St Mark's Basilica
ModerateByzantine basilica · Gold mosaics
Book a timed entry for the first slot, and pay for the Pala d'Oro and the terrace over the square.
San MarcoBook aheadEarly
Venice, Italy
Ideal: 2–3 daysBest: Mar–May, Oct–NovPrice: Very expensive
In 60 seconds
Venice in 60 seconds
Venice is everything it is said to be, and it is crowded in exactly the places you have heard of. The answer is timing and direction: St Mark's at opening, the Accademia mid-morning, and the rest of the day in Cannaregio, Castello and Dorsoduro, where Venetians still live and eat cicchetti standing at the bar. Walk rather than ride — the city crosses on foot in under an hour — and keep a vaporetto pass for the Grand Canal and the islands. Day visitors pay an access fee on peak days; overnight guests do not. Stay at least one night — the city after the day visitors leave is the reason to come. Two or three days, with a morning on the lagoon islands.
ArtRomance
Best for
- Architecture
- History
- Museums
- Luxury
Known for
- Canals and gondolas
- St Mark's Basilica
- Cicchetti
Skip if
Crowds and high prices would spoil it. Summer days in the centre are packed, and day visitors pay an access fee on some dates.
Your match
Choose a few travel interests and we will show how well Venice fits them. Choose interests
See
Must experience
The things that would make the trip incomplete without them.
Doge's Palace
ExpensiveSeat of the Republic · Bridge of Sighs
The council chambers, the prisons and the Bridge of Sighs from the inside. Go straight after opening.
San MarcoBook aheadHistory
Gallerie dell'Accademia
ModerateVenetian painting · Titian, Tintoretto
The great Venetian painters in a former convent and school, by the wooden Accademia bridge.
DorsoduroArtHalf day
Eat
Where to eat
A short list, kept short on purpose. Each entry answers one question: when is this the right choice?
Local
Where to eat the food this city is actually known for.
Antiche Carampane
ExpensiveClassic Venetian seafood
A family-run trattoria in a San Polo backstreet, cooking fish from the Rialto market. Book ahead.
San PoloBook aheadSeafood
La Zucca
ModerateVegetable-led osteria
A daily-changing menu where vegetables lead, by a canal in Santa Croce; the pumpkin flan is the signature.
Santa CroceCanalVegetarian-friendly
Trattoria al Gatto Nero
ExpensiveLagoon fish on Burano
Fish and seafood from the lagoon, on the island of Burano — the reason to stay for lunch.
BuranoIslandSeafood
Casual
No booking, no ceremony, reliably good.
Orient Experience
InexpensiveAfghan and Middle Eastern platters
Generous, affordable platters cooked by a team of refugee cooks, in San Polo.
San PoloCasualCheap
Oke
InexpensivePizzeria on the Zattere
Good pizza with organic ingredients, and tables on the Zattere waterfront.
DorsoduroPizzaWaterfront
Taverna La Fenice
ModerateTrattoria behind the opera house
A long-standing taverna behind La Fenice, known for its risotto.
San MarcoClassicRisotto
Special occasion
Worth planning the evening around.
Quadri
Very expensiveAlajmo brothers' restaurant on St Mark's Square
A Michelin-starred dining room above the square's historic café, under Murano glass chandeliers.
San MarcoBook aheadView
Venissa
Very expensiveIsland vineyard restaurant
A Michelin-starred tasting menu beside a walled vineyard on Mazzorbo, next to Burano.
MazzorboBook aheadIsland
Al Covo
Very expensiveFamily restaurant · Adriatic fish
A family-owned restaurant in Castello since 1987, cooking Adriatic fish and lagoon vegetables.
CastelloBook aheadSeafood
Coffee & fika
Mornings, and the slow hour between things.
Caffè Florian
Very expensiveCafé on St Mark's Square · 1720
Italy's oldest café, with painted salons on the square. Expensive, and it knows it — have one coffee inside.
