’Andrea, which charges obscene rates (€72/24 hours).
Parking in Mestre: Parking in the Parcheggio Stazione garage across from the train station in Mestre (on the mainland) only makes sense if you have light bags and are staying within walking distance of Santa Lucia Station (€10/day Mon-Fri, €14-16/day Sat-Sun; www.sabait.it).
For information on Venice’s airport and cruise ship terminal, see the end of this chapter.
Theft Alert: The dark, late-night streets of Venice are generally safe. Even so, pickpockets (often elegantly dressed) work the crowded main streets, docks, and vaporetti. Your biggest risk of pickpockets is inside St. Mark’s Basilica, near the Accademia and Rialto bridges (especially if you’re preoccupied with snapping photos), or on a tightly packed vaporetto.
A handy polizia station is on the right side of St. Mark’s Square as you face the basilica (at #63, near Caffè Florian). To call the police, dial 113. The Venice TI handles complaints—which must be submitted in writing—about local crooks, including gondoliers, restaurants, and hotel rip-offs (fax 041-523-0399, complaint.apt@turismovenezia.it).
It’s illegal for street vendors to sell knockoff handbags, and it’s also illegal for you to buy them; both you and the vendor can get big fines.
Medical Help: Venice’s Santi Giovanni e Paolo hospital (tel. 118) is a 10-minute walk from both the Rialto and San Marco neighborhoods, located behind the big church of the same name on Fondamenta dei Mendicanti (toward Fondamente Nove). You can take vaporetto #4.1 from San Zaccaria, or #5.2 from the train station or Piazzale Roma, to the Ospedale stop.
Be Prepared to Splurge: Venice is expensive for residents as well as tourists, as everything must be shipped in and hand-trucked to its destination. But it’s a unique place that’s worth paying a premium to fully experience. I find that the best way to enjoy Venice is just to succumb to its charms, accept that prices are 10-20 percent higher than on the mainland, and blow through a little money.
Take Breaks: Venice’s endless pavement, crowds, and tight spaces are hard on tourists, especially in hot weather. Schedule breaks in your sightseeing. Grab a cool place to sit down, relax, and recoup—meditate on a pew in an uncrowded church, or stop in a café.
Etiquette: As waves of tourists wash over Venice every year, its residents struggle to collect the trash left in their wake. Picnicking is illegal anywhere on St. Mark’s Square, and offenders can be fined. (The only place nearby for a legal picnic is in Giardinetti Reali, the small park along the waterfront west of the Piazzetta near St. Mark’s Square. Elsewhere in Venice, picnicking is no problem.) On St. Mark’s Square, police admonish snackers and sunbathers. You may see friendly guidelines posted around town discouraging litter, pigeon-feeding, and beachwear (or rather, “encouraging” good behavior, as city officials are hoping that sweet talk will prove more effective).
Dress Modestly: When visiting St. Mark’s Basilica or other major churches, men, women, and even children must cover their shoulders and knees (or risk being turned away). Remove hats when entering a church.
Public Toilets: Handy public WCs (€1.50) are near major landmarks, including: St. Mark’s Square (behind the Correr Museum and at the waterfront park, Giardinetti Reali), Rialto, and the Accademia Bridge. Use free toilets whenever you can—any museum you’re visiting, or any café you’re eating in. You could also get a drink at a bar (cheaper) and use their WC for free.
Best Views: A slow vaporetto ride down the Grand Canal on a sunny day—or a misty early morning—is a shutterbug’s delight (try to sit in the front seats, available on some older boats; for narration, see my Grand Canal Cruise). On St. Mark’s Square, enjoy views from the soaring Campanile or the balcony of St. Mark’s Basilica (both require admission). The Rialto and Accademia bridges provide free, expansive views of the Grand Canal, along with a cooling breeze. Or get off the main island for a view of the Venetian skyline: Ascend San Giorgio Maggiore’s bell tower, or venture to Giudecca Island to visit the swanky bar of the Molino Stucky Hilton Hotel (free shuttle boat leaves from near the San Zaccaria-M.V.E. vaporetto dock).
Water: I carry a water bottle to refill at public fountains. Venetians pride themselves on having pure, safe, and tasty tap water piped in from the foothills of the Alps. You can actually see the mountains from Venice’s bell towers on crisp, clear winter days.
Pigeon Poop: If your head is bombed by a pigeon, resist the initial response to wipe it off immediately—it’ll just smear into your hair. Wait until it dries, and it should flake off cleanly. But if the poop splatters on your clothes, wipe it off immediately to avoid a stain.
Updates to This Book: For updates to this book, check www.ricksteves.com/update.
Internet Access: Almost all hotels have Wi-Fi, many have a computer that guests can use, and most provide these services for free. Otherwise, a few little shops with pricey Internet access are scattered around town (usually on back streets, marked with an @ sign, and charging €5/hour).
Post Office: Use post offices only as a last resort, as simple transactions can take 45 minutes if you get in the wrong line. If mailing a letter or package, select “P” on the take-a-number machine. You can buy stamps from tobacco shops and mail postcards at any of the red postboxes in town.
The main post office is a little south of the Rialto Bridge on Marzaria San Salvador, part of the main shopping drag running toward San Marco (Mon-Fri 8:30-19:00, Sat 8:30-12:30, closed Sun, San Marco 5016). You’ll find branch offices with shorter hours (generally mornings only) around town, including a handy one right behind St. Mark’s Square (near the TI).
Bookstores: In keeping with its literary heritage, Venice has classy and inviting bookstores. The small Libreria Studium, a block behind St. Mark’s Basilica, has a carefully chosen selection of new English books, including my guidebooks (Mon-Sat 9:00-19:30, Sun 9:30-13:30 & 14:00-18:00, on Calle de la Canonica at #337—see map on here, tel. 041-522-2382). Used-bookstore lovers shouldn’t miss the funky Acqua Alta (“high water”) bookstore, whose quirky owner Luigi has prepared for the next flood by displaying his wares in a selection of vessels, including bathtubs and a gondola. Look for the “book stairs” in his back garden (daily 9:00-21:00, large and classically disorganized selection includes prints of Venice, just beyond Campo Santa Maria Formosa on Lunga Santa Maria Formosa, Castello 5176, see map on here, tel. 041-296-0841). For a solid selection of used books in English, visit Marco Polo, on Calle del Teatro o de l’Opera, close to the St. Mark’s side of the Rialto Bridge, just past the Coin department store and behind the church (Mon-Sat 9:30-19:30, closed Sun, Cannaregio 5886a—see map on here, tel. 041-522-6343).
Laundry: Venice has two coin-operated launderettes. One is across the Grand Canal from the train station (€15/load, daily 7:30-22:30, on Ramo de le Chioverete, Santa Croce 665b—see map on here, mobile 346-972-5446). The other, called Effe Erre, is off Campo Santa Maria Formosa (about €12/load, daily 6:30-24:00, on Ruga Giuffa, Castello 4826—see map on here, mobile 349-058-3881, Massimo). To save time and spend about the same amount, take your laundry to the full-service Lavanderia Gabriella, a few streets north of St. Mark’s Square (€15/load includes wash, dry, and fold; drop off Mon-Fri 8:00-12:30, closed Sat-Sun; pick up 2 hours later or next working day, on Rio Terà de le Colonne, San Marco 985—see map on here, tel. 041-522-1758, Elisabetta).
Travel Agencies: If you need to get train tickets, make seat reservations, or arrange a cuccetta (koo-CHET-tah—a berth on a night train), save a time-consuming trip to Venice’s crowded train station by using a downtown travel agency. Most trains between Venice, Florence, and Rome require reservations, even for rail-pass holders. A travel agency can also give advice on cheap flights (book at least a week in advance for the best fares). Both of the following agencies charge a €5-per-ticket fee.
Along the embankment near St. Mark’s Square (facing the San Zaccaria vaporetto stop), look for Oltrex Change and Travel (daily 9:00-13:00 & 14:00-17:30, closed Sun Nov-April; on Riva degli Schiavoni, one bridge past the Bridge of Sighs at Castello 4192—see map on here; tel. 041-524-2828, Luca and Beatrice).
Near Rialto, try Kele & Teo Travel (Mon-Fri 9:00-18:00, Sat 9:00-12:00, closed Sun; leaving the Rialto Bridge heading for St. Mark’s, it’s half a block away, tucked down a side street on the right—see map on here; tel. 041-520-8722).
English Church Services: San Zulian Church offers a Mass in English (generally May-Sept Mon-Fri at 9:30 and Sun at 11:30, Oct-April Sun at 10:30, 2 blocks toward Rialto off St. Mark’s Square, tel. 041-523-5383). St. George’s Anglican Church welcomes all to its English-language Eucharist (Sun at 10:30, located on Campo San Zio in Dorsoduro, midway between Accademia and Peggy Guggenheim Collection, www.stgeorgesvenice.com).
The city’s “streets” are narrow pedestrian walkways connecting its docks, squares, bridges, and courtyards. To navigate, look for yellow signs on street corners pointing you to (per) the nearest major landmark. The first landmarks you’ll get to know are San Marco (St. Mark’s Square), Rialto (the bridge), Accademia (another bridge), Ferrovia (“railroad,” meaning the train station), and Piazzale Roma (the bus station). Determine whether your destination is in the direction of a major signposted landmark, then follow the signs through the maze.
As you get more comfortable with the city, dare to disobey these signs, avoid the posted routes, and make your own discoveries. While 80 percent of Venice is, in fact, not touristy, 80 percent of the tourists never notice. Escape the crowds and explore on foot. Walk and walk to the far reaches of the town. Don’t worry about getting lost—in fact, get as lost as possible. Keep reminding yourself, “I’m on an island, and I can’t get off.” When it comes time to find your way, just follow the arrows on building corners or simply ask a local, “Dov’è San Marco?” (“Where is St. Mark’s?”) People in the tourist business (that’s most Venetians) speak some English. If they don’t, listen politely, watch where their hands point, say “Grazie,” and head off in that direction. If you’re lost, refer to your map, or pop into a hotel and ask for their business card—it probably comes with a map and a prominent “You are here.”
