Best spots and things to do
Take a look at some of the videos I made about Venice:
What to eat
Let’s take a look at some essential and traditional Venetian foods you should really try:
- Cicchetti (small dishes of local finger foods and snacks). If you’re on a budget and looking for cheap eats in Venice, cicchetti are the perfect option. The price for an individual piece typically ranges from 1 to 5 EUR, depending on the type and size
- Baccalà Mantecato (dried cod that is soaked, poached, and whipped vigorously with olive oil until it becomes mousse-like with a light and fluffy consistency).
- Sarde in Saor (fried sardine fillets marinated in a sweet and sour mixture of vinegar, raisins, sautéed sliced onions, and pine nuts)
- Nero di Seppia (consists of sliced cuttlefish in its own rich, jet-black ink sauce. It can be served with both risotto and pasta as Risotto al nero di seppia or Spaghetti al nero di seppia)
- Venetian-style liver (calf’s liver sliced into ribbons and sautéed with parsley and white onions. It is commonly served with polenta as a side dish)
- Frìtole (dough ball fritters laced with liquor-soaked raisins, crunchy pine nuts and powdered sugar)
Here is a video I made about the food you should try when in Venice! :)
Where to eat
Where to stay
Here is a selection of the best hotels and airbnb in Venice!
Tap into each hotel recommendation to find a bookable link
Hotels
Luxury:
Airbnbs/B&B
General informations
Getting there FROM MARCO POLO AIRPORT
To reach Venice from the Venice Marco Paolo airport, take bus route No. 5-AeroBus, a 20-minute ride to Piazzale Roma, one of the main tourist terminals in Venice: from there the ACTV public transport waterbuses leave for the historic centre of Venice. Route 5-AeroBus departs from the bus lane located just metres away from the airport's arrivals exit.
Getting there FROM TREVISO AIRPORT
To reach Venice from the Treviso Canova airport, take the ATVO Bus Express, a 60-minute ride to Piazzale Roma, one of the main tourist terminals in Venice: from there the ACTV public transport waterbuses leave for the historic centre of Venice.
Getting there FROM SANTA LUCIA STATION
ACTV waterbus landing stages are just feet away from Venice Santa Lucia railway station.
‘A’ waterbus stop for waterbus routes No. 2 and N (Night service) direction P.le Roma, Tronchetto, Giudecca and St.Mark’s-S. Zaccaria (via Giudecca).
‘B’ waterbus stop for waterbus route No. 2 direction Rialto and St.Mark’s - via Grand Canal – (up to the Lido in summer) and for the night service N direction Rialto, St.Mark’s and Lido di Venezia.
‘C’ waterbus stop for waterbus routes No. 3 to P.le Roma, No. 4.1 direction P.le Roma, Giudecca and St.Mark’s-S. Zaccaria, No. 5.1 direction P.le Roma, Zattere, St.Mark’s-S. Zaccaria and Lido S. Maria Elisabetta (S.M.E).
‘D’ waterbus stop for waterbus routes No. 3 to Murano (direct service), No. 4.2 to F.te Nove-Murano, No. 5.2 to F.te Nove-Lido S.M.E. From Murano Faro stop change with route No. 12 for Burano-Torcello or route No. 13 for Sant’Erasmo.
‘E’ waterbus stop for waterbus route No. 1 direction Rialto, St.Mark’s, Lido di Venezia via Canal Grande
WHERE TO BUY WATERBUS TICKETS
ACTV bus and waterbus tickets can be purchased:
-on line from VeneziaUnica website
-on site at the VeneziaUnica ticket offices at the Railway station
- automatic ticket machine at the landing stages
- Venezia Unica ticket offices at the Ferrovia ‘S.Lucia’ and ‘Scalzi’ landing stages
- Temporary Info Point outside the main entrance to the railway station– during certain periods of the year.
GETTING AROUND
Walking: There are a few ways to get around Venice but the most common is going to be walking!
Water Taxi: If you’re looking to go somewhere a bit further or have heavy bags that you don’t want to carry, you can take a water taxi but be aware they're not a cheap option
Water Buses: Water buses also called "vaporettos" are a great option for getting around! See the "where to buy waterbus tickets" section
Gondola ride
Visiting Venice by gondola allows you to observe the hidden and usually unreachable corners of the city in a different way.
The cost for a 30 minute ride is about €80.00. This is for the ENTIRE boat, not per person. Up to six people can ride in a gondola and split it. The water tour can start from anywhere in the city, but most gondolas are usually found in the main canals, or near the Venetian streets/alleys “calli”.
You don’t want to spend 80 or 100 euros on a gondola ride? Keep reading..
You can still have the experience for a much cheaper price: just two euros. How? Hop on a gondola crossing the Grand Canal. It’s called the traghetto, it’s not fancy, and the journey only takes a minute or two, but it’s enough time to snap a quick photo of yourself and get an incredible view of the Grand Canal from a traditional gondola.
The most reliable traghetto crossing is at the small wooden dock right beside the Rialto fish market. This gondola crosses the Grand Canal every day from around 9 AM to 7 PM.
When to go
You can go to Venice all year round but consider that for a few days a year, usually in autumn and winter, you may find that there is high water in the allies (calli) and squares (campielli).
Because of a series of phenomena - the strong south-east wind (scirocco), the Adriatic sea-currents, low pressure, gravitational attraction of the sun and the moon - the sea level rises to flood the lower areas of the city. These are floods of no more than a few centimeters that only last a couple of hours. The tide then goes out and everything returns to normal.
As a rule, you only need to wear a pair of rubber boots; the water buses continue their service, although some routes may be modified, but nevertheless access to the whole city is guaranteed. You can still reach the main places of the city on foot thanks to raised pedestrian platforms that allow you to cross the points where water would otherwise prevent you from doing so.