explore it yourself:
The journey and accomModations:
We arrived by train from Florence on the afternoon of July 23rd and stayed until the morning of July 26th. We arrived into and departed from Venezia Santa Lucia Station.
My parents and siblings joined us for this leg of our trip so to accommodate the size of our group short term rentals were the most affordable option. We ended up selecting an Airbnb located in San Marco.
To get to San Marco from the train station we rode Vaporetto Line 2 down the Grand Canal. Tickets costed 9.50 EUR a piece and the stop is located directly in front of the train station (don’t make the mistake of getting the cheaper 1.50 EUR tickets). Unfortunately, the line to board the boat was incredibly long with everyone coming off the train looking for the same route as us and given everyone has multiple pieces of luggage, the area is extremely crowded as you wait for boats to arrive. The Vaporettos arrive every ~12 minutes to the train station stop headed towards San Marco and while in line, we had to wait for 5 boats to pass before we were able to board ours due to the sheer size of the crowd. By the time we boarded our boat, we had waited roughly an hour and a half since disembarking from the train. Next time we go back, we will certainly consider paying the 80 EUR (need cash for this) for a water taxi and skipping the hassle of waiting for the Vaporetto.
Note: * our additions to ai itinerary and exclusions are crossed out, also see our summary at the bottom.
Day 1: Iconic Venice
San Marco
- Piazza San Marco, walk the square before peak crowds to take in the architecture and atmosphere
- Our AirBnB was just a short walk from this Piazza so we walked through here a few times during our stay. It’s so spacious with a ton of restaurants but be careful of tourist traps.
- Definitely be sure to stop here at night during one of your evenings. The lit-up square is absolutely stunning and the bands playing in the area are fun to listen to!
- St. Mark’s Basilica, entry to the main basilica is free (reserve a timed slot in summer)
- This church was absolutely stunning right in the middle of St. Mark’s square. Photos really don’t do it a justice!
- Doge’s Palace, exterior only and walk along waterfront (museum entry has a fee)
- We walked along the water front here and really enjoyed the liveliness of the area, the architecture of the palace itself is amazing too.
- Bridge of Sighs, best viewed from Ponte della Paglia
- We would suggest stopping by at night if you can to see the bridge lit up. The history of the bridge is really interesting so be sure to do a little research before visiting!
- Teatro La Fenice, the most beautiful theater you will ever see
- After trying to enter the theater we were told you needed tickets to the opera show that night so we just checked out the gift shop inside shortly.
dorsodouro and dinner
- Gondola-Traghetto-Dogana route is a larger 10 passenger gondola ride connecting San Marco to Santa Maria della Salute church, $2/person, 2-5 minutes
- When we showed up here to ride the Traghetto, we learned that they stop running around 6:30pm on the weekends so we ended up having to walk to our location.
- Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute, free entry and stunning interior that is cooler inside during hot days
- The Bascilica is open from 9am – 12pm then again from 3pm – 5:30pm every day so plan your trip around these hours!
- Walk the Zattere Promenade for lagoon views and fewer crowds
- This ended up being a great spot to sit in the shade for a bit and watch the boats in the lagoon alongside the beautiful Bascilica.
- Dinner at Bar da Gino*
- We sat outside in a quiet alleyway and really enjoyed our meal! Certainly give the gnocchi a try if you visit here!
- Walk to Ponte dell Accademia (bridge) to go back to San Marco District
- It was only a roughly 15 minute walk back towards San Marco and every bridge we crossed was another beautiful photo opportunity!
- Nightcap drinks at Bar Ducale*
Day 2: Murano, Torcello, & Burano
Day Trip
- We booked a tour through Viator for $25 per person that included a boat ride from San Marco to the three most famous islands in the Venetian Lagoon (4.5 hours). They dropped us off at each stop for about 50 minutes on land. Hear commentary in several languages provided by an expert guide, but make sure you listen close because they talk fast!
- Murano – watch multiple generations of master glass blowers at one of their factories and shop in their shops
- Torcello – see historic Byzantine churches and the Church of Santa Fosca
- Burano – beautiful colorful houses winding through this quaint village that is famous for their exquisite handmade lacemaking,
- We had affogato and spritz at In Piazzetta (nice, clean restroom as well!)