Every building in Venice has a house number. The numbers relate to the district (each with about 6,000 address numbers), not the street. Therefore, if you need to find a specific address, it helps to know its district, street, house number, and nearby landmarks.
Some helpful street terminology: Campo means square, a campiello is a small square, calle (pronounced “KAH-lay” with an “L” sound) means “street,” and a ponte is a bridge. A fondamenta is the embankment along a canal or the lagoon. A rio terà is a street that was once a canal and has been filled in. A sotoportego is a covered passageway. Salizzada literally means a paved area (usually a wide street). The abbreviations S. and S.S. mean “saint” and “saints,” respectively. Don’t get hung up on the exact spelling of street and square names, which may sometimes appear in Venetian dialect (which uses de la, novo, and vechio) and other times in standard Italian (which uses della, nuovo, and vecchio).
Venice’s public transit system, run by a company called ACTV, is a fleet of motorized bus-boats called vaporetti. They work like city buses except that they never get a flat, the stops are docks, and if you get off between stops, you might drown. For the same prices, you can purchase tickets and passes at docks and from ACTV affiliate HelloVenezia (ACTV—tel. 041-2424, www.actv.it; HelloVenezia—www.hellovenezia.com).
Individual Vaporetto Tickets: A single ticket costs €7. Kids age 6 and up pay the same fare as an adult (kids under 6 travel free). Tickets are good for one hour in one direction; you can hop on and off at stops and change boats during that time. Your ticket (a plastic card embedded with a chip) is refillable—don’t toss it after the first use. You can put more money on it at the automated kiosks and avoid waiting in line at the ticket window. The fare is reduced to €4 for a few one-stop runs (corsa semplice) that are hard to do by foot, including the route from San Marco to La Salute, from Fondamente Nove to Murano-Colonna, and from San Zaccaria to San Giorgio Maggiore.
Vaporetto Passes: You can buy a pass for unlimited use of vaporetti: €20/24 hours, €30/48 hours, €25/36 hours, €40/72 hours, €60/7-day pass. All passes must be validated each time you board by touching it to the small white machine on the dock. Because single tickets cost a hefty €7 a pop, these passes can pay for themselves in a hurry. Think through your Venice itinerary before you step up to the ticket booth to pay for your first vaporetto trip. The 48-hour pass pays for itself with five rides (for example: to your hotel on your arrival, on a Grand Canal joyride, into the lagoon and back, and to the train station).
Keep in mind that smaller and/or outlying stops, such as Sant’Elena and Biennale, are unstaffed—another good reason to buy a pass. It’s fun to be able to hop on and off spontaneously, and avoid long ticket lines. On the other hand, many tourists just walk through Venice and rarely use a boat.
Travelers between ages 14 and 29 can get a 72-hour pass for €20 if they also buy a Rolling Venice discount card for €4 (see here). Those settling in for a much longer stay can ride like a local by buying the Venezia Unica card (see www.actv.it for details).
Passes are valid on some mainland ACTV buses, such as bus #2 to Mestre. For bus #5 to the airport, you must buy a supplement (€4 one-way, €8 round-trip). Passes are not valid for airport buses run by ATVO, a separate company.
Buying and Validating Tickets and Passes: Purchase tickets and passes from the automated machines at most stops, from ticket windows (at larger stops), or from the HelloVenezia offices at the train station, bus station, and Tronchetto parking lot.
Before you board, validate your ticket by holding it up to the small white machine on the dock until you hear a pinging sound. If you purchase a vaporetto pass, you need to touch the pass to the machine each time you board the boat. The machine readout shows how long your ticket is valid—and inspectors do come by now and then to check tickets. If you’re unable to purchase a ticket before boarding, seek out the conductor immediately to buy a single ticket (or risk a €52 fine).
For most travelers, only two vaporetto lines matter: line #1 and line #2. These lines leave every 10 minutes or so and go up and down the Grand Canal, between the “mouth” of the fish at one end and St. Mark’s Square at the other. Line #1 is the slow boat, taking 45 minutes and making every stop along the way. Line #2 is the fast boat that zips down the Grand Canal in 25 minutes, stopping only at Tronchetto (parking lot), Piazzale Roma (bus station), Ferrovia (train station), Rialto Bridge, San Tomà (Frari Church), San Samuele (opposite Ca’ Rezzonico—an easy traghetto ride across), Accademia Bridge, and San Marco (west end of St. Mark’s Square, end of the line).
Sorting out the different directions of travel can be confusing. Some boats run on circular routes, in one direction only (for example, lines #5.1 and #5.2, plus the non-Murano sections of lines #4.1 and #4.2). Line #2 runs in both directions and is almost, but not quite, a full loop. The #2 boat leaving from the San Marco stop goes in one direction (up the Grand Canal), while from the San Zaccaria stop—just a five-minute walk away—it goes in the opposite direction (around the tail of the “fish”). Make sure you use the correct stop to avoid taking the long way around to your destination.
To clear up any confusion, ask a ticket-seller or conductor for help (sometimes they’re stationed on the dock to help confused tourists). Get a copy of the most current ACTV map and timetable (in English and Italian, theoretically free at ticket booths but usually unavailable—can be downloaded from www.actv.it). System maps are posted at stops, but it’s smart to print out your own copy of the map from the ACTV website before your trip.
Many stops have at least two boarding platforms, and large stops—such as San Marco, San Zaccaria, Rialto, Ferrovia (train station), and Piazzale Roma—have multiple platforms. At these larger stops, helpful electronic boards display which boats are coming next, and when, and from which platform they leave; each platform is assigned a letter (clearly marked above the gangway). At smaller stops without electronic displays, signs on each platform show the vaporetto lines that stop there and the direction they are headed. As you board, confirm your destination by looking for an electronic sign on the boat or just asking the conductor.
You may notice some vaporetti sporting a corsa bis sign, indicating that they’re running a shortened or altered route, and that riders may have to hop off partway (e.g., at Rialto) and wait for the next boat. If you see a corsa bis sign, before boarding ask the conductor whether it’s going to your desired destination (e.g., simply ask, “San Marco?”).
For fun, take my self-guided Grand Canal Cruise. But be warned: Grand Canal vaporetti in particular can be absolutely jam-packed, especially during the tourist rush hour (during mornings heading in from Piazzale Roma, and in evenings heading out to Piazzale Roma). Riding at night, with nearly empty boats and chandelier-lit palace interiors viewable from the Grand Canal, is an entirely different experience.
Only four bridges cross the Grand Canal, but traghetti (shuttle gondolas) ferry locals and in-the-know tourists across the Grand Canal at seven handy locations (marked on the color map of Venice at the front of this book). Just step in, hand the gondolier €2, and enjoy the ride—standing or sitting. Note that some traghetti are seasonal, some stop running as early as 12:30, and all stop by 18:00. Traghetti are not covered by any transit pass.
Several vaporetti leave from the San Zaccaria docks, located 150 yards east of St. Mark’s Square. There are four separate San Zaccaria docks spaced about 70 yards apart, with a total of six different berths, lettered A to F: Danieli (E and F), Jolanda (C and D), M.V.E. (B), and Pietà (A). While this may sound confusing, in practice it’s simple: Check the big electronic board (next to the Jolanda C/D dock), which indicates the departure time, line number, destination, and berth letter of upcoming vaporetti. Once you’ve figured out which boat you want, go to that letter berth and hop on. They’re all within about a five-minute stroll of each other.
• Line #1 goes up the Grand Canal, making all the stops, including San Marco, Rialto, Ferrovia (train station), and Piazzale Roma (but it does not go as far as Tronchetto). In the other direction, it goes from San Zaccaria to Arsenale and Giardini before ending on the Lido.
• Line #2 zips over to San Giorgio Maggiore, the island church across from St. Mark’s Square (5 minutes, €4 ride). From there, it continues on to stops on the island of Giudecca, the parking lot at Tronchetto, and then down the Grand Canal. Note: You cannot ride the #2 up the Grand Canal (for example, to Rialto or the train station) directly from this stop—you’ll need to walk five minutes along the waterfront, past St. Mark’s Square, to the San Marco-Giardinetti dock and hop the #2 from there.
• Line #4.1 goes to San Michele and Murano in 45 minutes.
• Line #7 is the summertime express boat to Murano (25 minutes).
• The Molino Stucky shuttle boat takes even non-guests to the Hilton Hotel, with its popular view bar (free, 20-minute ride, leaves at 0:20 past the hour from near the San Zaccaria-M.V.E. dock).
• Lines #5.1 and #5.2 are the circulare (cheer-koo-LAH-ray), making a loop around the perimeter of the island, with a stop at the Lido—perfect if you just like riding boats. Line #5.1 goes counterclockwise, and #5.2 goes clockwise.
• The Alilaguna shuttle to and from the airport stops here as well.
Venetian taxis, like speedboat limos, hang out at busy points along the Grand Canal. Prices are regulated and listed on the TI’s website (search for “taxi”): €15 for pickup, then €2 per minute; €5 per person for more than four passengers; and €10 between 22:00 and 6:00. If you have more bags than passengers, the extra ones cost €3 apiece. (For information on taking the water taxi to/from the airport, see here.) Despite regulation, prices can be soft; negotiate and settle on the price or rate before stepping in. For travelers with lots of luggage or small groups who can split the cost, taxi boat rides can be a worthwhile and time-saving convenience—and skipping across the lagoon in a classic wooden motorboat is a cool indulgence. For a little more than €100 an hour, you can have a private, unguided taxi-boat tour. You may find more competitive rates if you prebook through the Consorzio Motoscafi water taxi association (tel. 041-522-2303, www.motoscafivenezia.it).
If you’re interested in hiring a gondolier for your own private cruise, see here.
