I will likely say this about 25 different places, but Venice, Italy is by far one of my favorite vacation spots so far! If you decide to travel in Italy, Venice is an absolute must, if possible. When we traveled to Venice, we stayed for 4 days, and felt like that was a fairly good amount of time to be able to explore Venice. You could certainly find things to do in Venice if you stayed longer, but I think we got a pretty good feel for what Venice is like in those 4 days.
Let’s start with how to actually get to Venice. We were traveling from Southern Italy, around Cosenza, so our first leg of the trip was to take a train to Rome. From Rome, we flew Ryanair into Marco Polo Airport. Once we landed at Marco Polo Airport, we took a bus or a taxi to Piazzale Roma. Then, we switched over to a water taxi, or a vaporetto, to actually get into the part of Venice that people want to see! Alternatively, you could just take a train directly into Venice and skip the flight. Once your train arrives, you then just hop onto a water taxi and head on over to see the Rialto Bridge!
HAND SCULPTURE IN THE GRAND CANAL – SUPPORT BY LORENZO QUINN
As we were taking our water taxi into Venice, it didn’t take long for us to check off one of the items on our list of things to do in Venice! We had recently read something about a giant hand sculpture rising from the water of the Grand Canal in Venice, and were looking forward to seeing it. The hand sculpture, called Support, is meant to depict the severe impact that climate change is having on the city of Venice, Italy. It’s a powerful and amazing piece of art and symbolism, and I highly recommend seeing it! Even though we got a chance to see it on our way into Venice, we made another trip back there during our stay in Venice so we could see it up close and have a chance to really look at it. This sculpture was completed in May of 2017, so we had arrived at the perfect time to see the completed project!
WHERE TO STAY
Once we took the water taxi to the heart of Venice, the next step was to find our Airbnb. A lot of people want to know what the best hotel in Venice is or where the cheapest hotels in Venice are, but we opted to do an Airbnb that was really more like an actual bed and breakfast. It’s a shared house with a couple bedrooms. We had our own bathroom, but it wasn’t attached to the bedroom; this wasn’t much of a concern for us. Because there were other people staying in the house as well, there were locks on the bedroom doors so we didn’t have to worry about anyone entering or taking any of our stuff while we were out exploring Venice. The host of the Airbnb was just wonderful, and I highly recommend staying here if it’s available. The host always had coffee made for us, and had plenty of food available for breakfast each morning. He also provided us with a map, as well as tips about all of the things to do in Venice.
EXPLORING THE CITY
Since we arrived in Venice in the late afternoon, we spent that first day just exploring the city, with no particular direction or goal of where we were headed. We checked out some of the local Venice restaurants and bars, and just walked around. We walked along the water, found an old phone-booth, and just enjoyed being in Venice! I had never been anywhere like Venice before, where literally the entire city is built in or around the water, and it was awesome to see. Being from a densely populated city where cars are driving around at all hours of the night, it was such a nice change to be somewhere and not hear the sound of cars; it was very peaceful.
BASILICA DI SAN MARCO
Obviously, one of the things you have to do when you are in Venice is go visit the Basilica di San Marco. This basilica is stunning, and it’s definitely worth seeing. That being said, it is unbelievably crowded (and hot) during a summer day, which makes it kind of difficult to truly enjoy its beauty. We did wait in line and go inside one day, but we also went to see it at night, which was way better in terms of crowds (though at night you can only see it from the outside).
If you do plan on going inside, don’t forget to wear something that covers your shoulders, and don’t wear shorts that are too short. If you are wearing something sleeveless or your shorts are too short, they will probably offer to sell you something that you can place over your legs and your shoulders – I think it was around 1 euro each. I didn’t know about this when we went to see it, so I had to buy 2 pieces – one to cover my shoulders and one to cover my legs.
DOGE’S PALACE
While you are in the Piazzo San Marco, also look around and see Doge’s Palace. Again, the lines can get fairly long during the busy season, but it’s definitely something worth seeing. It’s also a bit pricey, around 20 euros per person, but there’s a lot to see once you get inside. We also got to see Doge’s Palace during our Gondola ride, and it was absolutely stunning to see it from the water.
PONTE DI RIALTO
One of the other obvious things to do in Venice is to see the Rialto Bridge! Honestly, it’s way prettier (and more practical) to actually look at the bridge than to go onto the bridge and look out. The bridge (at least when we were there – in July) was always SO crowded you could barely even get to the edge of it. We managed to squeeze our way in there briefly, but we didn’t stay up there for long. A random thing to note – there is almost ALWAYS someone up there trying to sell you roses! You can also cross the bridge through the inside, where you’ll find shops selling glass, jewelry, etc. Also keep in mind that there is no ramp of any kind, so if you have a stroller, it will be quite difficult to cross the bridge.
T FONDACO DEI TEDESCHI ROOFTOP VIEW
If you’re looking for a good view in Venice, don’t forget to check out T Fondaco dei Tedeschi. Inside the building, you will find bars, shops, and once you make your way all the way to the top, you will be able to exit onto a terrace for a wonderful view. I wouldn’t bother getting a drink in here – very expensive. According to a lot of things I read online, there are often really long waits to get onto the rooftop terrace and then you’re only allowed to be out there for 15 minutes; apparently, you can even book ahead to make sure you don’t have to wait too long.
When we went, we actually just kind of stumbled there and didn’t know about it beforehand, so we didn’t have a reservation or anything. For whatever reason, it was pretty empty when we got there. We made our way up to the rooftop terrace without any wait, and we were allowed to be out there for as long as we wanted to. My guess it that it was because it was earlier in the morning, so people just hadn’t arrived yet. Either book in advance, or try to go early so you aren’t stuck waiting in line.
LIBRERIA ACQUA ALTA
Libreria Acqua Alta is a famous bookstore in Venice. Obviously, the books are mostly in Italian, but it’s still worth the trip even if you can’t read Italian. Most of their books are stored in bathtubs or Gondolas because when the water rises in Venice, the books would otherwise get destroyed. There’s even a little chair facing the water where you can sit and read! If you’re lucky, there will also be some cats there for you to hang out with! In addition to books, they also have small items like artwork, postcards, etc.
Then, you can go out to a little courtyard area attached to the bookstore, and there’s actually steps made of books, which you can climb for a good view! I’ve read lots of complaints about the shop being overrun by tourists, but we had a pretty good experience here. Like most things, go early in the morning to try to avoid the crowds.
GONDOLA RIDE
While there are countless things to do in Venice that don’t cost a lot of money, I just can’t bring myself to leave out the gondola ride. When people think of Venice, usually the first thing that comes to mind is a gondola ride. I went to Venice with mixed feelings about doing this: I felt like it was one of those things you have to experience once, but I also didn’t want to spend all the money I knew it was going to cost. I eventually came to the decision that we weren’t going to spend 90 euros to take the Gondola ride, but my mom ended up insisting she would give us the money to do it since she hadn’t given me my birthday present yet!
It was really awesome and absolutely beautiful. If you have the money, I do recommend it, but it is one of the things you can skip if you are traveling on a budget.
There are so many things to do and see while you’re traveling to Venice – this list just scratches the surface. There are also some nice day trips you can take to the surrounding islands, which you can read about HERE.
See the interactive map below for some of the main attractions in Venice – some of them we visited and I talked about in this post (and my other post about things to do around Venice), and some of them we didn’t get a chance to visit. There’s always next time!