The city of Venice is the capital of (northern) Italy’s Veneto region, and it is built on more than 100 small islands in the Adriatic Sea. It has no roads, just canals... and approximately 400 bridges. A truly unique place that everyone who can, should go and visit.
Here's a simple guide of "10 Things To See & Do" in this beautiful city.
1) St. Marks Square
A busy place to be, but not one to miss. Most of Venice is made up of tight spaces, small courtyards, narrow streets and tiny bridges over canals, but St. Marks Square is one of the only wide open spaces in Venice which allows you to see the beautiful buildings that surround it.
2) Check Out The Views From The Top Of The Bell Tower
Within St. Marks Square is "St Mark's Campanile" - the Bell Tower. It's definitely worth the climb for the beautiful views of the city from the top!
3) Explore Doge's Palace
Doge's Palace is a palace built in Venetian Gothic style, and one of the main landmarks of the city of Venice. It is now a museum and holds a large collection of beautiful artwork. Well worth exploring!
4) Visit Murano Island
Murano Island lies just under 1 mile north of Venice and has a population of just over 5,000. The island is renowned for its long tradition of glass-making. We loved spending time on this colourful island, away from the crowds in Venice. We also ate the best pizza we have ever had there, so 2 thumbs up!
5) Find The Bridge of Sighs
The view from the Bridge of Sighs was the last view of Venice that convicts saw before their imprisonment. It’s suggested that prisoners would sigh at their final view of beautiful Venice through the window before being taken down to their cells. In reality though little could be seen from inside the bridge due to the stone grills covering the windows.
6) Explore The Old Prison
After you have admired the Doge's Palace, walk straight over "the Bridge of Sighs" and into the old prison. Explore every corner! It's a real eyeopener!
7) Find Somewhere Quiet - Eat Pizza
Get a takeaway pizza and find a quiet spot by a canal or a rooftop terrace. If you look hard enough you can find quiet little alley ways that end on an edge of a canal. Perfect place to sit and enjoy some quiet time away from the crowds. We were lucky enough to have a roof terrace at our hotel, so that's where we escaped the hustle and bustle with an amazing pizza from Arte Della Pizza.
8) Take A Gondala Ride
No.. they aren't cheap. But it is a unique experience. We managed to haggle a pretty good deal with a gondolier that was away from the usual hot spots. We walked way down past The Bridge of Sighs and met a gondolier who we befriended. After a bit of haggling we agreed a fair price, and we're glad we did it in the end. It's very peaceful, very romantic and really interesting, as the gondolier gives you a bit of a history lesson too.
9) Walk. Explore. Get Lost.
We know this might not sound like an actual "thing to see or do", but in Venice, it kind of is! We saw more of the city and had the best times whilst just walking around, exploring and getting really, really lost over and over again. Because when you do that you find places you never knew about, you feel like you're discovering the city FOR YOURSELF and its probably the prettiest city you'll ever get lost in!
10) Eat Great Food!
Well obviously!.. but unfortunately not everywhere in Venice will serve you up what you might expect. The city has become so popular for tourists that some restaurants will not serve freshly made Italian food. It will be made in bulk and then microwaved - and you can really tell.. it's not great. So just be mindful of this and maybe find the back-street restaurants instead of those on the main squares or street corners... and always check TripAdvisor or Google for reviews first.
We stayed at Foscari Palace which had nice big rooms, a fancy old style bar area leading out to the Grand Canal, and a beautiful little roof terrace, which was perfect for watching sunset whilst eating take away pizza!
You can check out the hotel by clicking HERE (via booking.com)
We hope this has been helpful in some way!
Here's a little video we made from our trip to Venice.
Thanks for reading.
Dan & Lois