This company offers several English-only two-hour walks, including a basic St. Mark’s Square introduction called the “Original Venice Walking Tour” (€25, includes church entry, most days at 11:00, Sun at 14:00; 45 minutes on the square, 15 minutes in the church, one hour along back streets), a 60-70-minute private boat tour of the Grand Canal (€46, daily at 16:30, eight people maximum), a “Hidden Venice” tour (€25, in summer 3/week at 11:30, fewer off-season), and excursions on the mainland (10 percent discount for Rick Steves readers, see descriptions at www.tours-italy.com, tel. 041-970-499, info@tours-italy.com).
Debonair guide Alessandro Schezzini is a connoisseur of Venetian bacari—classic old bars serving wine and traditional cicchetti snacks. He organizes two-hour Venetian pub tours (€35/person, any night on request at 18:00, depart from top of Rialto Bridge, better to book by email—alessandro@schezzini.it—than by phone, mobile 335-530-9024, www.schezzini.it). Alessandro’s tours include sampling cicchetti with wines at three different bacari. (If you think of this tour as a light dinner with a local friend, it’s a particularly good value.)
This company offers a comprehensive program of tours in Venice. Many have set times and meeting points and a per-person price; some are as short as 45 minutes. Choose from general intro-to-Venice tours, themed tours (Grand Canal, Venice Walk, Doge’s Palace, Gondola Tour), or take their €80 “Learn to Be a Gondolier” tour (for details, see www.italy.artviva.com). They offer a 10 percent discount for Rick Steves readers: If booking online, go to www.artviva.com/ricksteves, and log in with username “ricksteves” and password “reader.”
Michael Broderick’s private, themed tours of Venice are intellectually demanding and beyond the attention span of most mortal tourists. But travelers with a keen interest and a desire to learn find him passionate and engaging. Your time with Michael is like a rolling, graduate-level lecture (see his website for various 4- to 6-hour itineraries, 2 people-$250-290 or the euro equivalent, $60/person after that, admissions and transport not included, book in advance, tel. 041-850-5742, mobile 349-479-7406, www.venicescapes.org, info@venicescapes.org).
Plenty of licensed, trained guides are available. If you organize a small group from your hotel at breakfast to split the cost (figure on €75/hour with a 2-hour minimum), the fee becomes more reasonable. The following guides work with individuals, families, and small groups:
Walks Inside Venice is a dynamic duo of women—and their tour-guide colleagues—enthusiastic about teaching (€225/3 hours per group of up to 6 with this book, 3-hour minimum; Roberta: mobile 347-253-0560; Sara: mobile 335-522-9714; www.walksinsidevenice.com, info@walksinsidevenice.com). Roberta has been a big help in the making of this book. They also do side-trips to outlying destinations, and offer regularly scheduled small-group, English-only walking tours (€62.50, departs Mon-Sat at 14:30, 2.5 hours).
Alessandro Schezzini, mentioned earlier for his Classic Venice Bars Tour, isn’t a licensed guide, so he can’t take you into sights. But his relaxed, 1.5-hour back-streets tour gets you beyond the clichés and into offbeat Venice (€20/person, departs daily at 16:30, mobile 335-530-9024, www.schezzini.it, alessandro@schezzini.it). He also does lagoon tours (Burano-Murano) in the morning.
Tour Leader Venice, a.k.a. Treviso Car Service, specializes in getting you outside of Venice by car or minivan—to countryside villas, wine-and-cheese tastings, and the Dolomites—but also offers guided walks in Venice (mobile 348-900-0700 or 333-411-2840; www.trevisocarservice.com, tvcarservice@gmail.com; for Venice tours also see www.tourleadervenice.com, info@tourleadervenice.com; Igor, Andrea, and Marta). They also provide transfer services to Venice’s airport and cruise terminal (see here).
Another good option is Venice with a Guide, a co-op of 10 good guides who offer a range of tours, well-explained on their website (€146 for a 2-hour tour, www.venicewithaguide.com). Among their guides are Corine Govi (mobile 347-966-8346, corine_g@libero.it) and Elisabetta Morelli (tel. 041-526-7816, mobile 328-753-5220, bettamorelli@inwind.it).
Andy Steves (my son) runs WSA Europe, offering three-day and longer guided and unguided packages—including accommodations, sightseeing, and unique local experiences—for budget travelers across 11 top European cities, including Venice (from €99, see www.wsaeurope.com for details).
Venice has battled rising water levels since the fifth century. But today, the water seems to be winning. Several factors, both natural and man-made, cause Venice to flood about 100 times a year—usually from October until late winter—a phenomenon called the acqua alta.
On my last trip I asked a Venetian how much the city is sinking. He said, “Less than the sea is rising.” Venice sits atop sediments deposited at the ancient mouth of the Po River, which are still compacting and settling. Early industrial projects, such as offshore piers and the railroad bridge to the mainland, affected the sea floor and tidal cycles in ways that made the city more vulnerable to flooding. Twentieth-century industry worsened things by pumping massive amounts of groundwater out of the aquifer beneath the lagoon for nearly 50 years before the government stopped the practice in the 1970s. In the last century, Venice has sunk by about nine inches.
Meanwhile, the waters around Venice are rising, a phenomenon that’s especially apparent in winter. The highest so far was in November of 1966, when a huge storm (the same one that famously flooded Florence) raised Venice’s water level to more than six feet above the norm. The notorious acqua alta happens when an unusually high tide combines with strong sirocco winds and a storm. Although tides are minuscule in the Mediterranean, the narrow, shallow Adriatic Sea has about a three-foot tidal range. When a storm—an area of low pressure—travels over a body of water, it pulls the surface of the water up into a dome. As strong sirocco winds from Africa blow storms north up the Adriatic, they push this high water ahead of the front, causing a surging storm tide. Add to that the worldwide sea-level rise that’s resulted from recent climate change (melting ice caps, thermal expansion of the water, more frequent and more powerful storms), and it makes a high sea that much higher.
If the acqua alta appears during your visit, you’ll see the first puddles in the center of paved squares, pooling around the limestone grates at the square’s lowest point. These grates cover cisterns that long held Venice’s only source of drinking water. That’s right: Surrounded by the lagoon and beset by constant flooding, this city had no natural source of fresh water. For centuries, residents carried water from the mainland with much effort and risk. In the ninth century, they devised a way to collect rainwater by using paved, cleverly sloped squares as catchment systems, with limestone filters covering underground clay tubs. Venice’s population grew markedly once citizens were able to access fresh water by simply dropping buckets down into these “wells.” Several thousand cisterns provided the city with drinking water up until 1886, when an aqueduct was built (paralleling the railroad bridge) to bring in water from nearby mountains. Now the wells are capped, the clay tubs are rotted out, and rain drains from squares into the lagoon—or up from it, as the case may be.
So what is Venice doing about the flooding? Since the 1966 flood, officials knew something had to be done, but it took about four decades to come up with a solution. In 2003, a consortium of engineering firms began construction on the MOSE Project. Named for the acronym of its Italian name, Modulo Sperimentale Elettromeccanico, it’s also a nod to Moses and his (albeit temporary) mastery over the sea.
Underwater “mobile” gates are being installed on the floor of the sea at the three inlets where the open sea enters Venice’s lagoon. When the seawater rises above a certain level, air will be pumped into the gates, causing them to rise and shut out the Adriatic. The first gates are already installed, and the project is scheduled to finish by 2016. Will it work? There are many doubters.
Take a joyride and introduce yourself to Venice by boat, an experience worth ▲▲▲. Cruise the Canal Grande all the way to St. Mark’s Square, starting at the train station (Ferrovia) or the bus station (Piazzale Roma).
If it’s your first trip down the Grand Canal, you might want to stow this book and just take it all in—Venice is a barrage on the senses that hardly needs narration. But these notes give the cruise a little meaning and help orient you to this great city.
This self-guided tour is designed to be done on the slow boat #1 (which takes about 45 minutes). The express boat #2 travels the same route, but it skips many stops and takes only 25 minutes, making it hard to sightsee.
You can break up the tour by hopping on and off at various sights described in greater depth elsewhere in this chapter (but remember, a single-fare vaporetto ticket is good for just one hour; passes let you hop on and off all day).
To help you enjoy the visual parade of canal wonders, I’ve organized this tour by boat stop. I’ll point out both what you can see from the current stop, and what to look forward to as you cruise to the next stop. You can download this self-guided cruise as a free Rick Steves audio tour (see here).
Where to Sit: Some of the older vaporetti have seats in the bow (in front of the captain’s bridge), which is the perfect vantage point for spotting sights left, right, and forward. However, many of the newer boats lack these seats, so you have to settle for another option: Sit inside (and view the passing sights through windows); stand in the open middle deck (you can try to move back and forth—almost impossible if the boat is crowded); or sit outside in the back (where you’ll miss the wonderful forward views).
If you have to commit to one side, consider this: The left side has a slight edge, with more sights and the best light late in the day.
(See “Grand Canal” map, here.)
The Grand Canal is Venice’s “Main Street.” At more than two miles long, nearly 150 feet wide, and nearly 15 feet deep, it’s the city’s largest canal, lined with its most impressive palaces. It’s the remnant of a river that once spilled from the mainland into the Adriatic. The sediment it carried formed barrier islands that cut Venice off from the sea, forming a lagoon.
Venice was built on the marshy islands of the former delta, sitting on wood pilings driven nearly 15 feet into the clay (alder was the preferred wood). About 25 miles of canals drain the city, dumping like streams into the Grand Canal. Technically, Venice has only three canals: Grand, Giudecca, and Cannaregio. The 45 small waterways that dump into the Grand Canal are referred to as rivers (e.g., Rio Novo).
Venice is a city of palaces, dating from the days when the city was the world’s richest. The most lavish palaces formed a grand architectural cancan along the Grand Canal. Once frescoed in reds and blues, with black-and-white borders and gold-leaf trim, they made Venice a city of dazzling color. This cruise is the only way to truly appreciate the palaces, approaching them at water level, where their main entrances were located. Today, strict laws prohibit any changes in these buildings, so while landowners gnash their teeth, we can enjoy Europe’s best-preserved medieval city—slowly rotting. Many of the grand buildings are now vacant. Others harbor chandeliered elegance above mossy, empty (often flooded) ground floors.
