Venice

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The Bridge of Sighs links the Doge's Palace with the prisons across the canal, Venice, Italy

The stone Rialto Bridge was completed in 1591 and remains the best known crossing of the Grand Canal, Venice, Italy

The Peggy Guggenheim Collection occupies Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, an unfinished palace on the Grand Canal, Venice, Italy

Campo del Ghetto Nuovo is the center of the Venetian Ghetto, established in 1516, Venice, Italy

About Venice

Venice is built on a cluster of islands in a lagoon at the top of the Adriatic, with canals in place of streets and no cars in its historic center. For centuries it was the seat of a powerful maritime republic, and that wealth shows in its palaces, churches and art. Today it is one of the most visited cities in Europe.

Piazza San Marco is the ceremonial center, framed by St Mark's Basilica with its golden mosaics, the Campanile and the Doge's Palace, where a tour leads across the Bridge of Sighs to the old prisons. The Rialto Bridge spans the Grand Canal beside a morning market for fish and produce. Art is everywhere: Titian's work fills the Frari, Tintoretto's canvases cover the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, and the Gallerie dell'Accademia and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection cover Venetian painting and modern art in turn. Santa Maria della Salute crowns the tip of Dorsoduro, near the sunny Zattere promenade.

The best way to experience the city is to wander beyond the busiest routes. Cannaregio, including the historic Ghetto, and Castello, around the Arsenale shipyards, feel more residential, especially in the evening. Staying overnight helps avoid the day-trip peak. Vaporetto water buses link the islands, including Murano, Burano and the Lido. Winter is quieter, though high water can occasionally flood low areas.

Best seasonSpring and fall are ideal; winter is quiet and atmospheric, while summer is hot and crowded.

Ideal stayTwo to three nights allows the main sights plus time to explore quieter districts and islands.

ArrivingTravelers fly into Marco Polo Airport or take trains to Venezia Santa Lucia station, at the edge of the historic center.

WiserMap travel guideVenice Italy Rialto Cicchetti Bars Murano and BuranoPlan Venice well: St Mark's Basilica, the Doge's Palace, Rialto, Dorsoduro galleries, Cannaregio, Murano and Burano, cicchetti, the access fee and a three-day p...Read the guide

Top 12 Experiences in Venice

Churches 4

St Mark's Basilica

Venice's cathedral, a Byzantine masterpiece covered inside with glittering gold mosaics, with domes, marble floors and the jeweled...

The Frari and Scuola Grande di San Rocco

The Frari is a vast Gothic church holding Titian's glowing Assumption of the Virgin above the high altar and the tombs of Titian a...

Santa Maria della Salute and the Zattere

A grand domed baroque church at the mouth of the Grand Canal, built to give thanks for the end of a plague in the 1600s, with pain...

San Giorgio Maggiore

A white Renaissance church designed by Palladio on its own island directly across the water from St Mark's Square. Inside are pain...

Landmarks 4

Piazza San Marco and the Campanile

Venice's great square, framed by arcades, the basilica and the tall brick bell tower, rebuilt after it collapsed in 1902. A lift t...

Doge's Palace

The Gothic palace of the doges was the seat of the Venetian Republic's government and courts. Visitors walk through grand council...

The Bridge of Sighs

A small enclosed white stone bridge from the early 1600s that links the Doge's Palace to the prisons across a narrow canal. Its na...

Rialto Bridge and market

The stone Rialto Bridge, completed in 1591, is the oldest bridge across the Grand Canal and is lined with small shops. Next to it,...

Museums 1

Gallerie dell'Accademia and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection

Two major art museums in Dorsoduro. The Accademia holds the finest collection of Venetian painting, with works by Bellini, Giorgio...

Neighborhoods 1

Cannaregio and the Venetian Ghetto

A residential district in the north of Venice with long canals, local bars and fewer tourists. It includes the Ghetto, set up in 1...

Islands 2

Murano glass island

An island in the lagoon that has been the center of Venetian glassmaking since the late 13th century. Visitors can watch glassblow...

Burano and its colored houses

A fishing island in the northern lagoon famous for its brightly painted houses along small canals and its long tradition of lacema...

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