- This was the perfect way to fill half a day and briefly see each of the islands for a reasonable price. Our favorite was the colorful villages of Burano! Wish we could have had more time there.
irish pubs & gondola ride at Golden Hour
- Stroll through alleys to find Irish pubs (Devil’s Forest Pub, Irish Pub Santa Lucia, The Irish Pub Venezia)*
- Personally, we loved The Irish Pub Venezia the most and could have spent much more time here!
- Pizza for dinner on the rooftop at Serafina*
- The quatrro formaggi pizza was fantastic!
- Gondola Ride at the golden hour for 35 minutes ($110 after 7pm, $90 during day for 5 people max).
- This was one of the highlights of our entire summer journey. Highly recommend finding a gondola service within a canal which takes you briefly out to the Grand Canal! It was so quiet and tranquil (Gondola Bacino Orseolo was the one we used but there are so many to choose from).
Day 3: Hidden Gems & Cannaregio
*We didn't have a full day so we had to skip Cannaregio and only did rialto. We included what we would have done below.
Cannaregio (Local Venice)
- Stroll through the Jewish Ghetto, quiet and authentic peaceful square atmosphere
- Continue along Fondamenta della Misericordia for local cafés
- Sullaluna Libreria & Bistrot*
- Ponte Chiodo*, famous bridge
- Ca’ d’Oro, enjoy the façade from the canal (museum entry has a fee)
- Scala Contarini del Bovolo, view from outside (fee to climb)
- Lunch at BEPI ANTICO 54 da LORIS
Rialto Area
- Walk (~20 mins) through small lanes toward:
- We stopped at Zanzibar* for breakfast which was in a piazza with lots of outdoor seating.
- Liberia Acqua Alta, a cozy, offbeat and unique bookstore featuring lots of vintage titles along with unique displays and resident cats
- Such a unique bookstore! Be sure to check out the video playing inside of when the store was flooded in the past.
- I Tre Mercanti, elegant display of this authentic Italian tradition
- It was so cool watching culinary experts as they make tiramisu through all of the stages
- Rialto Bridge, the oldest and most majestic of the four bridges spanning the Grand Canal built between 1588-1591
- This was really crowded but still cool to see! We witnessed someone talking to the police about being pickpocketed so be careful in the crowds!
Bar All’ArcoMercato di Rialto, best before 1PM for great atmosphere and local flavor- Based on Google reviews it appeared that it wasn’t an active market so we ended up skipping this.
final thoughts:
Overall Rating: 100000/10
Would we go again? We absolutely loved Venice.
Favorite moment:
Bailey’s favorite: Walking through the Dorsodouro neighborhood in the evening was incredible. It was a little quieter than the other neighborhoods and so picturesque. We had dinner at a quaint table in an alley which was perfect.
Parker’s favorite: Visiting Burano was so fun I could have wandered around the streets admiring all of the colorful houses all day!
Favorite meal:
Bailey’s favorite: Bar da Gino was great. The food and wine was really good, but the atmosphere was my favorite.
Parker’s favorite: This might be cheating but the Tiramisu from I Tre Mercanti was so delicious and watching it being made was so fun too!
Any surprises? We had envisioned some canals and quaint streets, but not the extent of what it was. The whole city was straight out of a movie. A common criticism is the smell of the city, but we didn’t smell anything.
Anything we missed? The Cannaregio neighborhood would have been nice to see.
Food spots AI recommended, but we didn’t have a chance to go: BEPI ANTICO 54 da LORIS and Bar All’Arco
Average step count per day: 16,685 steps
How did ai do?
Nailed it: Suggesting to visit the neighboring islands of Murano, Torcello, and Burano was a great addition to the itinerary. We had such a good time viewing the colorful village of Burano and we would not have heard of it without the help of AI. Next time we go back we will definitely dedicate additional time to visit here again!
Needs work: We definitely could have used more clarity on whether landmarks should be viewed from interior or exterior and if there is a price associated with entering or not. Unfortunately, we were really excited to see the Teatro La Fenice and were really disappointed to find out you had to pay to enter.