(See “Grand Canal” map, here.)
This tour starts at the Ferrovia vaporetto stop (at Santa Lucia train station). It also works—and the boat can be less crowded—if you board upstream from Ferrovia at Piazzale Roma, a five-minute walk over the Calatrava Bridge from the Ferrovia stop. At Piazzale Roma, check the electronic boards to see which dock the next #1 or #2 is leaving from, hop on board to get your pick of seats, and start reading the tour when your vaporetto reaches Ferrovia.
Ferrovia: The Santa Lucia train station, one of the few modern buildings in town, was built in 1954. It’s been the gateway into Venice since 1860, when the first station was built. “F.S.” stands for “Ferrovie dello Stato,” the Italian state railway system.
More than 20,000 people a day commute in from the mainland, making this the busiest part of Venice during rush hour. The Calatrava Bridge, spanning the Grand Canal between the train station and Piazzale Roma upstream, was built in 2008 to alleviate some of the congestion and make the commute easier (see here).
Riva de Biasio: Venice’s main thoroughfare is busy with all kinds of boats: taxis, police boats, garbage boats, ambulances, construction cranes, and even brown-and-white UPS boats. Somehow they all manage to share the canal in relative peace.
About 25 yards past the Riva de Biasio stop, look left down the broad Cannaregio Canal to see what was the Jewish Ghetto (described on here). The twin, pale-pink, six-story “skyscrapers”—the tallest buildings you’ll see at this end of the canal—are reminders of how densely populated the world’s original ghetto was. Set aside as the local Jewish quarter in 1516, this area became extremely crowded. This urban island developed into one of the most closely knit business and cultural quarters of all the Jewish communities in Italy, and gave us our word “ghetto” (from geto, the copper foundry located here).
San Marcuola: At this stop, facing a tiny square just ahead, stands the unfinished Church of San Marcuola, one of only five churches fronting the Grand Canal. Centuries ago, this canal was a commercial drag of expensive real estate in high demand by wealthy merchants. About 20 yards ahead on the right (across the Grand Canal) stands the stately gray Turkish “Fondaco” Exchange, one of the oldest houses in Venice. Its horseshoe arches and roofline of triangles and dingleballs are reminders of its Byzantine heritage. Turkish traders in turbans docked here, unloaded their goods into the warehouse on the bottom story, then went upstairs for a home-style meal and a place to sleep. Venice in the 1500s was very cosmopolitan, welcoming every religion and ethnicity, so long as they carried cash. (Today the building contains the city’s Museum of Natural History—and Venice’s only dinosaur skeleton.)
Just 100 yards ahead on the left, Venice’s Casinò is housed in the palace where German composer Richard (The Ring) Wagner died in 1883. See his distinct, strong-jawed profile in the white plaque on the brick wall. In the 1700s, Venice was Europe’s Vegas, with casinos and prostitutes everywhere. Casinòs (“little houses” in Venetian dialect) have long provided Italians with a handy escape from daily life. Today they’re run by the state to keep Mafia influence at bay. Notice the fancy front porch, rolling out the red carpet for high rollers arriving by taxi or hotel boat.
San Stae: The San Stae Church sports a delightful Baroque facade. Opposite the San Stae stop is a little canal opening—on the second building to the right of that opening, look for the peeling plaster that once made up frescoes (you can barely distinguish the scant remains of little angels on the lower floors). Imagine the facades of the Grand Canal at their finest. Most of them would have been covered in frescoes by the best artists of the day. As colorful as the city is today, it’s still only a faded, sepia-toned remnant of a long-gone era, a time of lavishly decorated, brilliantly colored palaces.
Just ahead, jutting out a bit on the right, is the ornate white facade of Ca’ Pesaro (which houses the International Gallery of Modern Art—see here). “Ca’” is short for casa (house).
In this city of masks, notice how the rich marble facades along the Grand Canal mask what are generally just simple, no-nonsense brick buildings. Most merchants enjoyed showing off. However, being smart businessmen, they only decorated the side of the buildings that would be seen and appreciated. But look back as you pass Ca’ Pesaro. It’s the only building you’ll see with a fine side facade. Ahead, on the left, with its glorious triple-decker medieval arcade (just before the next stop) is Ca’ d’Oro.
Ca’ d’Oro: The lacy Ca’ d’Oro (House of Gold) is the best example of Venetian Gothic architecture on the canal. Its three stories offer different variations on balcony design, topped with a spiny white roofline. Venetian Gothic mixes traditional Gothic (pointed arches and round medallions stamped with a four-leaf clover) with Byzantine styles (tall, narrow arches atop thin columns), filled in with Islamic frills. Like all the palaces, this was originally painted and gilded to make it even more glorious than it is now. Today the Ca’ d’Oro is an art gallery (described on here).
Look at the Venetian chorus line of palaces in front of the boat. On the right is the arcade of the covered fish market, with the open-air produce market just beyond. It bustles in the morning but is quiet the rest of the day. This is a great scene to wander through—even though European Union hygiene standards have made it cleaner but less colorful than it once was.
Find the traghetto gondola ferrying shoppers—standing like Washington crossing the Delaware—back and forth. There are seven traghetto crossings along the Grand Canal, each one marked by a classy low-key green-and-black sign. Driving a traghetto isn’t these gondoliers’ normal day jobs. As a public service, all gondoliers are obliged to row the traghetto a few days a month. Make a point to use them. At €2 a ride, traghetti offer the cheapest gondola ride in Venice (but at this price, don’t expect them to sing to you).
Rialto Mercato: This stop was opened in 2007 to serve the busy market (boats only stop here between 8:00 and 20:00). The long and officious-looking building at this stop is the Venice courthouse. Straight ahead in the distance, rising above the huge post office, is the tip of the Campanile (bell tower), crowned by its golden angel at St. Mark’s Square, where this tour will end. The German Exchange (100 yards directly ahead, on left side) was the trading center for German metal merchants in the early 1500s (once a post office, it will soon be a shopping center).
You’ll cruise by some trendy and beautifully situated wine bars on the right, but look ahead as you round the corner and see the impressive Rialto Bridge come into view.
A major landmark of Venice, the Rialto Bridge is lined with shops and tourists. Constructed in 1588, it’s the third bridge built on this spot. Until the 1850s, this was the only bridge crossing the Grand Canal. With a span of 160 feet and foundations stretching 650 feet on either side, the Rialto was an impressive engineering feat in its day. Earlier Rialto Bridges could open to let big ships in, but not this one. When this new bridge was completed, much of the Grand Canal was closed to shipping and became a canal of palaces.
When gondoliers pass under the fat arch of the Rialto Bridge, they take full advantage of its acoustics: “Volare, oh, oh...”
Rialto: Rialto, a separate town in the early days of Venice, has always been the commercial district, while San Marco was the religious and governmental center. Today, a winding street called the Mercerie connects the two, providing travelers with human traffic jams and a mesmerizing gauntlet of shopping temptations. This is the only stretch of the historic Grand Canal with landings upon which you can walk. They unloaded the city’s basic necessities here: oil, wine, charcoal, iron. Today, the quay is lined with tourist-trap restaurants.
Venice’s sleek, black, graceful gondolas are a symbol of the city (for more on gondolas, see here). With about 500 gondoliers joyriding amid the churning vaporetti, there’s a lot of congestion on the Grand Canal. Pay attention—this is where most of the gondola and vaporetto accidents take place. While the Rialto is the highlight of many gondola rides, gondoliers understandably prefer the quieter small canals. Watch your vaporetto driver curse the better-paid gondoliers.
Ahead 100 yards on the left, two gray-colored palaces stand side by side (the City Hall and the mayor’s office). Their horseshoe-shaped, arched windows are similar and their stories are the same height, lining up to create the effect of one long balcony.
San Silvestro: We now enter a long stretch of important merchants’ palaces, each with proud and different facades. Because ships couldn’t navigate beyond the Rialto Bridge, the biggest palaces—with the major shipping needs—line this last stretch of the navigable Grand Canal.
Palaces like these were multi-functional: ground floor for the warehouse, offices and showrooms upstairs, and the living quarters above the offices on the “noble floors” (with big windows designed to let in maximum light). Servants lived and worked on the top floors (with the smallest windows). For fire-safety reasons, the kitchens were also located on the top floors. Peek into the noble floors to catch a glimpse of their still-glorious chandeliers of Murano glass.
Sant’Angelo: Notice how many buildings have a foundation of waterproof white stone (pietra d’Istria) upon which the bricks sit high and dry. Many canal-level floors are abandoned as the rising water level takes its toll.
The posts—historically painted gaily with the equivalent of family coats of arms—don’t rot underwater. But the wood at the waterline, where it’s exposed to oxygen, does. On the smallest canals, little blue gondola signs indicate that these docks are for gondolas only (no taxis or motor boats).
San Tomà: Fifty yards ahead, on the right side (with twin obelisks on the rooftop) stands Palazzo Balbi, the palace of an early-17th-century captain general of the sea. This palace, like so many in the city, flies three flags: Italy (green-white-red), the European Union (blue with ring of stars), and Venice (a lion on a field of red and gold).
Just past the admiral’s palace, look immediately to the right, down a side canal. On the right side of that canal, before the bridge, see the traffic light and the fire station (the 1930s Mussolini-era building with four arches hiding fireboats parked and ready to go).
The impressive Ca’ Foscari, with a classic Venetian facade (on the corner, across from the fire station), dominates the bend in the canal. This is the main building of the University of Venice, which has about 25,000 students. Notice the elegant lamp on the corner—needed in the old days to light this intersection.
The grand, heavy, white Ca’ Rezzonico, just before the stop of the same name, houses the Museum of 18th-Century Venice (described on here). Across the canal is the cleaner and leaner Palazzo Grassi, the last major palace built on the canal, erected in the late 1700s. It was purchased by a French tycoon and now displays part of Punta della Dogana’s contemporary art collection.
