Venice is such a unique city with countless bridges and canals. It truly is unlike any other place in the world. With that Venice draws so many visitors each year that we weren’t sure if it was going to live up to expectations. But our trip to Venice ended up being fantastic! Even with the crowds there are tons of smaller walkways and canals where you can be the only one. We absolutely loved how everything is centered around the water. Here are 10 things to do in Venice so you know exactly what to do to have the best experience!
1. Explore the Santa Croce area
By far our favorite area within Venice was Santa Croce. From the Venice Santa Lucia train station, cross over the first bridge and you will walk through the Santa Croce area. It is beautiful and we found one of our favorite bridges there! There were only a handful of people walking around, it’s so quiet and just feels so much more genuine compared to some of the more crowded areas.
You can easily walk through this neighborhood quickly on your way from the train station to St. Mark’s Square or anywhere else. But this area absolutely deserves a visit! We loved how you can find streets completely to yourself and kept asking ourselves why more people weren’t exploring this part of Venice!
2. Walk over the Rialto Bridge
One of the most famous bridges in all of Venice is the Rialto Bridge which extends over the Grand Canal connecting San Polo and San Marco. You won’t miss it as it’s extremely large and prominent. It’s also easy to spot because you will see a TON of tourists flocking in that direction. Regardless it’s impressive and the top gives you views down the Grand Canal!
While it’s impressive to walk over, you can find significantly less crowded bridges elsewhere! So make sure to take some time to just walk around and explore the smaller ones too!
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3. Take a Traghetto Ride
Most people think Venice and immediately think gondola rides. You will still see lots of people taking rides in these wooden boats. Especially in the Grand Canal and around St. Mark’s Square you’ll see some traffic in the canals as all the gondolas try to come through. If you are looking to take a true gondola ride, try to get it outside the Grand Canal or more popular areas. There are beautiful smaller canals that would be far less crowded and more peaceful!
When we visited a 30-40 minute gondola ride cost about 80 Euros. That’s way out of our budget so we opted instead for a Traghetto ride. The Traghetto is basically a larger gondola that serves as more of a ferry to cross the canal. It goes back and forth for a short ride and costs 2 Euros. While you don’t get the longevity of a true gondola ride, you still get to take a ride on a canal in Venice and you can still get some amazing pictures! This is a really good option if you want a similar experience for significantly less money! Take note though that the entire ride is only a few minutes long.
- We caught the Traghetto from the S. Toma station across the Grand Canal. You can find it at this address Calle del Traghetto, 30125 Venezia VE, Italy.
4. Stand in St. Mark’s Square
If you’re in Venice it’s worth walking over to stand in St. Mark’s Square. Both St. Mark’s Basilica and Doge’s Palace are beautiful buildings and extremely detailed. But you’ll notice as you walk closer and closer to this popular square that the streets get more and more crowded. We stopped for a few minutes before moving on to find those quieter areas again. There are so many people in this square it feels so much more crowded and touristy than other parts of Venice.
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5. See the Grand Canal
The Grand Canal of Venice is one of the main waterways in the city. It forms a backwards S shape from the Venice Santa Lucia train station to San Marco. The buildings built along the Grand Canal are fascinating!
You are bound to walk either along or across the Grand Canal at some point during your time in Venice. It is truly remarkable to see how this city uses waterways like the Grand Canal as other cities use streets!
6. Look at the Bright Houses on Burano Island
Burano Island was one of the highlights of our time in Venice! We weren’t sure what to expect other than something about different colored houses. Well bright really doesn’t cut it when it comes to the colors on Burano Island! Even before getting off the ferry, you will see what I mean.
Burano Island was an unexpected but really cool place! The colors of the houses are so bright, it’s impossible to walk through and not take a million pictures. Neon pink, kelly green and bright blue are house colors you just don’t see everyday. It’s a small island so don’t expect anything too big but it’s just so different from Venice or anywhere really that it’s definitely worth a visit! As you walk to the main street you’ll find many restaurants as well as shops selling lace, although very few people are still making it the way they used to on the island.
- One old rumor for the bright colors on Burano Island is so that when fisherman came back to the island late at night in the dark or in the fog they would be able to more easily find their way.
It takes about 40 minutes on the ferry to get from St. Mark’s Square to Burano Island. The ferries are very easy to understand and most stations have a schedule of times and lines that stop there.
7. Watch the Sunset along the Water in Dorsoduro
The sestieri or neighborhood of Dorsoduro is located south of Santa Croce. Our Airbnb host described it to us as a younger area where you can find many bars and restaurants. Walking down Rio de S. Trovaso we saw people grabbing food, glasses of wine and just hanging out along the water. It had such a casual feel to it as everyone just ate and drank and enjoyed being outside.
We would recommend heading down in the early evening because the sunset along Zattere is absolutely beautiful! We weren’t expecting such a colorful sunset but it was spectacular. It set right over the water and turned the whole sky orange and pink. There are plenty of benches to sit and just watch. It’s less than a 20 minute walk from the Zattere to St. Mark’s Square so it’s easily doable to walk over!
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8. Have an Espresso by a Canal
One of the coolest things about Venice is simply getting lost in the countless walkways along the canals. Slowly they start to look the same and before you know it, you’re completely turned around. There is something so peaceful though about walking around the quieter areas. We stumbled upon lots of cafes and restaurants and treated ourselves to an espresso by a canal.
If you haven’t tried espresso in Italy you must before leaving! During our time in Italy we absolutely got hooked and now seek it out whenever we can. We found a small cafe with a nice table in the shade to drink our coffee and just watched the boats and gondolas going up and down the canal. We would definitely recommend trying to find a quieter canal away from the Grand Canal in order to get a less crowded spot!
9. Visit Murano Island
Murano Island is historically known for glass making. It takes about 30 minutes to get to Murano as it’s one of the closer islands. There is a popular glass museum if you’re interested in the history of glass making on the island as well as many shops selling all kinds of glass products. You’ll see plates, cups, platters, and all types of glasses.
We got off the ferry at Murano Colonna and walked down the the canal. Honestly where we were walking kind of felt like fancy glass stores for tourists to buy things. I’m sure it’s not the whole island but it just had a little less of an authentic feel to it. We stopped for a gelato (which was delicious) before moving on and catching a ferry to Burano Island which we liked a lot more!
Honestly we went to both Murano Island and Burano Island because we bought the 1 day Transport Venice Pass which gives you access to buses and vaparettos (water taxis) for a specific length of time. We bought it mostly because 2 one-way water taxi tickets is 15 Euros. The 1 day Transport Venice Pass (giving unlimited rides) is 20 Euros. So for an extra 5 Euros each we went to both islands. If we were to do it again I think we would just go to Burano Island. If you’re interested in going to a lot of the islands the pass can definitely be a good deal for you!
10. Don’t hesitate to stay in Venice Mestre!
While this last one isn’t exactly something to do, it’s something to think about when you’re visiting Venice! Staying in one of the neighborhoods in Venice can get extremely pricey especially during the popular summer months. Staying in nearby Venice Mestre is a really good alternative if you’re looking for more affordable options!
Venice Mestre is what is considered the main land so to get into Venice you need to cross a bridge via train or bus. The train takes about 10 minutes to go from the Venice Mestre train station to the Venice Santa Lucia train station. You can also take the bus as well and both run regularly. We stayed in an Airbnb in Venice Mestre and loved it. It was so reasonably priced but also was so quick and painless to get into Venice each day!