San MarcoHistoricSplurge
Rosa Salva
InexpensiveHistoric Venetian pasticceria
A historic Venetian pastry shop for an espresso and a pastry at the counter; the branch on Campo Santi Giovanni e Paolo is the classic.
CastelloPastriesStanding
Caffè del Doge
InexpensiveRoaster's coffee bar near Rialto
A coffee bar off the Rialto serving its own roasts, espresso at the counter.
San PoloEspresso
Beyond the obvious
Hidden gems
Less obvious, rarely queued for, and usually the part people remember.
Scala Contarini del Bovolo
InexpensiveSpiral staircase tower
A Renaissance spiral staircase hidden in a courtyard, with a small view over the rooftops from the top.
San MarcoArchitectureView
San Giorgio Maggiore
InexpensivePalladio's island church · Bell tower
Take the vaporetto across for Palladio's church and the bell tower view back at St Mark's, without the queue.
San GiorgioQuietView
The Venetian Ghetto
The first ghetto · Synagogues
The quarter that gave the world the word, with its tall houses, synagogues and a quiet campo in Cannaregio.
CannaregioHistoryQuiet
After dark
Bars & nightlife
Harry's Bar
Very expensiveBirthplace of the Bellini · 1931
The small, plain room by the San Marco waterfront where the Bellini was invented. Pricey, and an institution.
San MarcoCocktailsHistoric
Cantina Do Spade
InexpensiveBacaro · Since 1448
One of the oldest bacari in the city, near the Rialto: an ombra of wine and cicchetti at the bar.
San PoloCicchettiWine
Cantine del Vino già Schiavi
InexpensiveWine shop and cicchetti bar
A family wine shop on a Dorsoduro canal, where you drink an ombra and eat cicchetti standing outside.
DorsoduroCicchettiWine
Orientation
Neighbourhoods
How the city is actually divided, and what each part is for.
Cannaregio
Canals where Venetians live
Long canal-side fondamente, the Ghetto and the city's best evenings out.
Dorsoduro
Galleries and the Zattere
The Accademia, the Guggenheim and the sunny Zattere waterfront.
Castello
The Arsenale and quiet campi
The old shipyards, the Biennale gardens and the most local corner of the city.
Stay
Where to stay
Areas rather than hotels — pick the right one and the rest follows.
San Marco
Very expensiveThe centre
Steps from the basilica, at the highest prices and with the most people.
BusyCentral
Dorsoduro
ExpensiveGalleries, calmer evenings
Close to the museums and the vaporetto, quieter at night.
ArtQuieter
Cannaregio
ExpensiveNear the station, local feel
Easy to reach with luggage, with good bars and restaurants on the fondamente.
LocalValue
Practical
Know before you go
- Getting in
- From Marco Polo airport, buses run to Piazzale Roma and Alilaguna boats to the city; trains arrive at Santa Lucia station.
- Getting around
- Walk, and use the vaporetto water buses; a travel card for several days saves money.
- Money
- Euro. Cards are widely accepted.
- Access fee
- Day visitors pay an access fee on certain dates; overnight guests are exempt. Check the city's site before you go.
Plan this trip — useful links
Context
History in 5 minutes
Enough to make what you are looking at legible.
- 697–1797
The Republic of Venice rules a trading empire for eleven centuries.
- 1516
Venice confines its Jewish population to the Ghetto, the first in the world to bear the name.
- 1987
Venice and its lagoon are inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Further out
Nearby escapes
Worth a day if you have one to spare.
Murano
The glass island
Glass furnaces and the Glass Museum, a short vaporetto ride from Fondamente Nove.
By vaporettoGlassHalf day
Burano
Lace and coloured houses
Brightly painted houses and lace-making, further out in the lagoon. Lunch here, not dinner.
By vaporettoColourfulHalf day
Torcello
The lagoon's first settlement
A near-empty island with a Byzantine cathedral and mosaics, the quietest place in the lagoon.
By vaporetto via BuranoHistoryQuiet
Go further
Routes through Venice
Multi-city trips that stop here, with the transport between them.