Ca’ Rezzonico: Up ahead, the Accademia Bridge leads over the Grand Canal to the Accademia Gallery (right side), filled with the best Venetian paintings (described on here). The bridge was put up in 1934 as a temporary structure. Locals liked it, so it stayed. It was rebuilt in 1984 in the original style.
Accademia: From here, look through the graceful bridge and way ahead to enjoy a classic view of La Salute Church, topped by a crown-shaped dome supported by scrolls (described on here). This Church of St. Mary of Good Health was built to thank God for delivering Venetians from the devastating plague of 1630 (which had killed about a third of the city’s population).
The low, white building among greenery (100 yards ahead, on the right, between the Accademia Bridge and the church) is the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. The American heiress “retired” here, sprucing up a palace that had been abandoned in mid-construction. Peggy willed the city her fine collection of modern art (described on here).
Two doors past the Guggenheim, Palazzo Dario has a great set of characteristic funnel-shaped chimneys. These forced embers through a loop-the-loop channel until they were dead—required in the days when stone palaces were surrounded by humble, wooden buildings, and a live spark could make a merchant’s workforce homeless. Three doors later is the Salviati building, which once served as a glassworks. Its fine mosaic, done by Art Nouveau in the early 20th century, features Venice as a queen being appreciated by the big shots of society.
Santa Maria del Giglio: Back on the left stands the fancy Gritti Palace hotel. Hemingway and Woody Allen both stayed here (but not together).
Take a deep whiff of Venice. What’s all this nonsense about stinky canals? All I smell is my shirt. By the way, how’s your captain? Smooth dockings? To get to know him, stand up in the bow and block his view.
Salute: The huge La Salute Church towers overhead as if squirted from a can of Catholic Reddi-wip.
As the Grand Canal opens up into the lagoon, the last building on the right with the golden ball is the 17th-century Customs House, which now houses the Punta della Dogana contemporary art museum (listed on here). Its two bronze Atlases hold a statue of Fortune riding the ball. Arriving ships stopped here to pay their tolls.
San Marco: Up ahead on the left, the green pointed tip of the Campanile marks St. Mark’s Square, the political and religious center of Venice...and the final destination of this tour. You could get off at the San Marco stop and go straight to St. Mark’s Square (and you’ll have to if you’re on vaporetto #2, which terminates here). But I’m staying on the #1 boat for one more stop, just past St. Mark’s Square (it’s a quick walk back).
Survey the lagoon. Opposite St. Mark’s Square, across the water, the ghostly white church with the pointy bell tower is San Giorgio Maggiore, with great views of Venice (see here). Next to it is the residential island Giudecca, stretching from close to San Giorgio Maggiore past the Venice youth hostel (with a nice view, directly across) to the Hilton Hotel (good nighttime view, far-right end of island).
Still on board? If you are, as we leave the San Marco stop, prepare for a drive-by view of St. Mark’s Square. First comes the bold white facade of the old mint (marked by a tiny cupola, where Venice’s golden ducat, the “dollar” of the Venetian Republic, was made) and the library facade. Then come the twin columns topped by St. Theodore and St. Mark, who’ve welcomed visitors since the 15th century. Between the columns, catch a glimpse of two giant figures atop the Clock Tower—they’ve been whacking their clappers every hour since 1499. The domes of St. Mark’s Basilica are soon eclipsed by the lacy facade of the Doge’s Palace. Next you’ll see the Bridge of Sighs (leading from the palace to the prison—check out the maximum-security bars), many gondolas with their green breakwater buoys, and then the grand harborside promenade—the Riva.
Follow the Riva with your eye, past elegant hotels to the green area in the distance. This is the largest of Venice’s few parks, which hosts the annual Biennale festival (see here). Much farther in the distance is the Lido, the island with Venice’s beach. Its sand and casinos are tempting, though given its car traffic, it lacks the medieval charm of Venice.
San Zaccaria: OK, you’re at your last stop. Quick—muscle your way off this boat! (If you don’t, you’ll eventually end up at the Lido.)
At San Zaccaria, you’re right in the thick of the action. A number of other vaporetti depart from here (see here). Otherwise, it’s a short walk back along the Riva to St. Mark’s Square. Ahoy!
▲▲▲St. Mark’s Square (Piazza San Marco)
▲▲▲St. Mark’s Basilica (Basilica di San Marco)
▲▲▲Doge’s Palace (Palazzo Ducale)
▲▲Correr Museum (Museo Correr)
▲Campanile (Campanile di San Marco)
La Fenice Opera House (Gran Teatro alla Fenice)
Across the Lagoon from St. Mark’s Square
▲▲Accademia (Galleria dell’Accademia)
▲La Salute Church (Santa Maria della Salute)
▲Ca’ Rezzonico (Museum of 18th-Century Venice)
▲Ca’ Pesaro International Gallery of Modern Art
Palazzo Mocenigo Costume Museum (Museo di Palazzo Mocenigo)
▲▲Frari Church (Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari)
Calatrava Bridge (a.k.a. Ponte della Costituzione)
▲Scuola Dalmata di San Giorgio
Venice’s city museums offer youth and senior discounts to Americans and other non-EU citizens. Be sure to check www.ricksteves.com/update for any significant changes that may have occurred since this book was printed.
Venice offers a dizzying array of combo-tickets and sightseeing passes. Determine roughly what you plan to see, do the math, and pick the pass that suits your plans. For most people, the best choice is the Museum Pass, which covers entry into the Doge’s Palace, Correr Museum, and more. Note that some major sights are not covered on any pass, including the Accademia, Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Scuola San Rocco, and the Campanile, along with the three sights within St. Mark’s Basilica that charge admission.
All of the passes described below are sold at the TI (except for the combo-ticket), and most are also available at participating sights.
Combo-Ticket: A €16 combo-ticket covers both the Doge’s Palace and the Correr Museum. To bypass the long line at the Doge’s Palace, buy your combo-ticket at the never-crowded Correr Museum (or online for a €0.50 surcharge). The two sights are also covered by the Museum Pass and Venice Card.
Museum Pass: Busy sightseers may prefer this more expensive pass, which covers these city-run museums: the Doge’s Palace; Correr Museum; Ca’ Rezzonico (Museum of 18th-Century Venice); Palazzo Mocenigo Costume Museum; Casa Goldoni (home of the Italian playwright); Ca’ Pesaro (modern art); Museum of Natural History in the Santa Croce district; the Glass Museum on the island of Murano; and the Lace Museum on the island of Burano. At €24, this pass is the best value if you plan to see the Doge’s Palace/Correr Museum and even just one of the other covered museums. (Families get a small price break on multiple passes.) You can buy it at any of the participating museums or, for €0.50 extra, via links on their websites.
Chorus Pass: This pass gives church lovers admission to 16 of Venice’s churches and their art (generally €3 each) for €12 (www.chorusvenezia.org). The Frari church is included, but not St. Mark’s. The typical tourist is unlikely to see more than two of these.
Venice Card: This pass combines the 11 city-run museums and the 16 churches covered by the Chorus Pass, plus the Jewish Museum and a few minor discounts, for €40. A cheaper variation, the Venice Card San Marco, is more selective: It covers the Correr Museum, Doge’s Palace, and your choice of any three churches for €25. But it’s hard to make either of these passes pay off (valid for 7 days, www.hellovenezia.com).
Rolling Venice: This youth pass offers discounts at dozens of sights and shops, but its best deal is for transit. If you’re under 30 and want to buy a 72-hour transit pass, it’ll cost you just €20—rather than €35—with the Rolling Venice pass (€4 pass for ages 14-29, sold at TIs and HelloVenezia shops, www.hellovenezia.com).
Transportation Passes: Venice sells transit-only passes that cover vaporetti and mainland buses. For a rundown on these, see here.
This grand square is surrounded by splashy, historic buildings and sights: St. Mark’s Basilica, the Doge’s Palace, the Campanile bell tower, and the Correr Museum. The square is filled with music, lovers, pigeons, and tourists by day, and is your private rendezvous with the Venetian past late at night, when Europe’s most magnificent dance floor is the romantic place to be.
You can download a free Rick Steves audio tour of St. Mark’s Square (see here).
With your back to the church, survey one of Europe’s great urban spaces, and the only square in Venice to merit the title “Piazza.” Nearly two football fields long, it’s surrounded by the offices of the republic. On the right are the “old offices” (16th-century Renaissance). At left are the “new offices” (17th-century High Renaissance). Napoleon called the piazza “the most beautiful drawing room in Europe,” and added to the intimacy by building the final wing, opposite the basilica, that encloses the square.
For a slow and pricey evening thrill, invest €13-22 (including any cover charge for the music) for a drink at one of the elegant cafés with the dueling orchestras (see “Cafés on St. Mark’s Square,” here). For an unmatched experience that offers the best people-watching, it’s worth the small splurge.
The Clock Tower (Torre dell’Orologio), built during the Renaissance in 1496, marks the entry to the main shopping drag, called the Mercerie (or “Marzarie,” in Venetian dialect), which connects St. Mark’s Square with the Rialto Bridge. From the piazza, you can see the bronze men (Moors) swing their huge clappers at the top of each hour. In the 17th century, one of them knocked an unsuspecting worker off the top and to his death—probably the first-ever killing by a robot. Notice one of the world’s first “digital” clocks on the tower facing the square (with dramatic flips every five minutes). You can go inside the Clock Tower with a prebooked guided tour that takes you close to the clock’s innards and out to a terrace with good views over the square and city rooftops (€12 combo-ticket includes Correr Museum—where the tour starts—but not Doge’s Palace; €7 for the tour if you already have a Museum Pass or Correr/Doge’s Palace combo-ticket; tours in English Mon-Wed at 10:00 and 11:00, Thu-Sun at 14:00 and 15:00; no kids under age 6). While reservations are required for the Clock Tower tour, you have a decent chance of being able to “reserve” on the spot—try dropping by the Correr Museum for same-day (or day-before) tickets. To ensure a spot in advance, reserve by calling 848-082-000, or book online at http://torreorologio.visitmuve.it.
