Choose wisely. Connect locally.Add your business Venice is a city built on more than a hundred small islands in a shallow lagoon, linked by hundreds of bridges and threaded by canals instead of streets.
St Mark's Basilica
Doge's Palace
The Bridge of Sighs
Rialto Bridge and market
+5 more places
This guide groups the best places to visit in Venice by area, from St Mark's to the outer islands, and adds practical advice on food, where to stay, seasons, the city's access fee and getting around by water, along with a three-day plan.
For roughly a thousand years Venice was an independent maritime republic, growing rich on trade between Europe and the eastern Mediterranean. That wealth paid for a city of marble palaces, mosaic-covered churches and grand charitable confraternities, and much of it survives almost unchanged.
The real pleasure of Venice comes from slowing down. Step a few streets away from the main routes between Rialto and St Mark's and you find laundry hung across canals, children playing in neighborhood squares and locals stopping for a glass of wine at the bar.
St Mark's Basilica was built to house the relics of Saint Mark, brought from Alexandria in the ninth century, and its current form dates largely from the eleventh century. Inside, more than an acre of golden mosaics covers the domes and walls, and the altarpiece known as the Pala d'Oro glitters with enamels and gems.
St Mark's Basilica combines Byzantine domes with golden mosaics built up over centuries. Photo: Archaeodontosaurus , Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
The great square in front of the basilica is lined by arcaded buildings housing the Museo Correr and historic cafes, including Caffè Florian, which has served coffee here since 1720.
Next to the basilica, the Doge's Palace was the seat of the doge and the republic's councils. Its Gothic waterfront facade leads to grand halls decorated by Venice's leading painters, including the enormous Hall of the Great Council with Tintoretto's Paradise, one of the largest oil paintings in the world.
The Doge's Palace was the seat of the Venetian Republic's government for centuries. Photo: Didier Descouens, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
The route through the Doge's Palace crosses the Bridge of Sighs, an enclosed limestone bridge leading to the prisons, where condemned prisoners supposedly sighed at their last view of the lagoon.
The Bridge of Sighs links the Doge's Palace with the prisons across the canal. Photo: kallerna, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
The Rialto was the commercial heart of the republic, and the stone Rialto Bridge, finished in 1591, replaced a series of wooden bridges. Its central arcade is lined with shops, and the side railings offer fine views along the Grand Canal.
The stone Rialto Bridge was completed in 1591 and remains the best known crossing of the Grand Canal. Photo: kallerna, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
In the San Polo district, the vast brick Basilica of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari holds Titian's soaring Assumption of the Virgin above the high altar and his tomb. Steps away, the Scuola Grande di San Rocco is a confraternity building almost entirely covered with paintings by Tintoretto, created over more than two decades.
Across the wooden Accademia Bridge in Dorsoduro, the Gallerie dell'Accademia holds the greatest collection of Venetian painting, from Giovanni Bellini to Giorgione, Titian, Tintoretto and Veronese.
The Peggy Guggenheim Collection occupies Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, an unfinished palace on the Grand Canal. Photo: Unknown author, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
At the tip of Dorsoduro, the domed church of Santa Maria della Salute was built in thanks for the end of the plague of 1630 and is one of the city's most recognizable sights. Each November, Venetians cross a temporary bridge of boats to give thanks there.
Cannaregio is the most lived-in part of central Venice, with long canalside walks such as the Fondamenta della Misericordia and the Fondamenta degli Ormesini, lined with bars where locals gather in the evening.
Campo del Ghetto Nuovo is the center of the Venetian Ghetto, established in 1516. Photo: This Photo was taken by Wolfgang Moroder. Feel free to use my photos, but please mentio…, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
East of St Mark's, Castello is the largest district and becomes quieter the farther you walk. The Arsenale, the republic's vast shipyard, is guarded by stone lions at its gate.
Directly across the water from St Mark's, the island of San Giorgio Maggiore is crowned by a church designed by Andrea Palladio, with two large late paintings by Tintoretto inside. Its bell tower has an elevator and, many visitors agree, a better view than the Campanile, because you can see St Mark's itself across the basin.
Andrea Palladio designed the church of San Giorgio Maggiore on its island facing St Mark's. Photo: This Photo was taken by Wolfgang Moroder. Feel free to use my photos, but please mentio…, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Glassmaking was concentrated on Murano in the thirteenth century, and furnaces still operate here. Visit the Glass Museum to see the history of the craft, then watch a demonstration at a working furnace.
Farther across the lagoon, Burano is a fishing island famous for its brightly painted houses and its tradition of lacemaking, explained at the Lace Museum. It is very photogenic and busy at midday; arrive early or stay into the late afternoon.
Burano is known for its brightly painted houses and its tradition of lacemaking. Photo: Jorge Franganillo, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
A short boat ride from Burano, Torcello was once a thriving settlement but now has only a handful of residents.
The cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta on Torcello holds some of the oldest mosaics in the lagoon. Photo: Terragio67, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Venetian food is built around the lagoon and the sea.
At the table, try risotto al nero di seppia, black with cuttlefish ink; bigoli in salsa, thick pasta with an anchovy and onion sauce; and fegato alla veneziana, calf's liver with onions. In spring and autumn, look for moeche, small soft-shell crabs from the lagoon.
Popular dishes to try in Venice
San Marco places you close to the main sights and vaporetto stops.
Dorsoduro combines museums, the Zattere promenade and student bars around Campo Santa Margherita.
Cannaregio is convenient for the train station yet residential and lively in the evening.
Castello, especially its eastern part, is quiet and neighborly, good for longer stays and Biennale visitors.
Where to stay in Venice
Spring and autumn bring the most comfortable weather.
Carnival, in the weeks before Lent in February or early March, fills the city with masks and costumes and is extremely busy. From late autumn through winter, acqua alta, or high water, can flood low areas such as Piazza San Marco.
Marco Polo Airport is on the mainland edge of the lagoon. From there you can take a bus to Piazzale Roma, the end of the road in Venice, or an Alilaguna water bus directly to stops in the city.
Inside the city, you walk or ride the vaporetto, the public water bus. Line 1 travels slowly along the whole Grand Canal and doubles as a scenic tour.
On designated peak days, mostly weekends and holidays from spring to midsummer, Venice charges day visitors an access fee during the daytime.
Start early with St Mark's Basilica and the Campanile, then tour the Doge's Palace and cross the Bridge of Sighs.
Browse the Rialto Market in the morning, then visit the Frari and Scuola Grande di San Rocco.
Take a morning vaporetto to Murano, continue to Burano for lunch and visit Torcello in the afternoon.
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