Built in the 11th century to replace an earlier church, this basilica’s distinctly Eastern-style architecture underlines Venice’s connection with Byzantium (which protected it from the ambition of Charlemagne and his Holy Roman Empire). It’s decorated with booty from returning sea captains—a kind of architectural Venetian trophy chest. The interior glows mysteriously with gold mosaics and colored marble. Since about A.D. 830, the saint’s bones have been housed on this site.
Cost and Hours: Basilica entry is free, except if you pay €2 for an online reservation that lets you skip the line (well worth it). Three interior sights charge admission (see below). Church open Mon-Sat 9:30-17:00, Sun 14:00-17:00 (Sun until 16:00 Nov-Easter), interior brilliantly lit daily 11:30-12:30, museum open daily 9:45-16:45, including on Sunday mornings when the church itself is closed; if considering a Sunday visit, note that the museum has two balconies that provide views to some, but not all, of the church’s interior. The treasury and the Golden Altarpiece are both open Easter-Oct Mon-Sat 9:45-17:00, Sun 14:00-17:00; Nov-Easter Mon-Sat 9:45-16:00, Sun 14:00-16:00; St. Mark’s Square, vaporetto: San Marco or San Zaccaria. No photos are allowed inside. Tel. 041-270-8311, www.basilicasanmarco.it.
Three separate exhibits within the church charge admission: the Treasury (€3, includes audioguide), Golden Altarpiece (€2), and San Marco Museum (€5). The San Marco Museum has the original bronze horses (copies of these overlook the square), a balcony offering a remarkable view over St. Mark’s Square, and various works related to the church.
Dress Code: Modest dress (no bare knees or bare shoulders) is strictly enforced for men, women, and even kids. Shorts are OK if they cover the knees.
Bag Check (and Skipping the Line): Small purses and shoulder-slung bags are usually allowed inside, but larger bags and backpacks are not. Check them for free for up to one hour at the nearby church called Ateneo San Basso, 30 yards to the left of the basilica, down narrow Calle San Basso (see map on opposite page; daily 9:30-17:00). Note that you generally can’t check small bags that would be allowed inside.
Those with a bag to check usually get to skip the line, as do their companions (meaning about one or two others—keep it within reason; this is at the guard’s discretion). Leave your bag at Ateneo San Basso and pick up your claim tag. Take your tag to the basilica’s tourist entrance. Keep to the left of the railing where the line forms and show your tag to the gatekeeper. He’ll generally let you in, ahead of the line. After touring St. Mark’s, come back and pick up your bag.
Theft Alert: St. Mark’s Basilica is the most dangerous place in Venice for pickpocketing—inside, it’s always a crowded jostle.
Tours: Free, hour-long English tours (heavy on the mosaics’ religious symbolism) are offered many days at 11:00 (meet in atrium, schedule varies, see schedule board just inside entrance). You can download a free Rick Steves audio tour of St. Mark’s Basilica (see here).
(See “St. Mark’s Basilica” map, here.)
• Start outside in the square, far enough back to take in the whole facade. Then zero in on the details.
Exterior—Mosaic of Mark’s Relics: The mosaic over the far left door shows two men (in the center, with crooked staffs) bearing a coffin with the body of St. Mark. Seven centuries after his death, his holy body was in Muslim-occupied Alexandria, Egypt. In A.D. 828, two visiting merchants of Venice “rescued” the body from the “infidels,” hid it in a pork barrel (which was unclean to Muslims), and spirited it away to Venice.
• Enter the atrium (entrance hall) of the basilica, and look up and to the right into an archway decorated with fine mosaics.
Atrium—Mosaic of Noah’s Ark and the Great Flood: In the scene to the right of the entry door, Noah and sons are sawing logs to build a boat. Below that are three scenes of Noah putting all species of animals into the ark, two by two. Across the arch, the flood hits in full force, drowning the wicked. Noah sends out a dove twice to see whether there’s any dry land where he can dock. He finds it, leaves the ark with a gorgeous rainbow overhead, and offers a sacrifice of thanks to God.
• Climb seven steps, pass through the doorway, and enter the nave. Loiter somewhere just inside the door (crowd permitting) and let your eyes adjust.
The Nave—Mosaics and Greek-Cross Floor Plan: These golden mosaics are in the Byzantine style, though many were designed by artists from the Italian Renaissance and later. The often-overlooked lower walls are covered with green-, yellow-, purple-, and rose-colored marble slabs, cut to expose the grain, and laid out in geometric patterns. Even the floor is mosaic, with mostly geometrical designs. It rolls like the sea. Venice is sinking and shifting, creating these cresting waves of stone. The church is laid out with four equal arms, topped with domes, radiating from the center to form a Greek cross (+).
In Venice’s heyday, it was said that the freedoms a gentleman could experience here went far beyond what any one person could actually indulge in. But one extravagance all could enjoy was the ritual of publicly consuming coffee: showing off with an affordable luxury, doing something trendy, while sharing the ideas of the Enlightenment.
Exotic coffee was made to order for the fancy café scene. Traders introduced coffee, called the “wine of Islam,” from the Middle East (the plant is native to Ethiopia). The first coffeehouses opened in the 17th century, and by 1750 there were dozens of cafés lining Piazza San Marco and 200 operating in Venice.
Today, several fine old cafés survive and still line the square. Those with live music feature similar food, prices, and a three- to five-piece combo playing a selection of classical and pop hits, from Brahms to “Bésame Mucho.”
You can wander around the square listening to the different orchestras, or take a seat at a café and settle in. At any café with live music, it’s perfectly acceptable to nurse a cappuccino for an hour—you’re paying for the music with the cover charge. And remember that a law limits what a café can charge for coffee at the bar—no matter how fancy the place or how high the demand. You can sip your coffee at the bar at a nearly normal price—even with the orchestra playing just outside.
For locations of the following cafés, see the map on here.
Caffè Florian (on the right as you face the church) is the most famous Venetian café and was one of the first places in Europe to serve coffee (daily 10:00-24:00, shorter hours in winter, www.caffeflorian.com). If you sit outside and get just an espresso—your cheapest option—expect to pay €12.50: €6.50 for the coffee and a €6 cover charge when the orchestra is playing (no cover charge otherwise). A cappuccino costs €9 and ice-cream sundaes run about €15.
The Florian has been a popular spot for a discreet rendezvous in Venice since 1720. The orchestra plays a more classical repertoire compared to others on the square. The outside tables are the main action, but do walk inside through the richly decorated, old-time rooms where Casanova, Lord Byron, Charles Dickens, and Woody Allen have all paid too much for a drink.
Gran Caffè Quadri, opposite the Florian, has an equally illustrious roster of famous clientele, including the writers Stendhal and Dumas, and composer Richard Wagner.
Gran Caffè Lavena, near the Clock Tower, is newer and less storied. Drop in to check out its dazzling but politically incorrect chandelier.
Gran Caffè Chioggia, on the Piazzetta facing the Doge’s Palace, charges slightly less, with one or two musicians, usually a pianist, playing cocktail jazz.
Eden Bar and Caffè Aurora are less expensive and don’t have live music.
• Find the chandelier near the entrance doorway (in the shape of a Greek cross cathedral space station), and run your eyes up the support chain to the dome above.
Pentecost Mosaic: In a golden heaven, the dove of the Holy Spirit shoots out a pinwheel of spiritual lasers, igniting tongues of fire on the heads of the 12 apostles below, giving them the ability to speak other languages without a Rick Steves phrase book. You’d think they’d be amazed, but their expressions are as solemn as...icons. One of the oldest mosaics in the church (c. 1125), it has distinct “Byzantine” features: a gold background and apostles with halos, solemn faces, almond eyes, delicate blessing hands, and rumpled robes, all facing forward.
• Shuffle along with the crowds up to the central dome.
Central Dome—Ascension Mosaic: Gape upward to the very heart of the church. Christ—having lived his miraculous life and having been crucified for man’s sins—ascends into the starry sky on a rainbow. In Byzantine churches, the window-lit dome represented heaven, while the dark church below represented earth—a microcosm of the hierarchical universe.
Under the Ascension Dome: Look around at the church’s furniture and imagine a service here. The 
rood screen, topped with 14 saints, separates the congregation from the high altar, heightening the “mystery” of the Mass. The 
pulpit on the right was reserved for the doge, who led prayers and made important announcements.
North Transept: In the north transept (the arm of the church to the left of the altar), today’s Venetians pray to a painted wooden icon of Mary and Baby Jesus known as 
Nicopeia, or “Our Lady of Victory” (on the east wall of the north transept, it’s a small painting crusted over with a big stone canopy). In its day, this was the ultimate trophy—the actual icon used to protect the Byzantine army in war, looted by the Crusaders.
• In the south transept (to the right of main altar), find the dim mosaic high up on the three-windowed wall above the entrance to the treasury.
Discovery of Mark Mosaic: This mosaic isn’t a biblical scene; it depicts the miraculous event that capped the construction of the present church.
It’s 1094, the church is nearly complete (see the domes shown in cutaway fashion), and they’re all set to re-inter Mark’s bones under the new altar. There’s just one problem: During the decades of construction, they forgot where they’d stored his body!
So (in the left half of the mosaic), all of Venice gathers inside the church to bow down and pray for help finding the bones. The doge (from the Latin dux, meaning leader) leads them. Soon after (the right half), the patriarch (far right) is inspired to look inside a hollow column where he finds the relics. Everyone turns and applauds, including the womenfolk (left side of scene), who stream in from the upper-floor galleries. The relics were soon placed under the altar in a ceremony that inaugurated the current structure.
Additional Sights: The 
Treasury (Tesoro; ask for the included and informative audioguide when you buy your ticket) and 
Golden Altarpiece (Pala d’Oro) give you the easiest way outside of Istanbul or Ravenna to see the glories of the Byzantine Empire. Venetian crusaders looted the Christian city of Constantinople and brought home piles of lavish loot (perhaps the lowest point in Christian history until the advent of TV evangelism). Much of this plunder is stored in the Treasury of San Marco. As you view these treasures, remember that most were made in about A.D. 500, while Western Europe was stuck in the Dark Ages. Beneath the high altar lies the body of St. Mark (“Marce”) and the Golden Altarpiece, made of 250 blue-backed enamels with religious scenes, all set in a gold frame and studded with 15 hefty rubies, 300 emeralds, 1,500 pearls, and assorted sapphires, amethysts, and topaz (c. 1100).
In the 
San Marco Museum (Museo di San Marco) upstairs you can see an up-close mosaic exhibition, a fine view of the church interior, a view of the square from the balcony with bronze horses, and (inside, in their own room) the original horses. The staircase up to the museum is in the atrium, near the basilica’s main entrance, marked by a sign that says Loggia dei Cavalli, Museo.
The seat of the Venetian government and home of its ruling duke, or doge, this was the most powerful half-acre in Europe for 400 years. The Doge’s Palace was built to show off the power and wealth of the Republic. The doge lived with his family on the first floor up, near the halls of power. From his once-lavish (now sparse) quarters, you’ll follow the one-way tour through the public rooms of the top floor, finishing with the Bridge of Sighs and the prison. The place is wallpapered with masterpieces by Veronese and Tintoretto. Don’t worry too much about the great art. Enjoy the building.
Cost and Hours: €16 combo-ticket includes Correr Museum, also covered by Museum Pass—see here, daily April-Oct 8:30-19:00, Nov-March 8:00-17:30, last entry one hour before closing, café, no photos inside, next to St. Mark’s Basilica, just off St. Mark’s Square, vaporetto stops: San Marco or San Zaccaria, tel. 041-271-5911, http://palazzoducale.visitmuve.it.
Avoiding Lines: If the line is long at the Doge’s Palace, buy your combo-ticket at the Correr Museum across the square; then you can go straight to the Doge’s Palace turnstile, skirting along to the right of the long ticket-buying line and entering at the “prepaid tickets” entrance. It’s also possible to buy your ticket online—at least 48 hours in advance—on the museum website (€0.50 fee).
Tours: The audioguide tour is dry but informative (€5, 1.5 hours, need ID or credit card for deposit). For a 1.25-hour live guided tour, consider the Secret Itineraries Tour, which takes you into palace rooms otherwise not open to the public (€20, includes Doge’s Palace admission but not Correr Museum admission; €14 with combo-ticket; three English-language tours each morning). Though the tour skips the palace’s main hall, you’re welcome to visit the hall afterward on your own. Reserve ahead for this tour in peak season—it can fill up as much as a month in advance. Book online (http://palazzoducale.visitmuve.it, €0.50 fee), or reserve by phone (tel. 848-082-000, from the US dial 011-39-041-4273-0892), or you can try just showing up at the info desk.
Visiting the Doge’s Palace: You’ll see the restored facades from the courtyard. Notice a grand staircase (with nearly naked Moses and Paul Newman at the top). Even the most powerful visitors climbed this to meet the doge. This was the beginning of an architectural power trip.
In the Senate Hall, the 120 senators met, debated, and passed laws. Tintoretto’s large Triumph of Venice on the ceiling (central painting, best viewed from the top) shows the city in all its glory. Lady Venice is up in heaven with the Greek gods, while barbaric lesser nations swirl up to give her gifts and tribute.
The Armory—a dazzling display originally assembled to intimidate potential adversaries—shows remnants of the military might that the empire employed to keep the East-West trade lines open (and the local economy booming).
The giant Hall of the Grand Council (175 feet by 80 feet, capacity 2,600) is where the entire nobility met to elect the senate and doge. It took a room this size to contain the grandeur of the Most Serene Republic. Ringing the top of the room are portraits of the first 76 doges (in chronological order). The one at the far end that’s blacked out (in the left corner) is the notorious Doge Marin Falier, who opposed the will of the Grand Council in 1355. He was tried for treason, beheaded, and airbrushed from history.
On the wall over the doge’s throne is Tintoretto’s monsterpiece, Paradise, the largest oil painting in the world. Christ and Mary are surrounded by a heavenly host of 500 saints. The painting leaves you feeling that you get to heaven not by being a good Christian, but by being a good Venetian.
Cross the covered Bridge of Sighs over the canal to the prisons. Circle the cells. Notice the carvings made by prisoners—from olden days up until 1930—on some of the stone windowsills of the cells, especially in the far corner of the building.
Cross back over the Bridge of Sighs, pausing to look through the marble-trellised windows at all of the tourists.
This uncrowded museum gives you a good, easy-to-manage overview of Venetian history and art. The doge memorabilia, armor, banners, statues (by Canova), and paintings (by the Bellini family and others) re-create the festive days of the Venetian Republic. And it’s all accompanied—throughout the museum—by English descriptions and breathtaking views of St. Mark’s Square. But the Correr Museum has one more thing to offer, and that’s a quiet refuge—a place to rise above St. Mark’s Square when the piazza is too hot, too rainy, or too overrun with tourists.
Cost and Hours: €16 combo-ticket also includes the Doge’s Palace and the two lesser museums inside the Correr (National Archaeological Museum and the Monumental Rooms of the Marciana National Library); daily April-Oct 10:00-19:00, Nov-March 10:00-17:00, last entry one hour before closing; bag check free and mandatory for bags bigger than a large purse, no photos, elegant café, enter at far end of square directly opposite basilica, tel. 041-240-5211, http://correr.visitmuve.it.
Avoid long lines at the crowded Doge’s Palace by buying your combo-ticket at the Correr Museum. For €12 you can see the Correr Museum and tour the Clock Tower on St. Mark’s Square, but this ticket doesn’t include the Doge’s Palace (and the €16 combo-ticket mentioned earlier doesn’t include the Clock Tower). For more on reserving a Clock Tower tour, see here.
This dramatic bell tower replaced a shorter tower, part of the original fortress that guarded the entry of the Grand Canal. That tower crumbled into a pile of bricks in 1902, a thousand years after it was built. You may see construction work being done to strengthen the base of the rebuilt tower. Ride the elevator 325 feet to the top of the bell tower for the best view in Venice (especially at sunset). For an ear-shattering experience, be on top when the bells ring. The golden archangel Gabriel at the top always faces into the wind. Beat the crowds and enjoy the crisp morning air at 9:00 or the cool evening breeze at 18:00. Go inside to buy tickets; the kiosk in front just rents €3 audioguides and is operated by a private company.
Cost and Hours: €8, daily Easter-June and Oct 9:00-19:00, July-Sept 9:00-21:00, Nov-Easter 9:30-15:45, may close during thunderstorms, tel. 041-522-4064, www.basilicasanmarco.it.
During Venice’s glorious decline in the 18th century, this was one of seven opera houses in the city, and one of the most famous in Europe. For 200 years, great operas and famous divas debuted here, applauded by ladies and gentlemen in their finery. Then in 1996, an arson fire completely gutted the theater. But La Fenice (“The Phoenix”) has risen from the ashes, thanks to an eight-year effort to rebuild the historic landmark according to photographic archives of the interior. To see the results at their most glorious, attend an evening performance (theater box office open daily 10:00-17:00, tel. 041-2424, www.teatrolafenice.it).
During the day, you can take an audioguide tour of the opera house. All you really see is the theater itself; there’s no “backstage” tour of dressing rooms, or an opera museum, and the dry 45-minute guide mainly recounts two centuries of construction. But the auditorium, ringed with box seats, is impressive: pastel blue with sparkling gold filigree, muses depicted on the ceiling, and a starburst chandelier. It’s also a bit saccharine and brings sadness to Venetians who remember the place before the fire. Other than a minor exhibit of opera scores and Maria Callas memorabilia, there’s little to see from the world of opera. To save money and get just a peek at the place, walk into the entrance hall and browse the small bookshop.
Cost and Hours: €9 audioguide, generally open daily 9:30-18:00, but can vary wildly, depending on the performance schedule—to confirm, call box office number (listed earlier) or check www.festfenice.com. La Fenice is on Campo San Fantin, between St. Mark’s Square and the Accademia Bridge.
This former palace, gleaming proudly on the San Marco side of the Grand Canal, holds a branch of the Punta della Dogana contemporary art museum (for details, see “Punta della Dogana,” later; www.palazzograssi.it).
This much-photographed bridge connects the Doge’s Palace with the prison. Travelers popularized this bridge in the Romantic 19th century. Supposedly, a condemned man would be led over this bridge on his way to the prison, take one last look at the glory of Venice, and sigh. Though overhyped, the Bridge of Sighs is undeniably tingle-worthy—especially after dark, when the crowds have dispersed and it’s just you and floodlit Venice.
Getting There: The Bridge of Sighs is around the corner from the Doge’s Palace. Walk toward the waterfront, turn left along the water, and look up the first canal on your left. You can walk across the bridge (from the inside) by visiting the Doge’s Palace.
This historic church is home to a sometimes-waterlogged crypt, a Bellini altarpiece, a Tintoretto painting, and the final resting place of St. Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist.
Cost and Hours: Free, €1 to enter crypt, €0.50 coin to light up Bellini’s altarpiece, Mon-Sat 10:00-12:00 & 16:00-18:00, Sun 16:00-18:00 only, two canals behind St. Mark’s Basilica.
This is the dreamy church-topped island you can see from the waterfront by St. Mark’s Square. The striking church, designed by Palladio, features art by Tintoretto, a bell tower, and good views of Venice.
Cost and Hours: Free entry to church; April-Oct daily 7:00-19:00, Nov-March daily 7:00-dusk. The bell tower costs €6 and is accessible by elevator (runs until 30 minutes before the church closes).
Getting There: To reach the island from St. Mark’s Square, take the one-stop, three-minute ride on vaporetto #2 from San Zaccaria (single ticket-€4, 6/hour, ticket valid for one hour; direction: Tronchetto).
(See “Accademia” map, here.)
Venice’s top art museum, packed with highlights of the Venetian Renaissance, features paintings by the Bellini family, Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese, Tiepolo, Giorgione, Canaletto, and Testosterone. It’s just over the wooden Accademia Bridge from the San Marco action.
Cost and Hours: €9, free first Sun of the month, dull audioguide-€6, Mon 8:15-14:00, Tue-Sun 8:15-19:15, last entry 45 minutes before closing, no flash photos allowed. At Accademia Bridge, vaporetto: Accademia, tel. 041-522-2247, www.gallerieaccademia.org.
Avoiding Lines: Just 360 people are allowed into the gallery at one time, so you may have to wait. It’s most crowded on Monday mornings and whenever it rains; it’s least crowded Tue-Sun mornings (before about 10:00) and late afternoons (after about 17:00). While it’s possible to book tickets in advance (€1.50/ticket surcharge; either book online at www.gallerieaccademia.org or call 041-520-0345), it’s generally not necessary if you avoid the busiest times.
Renovation: This museum seems to be in a constant state of disarray. A major expansion and renovation has been dragging on for years. Paintings come and go, and the actual locations of the pieces described here are likely to be way off. Still, the museum contains sumptuous art—the best in Venice. Be flexible: You’ll probably just end up wandering around and matching descriptions to blockbuster paintings when you find them. If you don’t find a particular piece where I’ve described it, check Room 23 (at the end of the tour), which seems to be their catchall holding pen for displaced art.
Visiting the Accademia: The Accademia is the greatest museum anywhere for Venetian Renaissance art and a good overview of painters whose works you’ll see all over town. Venetian art is underrated and, I think, misunderstood. It’s nowhere near as famous today as the work of the florescent Florentines, but—with historical slices of Venice, ravishing nudes, and very human Madonnas—it’s livelier, more colorful, and simply more fun. The Venetian love of luxury shines through in this collection, which starts in the Middle Ages and runs to the 1700s. Look for grand canvases of colorful, spacious settings, peopled with happy locals in extravagant clothes having a great time.
Medieval highlights include elaborate altarpieces and golden-haloed Madonnas, all painted at a time when realism, depth of field, and emotion were considered beside the point. Medieval Venetians, with their close ties to the East, borrowed techniques such as gold-leafing, frontal poses, and “iconic” faces from the religious icons of Byzantium (modern-day Istanbul).
Among early masterpieces of the Renaissance are Mantegna’s studly St. George and Giorgione’s mysterious Tempest. As the Renaissance reaches its heights, so do the paintings, such as Titian’s magnificent Presentation of the Virgin. It’s a religious scene, yes, but it’s really just an excuse to display secular splendor (Titian was the most famous painter of his day—perhaps even more famous than Michelangelo). Veronese’s sumptuous Feast in the House of Levi also has an ostensibly religious theme (in the middle, find Jesus eating his final meal)—but it’s outdone by the luxury and optimism of Renaissance Venice. Life was a good thing and beauty was to be enjoyed. (Veronese was hauled before the Inquisition for painting such a bawdy Last Supper...so he fine-tuned the title.) End your tour with Guardi’s and Canaletto’s painted “postcards” of the city—landscapes for visitors who lost their hearts to the romance of Venice.
The popular museum of far-out art, housed in the American heiress’ former retirement palazzo, offers one of Europe’s best reviews of the art of the first half of the 20th century. Stroll through styles represented by artists whom Peggy knew personally—Cubism (Picasso, Braque), Surrealism (Dalí, Ernst), Futurism (Boccioni), American Abstract Expressionism (Pollock), and a sprinkling of Klee, Calder, and Chagall.
Cost and Hours: €14, usually includes temporary exhibits, Wed-Mon 10:00-18:00, closed Tue, audioguide-€7, pricey café, 5-minute walk from the Accademia Bridge, vaporetto: Accademia or Salute, tel. 041-240-5411, www.guggenheim-venice.it.
This impressive church with a crown-shaped dome was built and dedicated to the Virgin Mary by grateful survivors of the 1630 plague.
Cost and Hours: Free entry to church, €3 to enter the Sacristy; daily 9:00-12:00 & 15:00-17:30. It’s a 10-minute walk from the Accademia Bridge; the Salute vaporetto stop is at its doorstep, tel. 041-241-1018, www.seminariovenezia.it.
This grand Grand Canal palazzo offers the most insightful look at the life of Venice’s rich and famous in the 1700s. Wander under ceilings by Tiepolo, among furnishings from that most decadent century, enjoying views of the canal and paintings by Guardi, Canaletto, and Longhi.
Cost and Hours: €8; April-Oct Wed-Mon 10:00-18:00, Nov-March Wed-Mon 10:00-17:00, closed Tue year-round, audioguide-€4; ticket office closes one hour before museum does, no photos, café, at Ca’ Rezzonico vaporetto stop, tel. 041-241-0100, http://carezzonico.visitmuve.it.
This museum of contemporary art, opened in 2009, makes the Dorsoduro a major destination for art lovers. Housed in the former Customs House at the end of the Grand Canal, it features cutting-edge 21st-century art in spacious rooms. This isn’t Picasso and Matisse, or even Pollock and Warhol—those guys are ancient history. But if you’re into the likes of Jeff Koons, Cy Twombly, Rachel Whiteread, and a host of newer artists, the museum is world-class. The displays change completely about every year, drawn from the museum’s large collection—so large it also fills Palazzo Grassi, farther up the Grand Canal.
Cost and Hours: €15 for one locale, €20 for both; Wed-Mon 10:00-19:00, closed Tue, last entry one hour before closing; audioguide sometimes available, small café, tel. 199-112-112 within Italy, 041-523-1680 from abroad, www.palazzograssi.it.
Getting There: Punta della Dogana is near La Salute Church (or vaporetto: Salute). Palazzo Grassi is a bit upstream, on the east side of the Grand Canal (vaporetto #2: San Samuele, or vaporetto #1 to Ca’ Rezzonico then traghetto across the canal).
This museum features 19th- and early 20th-century art in a 17th-century canalside palazzo. The collection is strongest on Italian (especially Venetian) artists, but also presents a broad array of other well-known artists. While the Peggy Guggenheim Collection is Venice’s undisputedly best modern collection, Ca’ Pesaro comes in a clear second—and features a handful of recognizable masterpieces (most notably Klimt’s Judith II, Kandinsky’s White Zig Zags, and Chagall’s Rabbi #2).
Cost and Hours: €8, April-Oct Tue-Sun 10:00-18:00, Nov-March Tue-Sun 10:00-17:00, closed Mon year-round, last entry one hour before closing, two-minute walk from San Stae vaporetto stop, tel. 041-524-0695, http://capesaro.visitmuve.it.
The Museo di Palazzo Mocenigo offers a pleasant walk through a dozen rooms in a fine 17th-century mansion. Besides viewing period clothing and accessories, you can sniff an array of perfumes and spices and watch a video about the history of perfume in Venice (runs in a loop in three languages). The rooms provide a sense of aristocratic life during Venice’s Golden Age, with furnishings, family portraits, ceilings painted (c. 1790) with family triumphs (the Mocenigos produced seven doges), and Murano glass chandeliers in situ. English-language cards in each room give sparse descriptions.
Cost and Hours: €8, April-Oct Tue-Sun 10:00-17:00, Nov-March Tue-Sun 10:00-16:00, closed Mon year-round, last entry 30 minutes before closing, a block in from San Stae vaporetto stop, tel. 041-721-798, http://mocenigo.visitmuve.it.
One of the world’s most famous bridges, this distinctive and dramatic stone structure crosses the Grand Canal with a single confident span. The arcades along the top of the bridge help reinforce the structure...and offer some enjoyable shopping diversions, as does the market surrounding the bridge (produce market closed Sun, fish market closed Sun-Mon).
(See “Frari Church” map, here.)
My favorite art experience in Venice is seeing art in the setting for which it was designed—as it is at the Frari Church. The Franciscan “Church of the Brothers” and the art that decorates it are warmed by the spirit of St. Francis. It features the work of three great Renaissance masters: Donatello, Giovanni Bellini, and Titian—each showing worshippers the glory of God in human terms.
Cost and Hours: €3, Mon-Sat 9:00-18:00, Sun 13:00-18:00, last entry 30 minutes before closing, modest dress recommended, no photos, on Campo dei Frari, near San Tomà vaporetto and traghetto stops, tel. 041-272-8618, www.basilicadeifrari.it.
Audio Tours: You can rent an audioguide for €2. Or you can download this chapter as a free Rick Steves audio tour (see here).
Concerts: The church occasionally hosts evening concerts and small theatrical performances (usually around €15, buy tickets at church, for details see the church’s website, above).
Visiting the Frari Church: In Donatello’s wood statue of St. John the Baptist (just to the right of the high altar), the prophet of the desert—dressed in animal skins and nearly starving from his diet of bugs ’n’ honey—announces the coming of the Messiah. Donatello was a Florentine working at the dawn of the Renaissance.
Bellini’s Madonna and Child with Saints and Angels painting (in the sacristy farther to the right) came later, done by a Venetian in a more Venetian style—soft focus without Donatello’s harsh realism. While Renaissance humanism demanded Madonnas and saints that were accessible and human, Bellini places them in a physical setting so beautiful that it creates its own mood of serene holiness. The genius of Bellini, perhaps the greatest Venetian painter, is obvious in the pristine clarity, rich colors (notice Mary’s clothing), believable depth, and reassuring calm of this three-paneled altarpiece.
Finally, glowing red and gold like a stained-glass window over the high altar, Titian’s Assumption of the Virgin sets the tone of exuberant beauty found in the otherwise sparse church. Titian the Venetian—a student of Bellini—painted steadily for 60 years...you’ll see a lot of his art. As stunned apostles look up past the swirl of arms and legs, the complex composition of this painting draws you right to the radiant face of the once-dying, now-triumphant Mary as she joins God in heaven.
Feel comfortable to discreetly freeload off passing tours. For many, these three pieces of art make a visit to the Accademia Gallery unnecessary (or they may whet your appetite for more). Before leaving, check out the Neoclassical pyramid-shaped Canova monument flanking the nave just inside the main entrance and (opposite that) the grandiose tomb of Titian. Compare the carved marble Assumption behind Titian’s tombstone portrait with the painted original above the high altar.