15 Things that shouldn’t be missed in Venice

Venice is one of my favorite cities in Europe, mostly because everywhere you go is beautiful.

It looks like a fairy land.

With stores selling everything – from trinkets to luxury goods, it’s a paradise for shoppers and wanderers. There’s no better place to lose yourself in winding streets. The rivers act as the primary form of transportation, gondola and vaporetti transport you around the city, and send you back to a forgotten time without cars, trains, or metros.

Situated on a group of 118 small islands separated by canals and linked by bridges, Venice is a place where every corner tells a story and every alleyway leads to a new adventure.

The city is famous for its history, its architecture, and it’s legendary gondola rides. Here’s what we did in forty eight hours.

Forty Eight Hours in Venice

1. Take a Vaporetti Ride

This is an easy one to check off the list – if you arrive like 90% of tourists, your flight, train, or car will arrive in Venice close to the Stazione di Venezia Santa Lucia. Here, you’ll immediately meet Venice’s floating island, separated by a series of hundreds of canals. To get across the island, a quick Vaporetti Ride on the #1 or #2 boat will help get you from the train station docking point through the city.

Check out the Rolling Venice card we used from the City Pass site. We’ve included a few other

4. St Marks Basilica (the most famous church in Venice!)

Perhaps the most iconic church in Venice and arguably one of the most famous facades in the world, this Basilica dates back from 1094 and is a world renowned example of Byzantine architecture that demonstrates Venice’s ties to the ancient empire and cultural significance.

Dedicated to St. Mark the Evangelist, one of the four authors of the New Testament Gospels, the site became a popular pilgrimage site for Christians after his remains were brought to the cathedral back in the 9th century.

Still today, the Basilica is stunning to look at and arguably even nicer to explore inside, hosting intricate mosaics, marble columns, and great photo opportunities throughout.

A guided tour such as this one allows you to skip the line to enter and learn more about the history of the Basilica as you check our the opulent interior.

5. Torre dell’Orologio

This medieval clock tower tells the time as well as zodiac signs and phases of the moon. Located right near the Basilica, it can’t be missed.

6. Take a gondola ride on the Grand Canal

Another one that goes without saying, this must be the top thing to do in Venice! Gondoliers sell gondola rides around every corner, and all take different routes. However, they are easily found while walking around the city and don’t need to be booked before you arrive in the city.

The prices are usually fixed at 80 euros during the day (rising to 120 at night) for a half hour ride. For our ride, we focused on one that started near, but not directly on the Grand Canal, as we wanted to see some quieter streets on our path as well.

7. Climb the Campanile di San Marco

This Bell Tower is another attraction right in the center of the square. Take the elevator to the top, where the views are among the best in the city! It’s recommended to get tickets in advance to avoid long queues.

8. Visit the Doge’s Palace and walk the Bridge of Sighs

This was one of my favorite spots in the city. The Palace is incredible, full of various art, ancient artifacts, and a beautiful courtyard. You could easily spend a day here, but we were able to tackle the majority of the rooms as well as the prison in an afternoon.

Entrance to the Palace also includes the ability to walk over the Bridge of Sighs and experience the last sights of those who crossed the Rio al Palazzo to live out their days in the prison, a chilling experience. The prisons are an interesting tour, dark and small, you get to see the last dwellings of ages of Italian men.

If the Doge’s Palace is high on your list of sights to see, consider buying tickets across the Plazza in the Correr Museum, where the line is much shorter than queuing up at the Palace. This will allow you to skip the line and enter the Palace much more quickly. There are also great discounts by using the Rolling Venice card, or a ISIC (if you’re a student and have a card).

We chose the St. Marks Square Museum Ticket, granting access to the Doge’s Palace, Correr Museum Museo Archeologico Nazionale and Monumental Rooms of the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana. With the Rolling Venice card, this was only 13 euro (instead of the full price 25)

There are a few other tours that include the Doge’s Palace, including the Secret Itineraries tour and the Museum Pass. For such historic sites such as Doge’s Palace, I’d always recommend booking a guided tour to get the most out of the history.

If you choose to explore alone, see here for the full site for more information around prices and entry hours when you visit.

9. Teatro al Fenice

a. We were disappointed to learn that there were no shows playing at the theater during our stay in Venice. However, if opera is your thing or if you’d like to experience some real Italian culture during your stays, definitely check out the listing at the theater to see a show.

10. Check out some Museums

With so much history at your fingertips in this city, a museum was definitely high on our list of things to do. We made it to the Correr Museum, but we’re temped by a few others to spend our time in.

a. Correr Museum

This museum focused on 15th century to 18th century artwork, coins, artifacts, and more. We chose this museum primarily for its location (right in St Marks Square), and time period focusing on the more recent Doges (with the last Doge, Ludovico Manin abdicating in 1797.) It was very informative and enlightening, as I hadn’t learned much around Italy during this time period in my schooling. The fact that our ticket was a joint ticket with the Doge’s Palace was an added bonus!

b. Gallerie dell’Accaademia

An art museum full of hundreds of years of Venetian art is just a vaporetti ride away! I’m always a fan of art museums, but this one didn’t fit into our busy schedule – a good reason to visit again! The museum is also known for good views of the canal.

c. Peggy Guggenheim Collection

This outpost of the NYC Guggenheim collection has great reviews from tourists. As fans of modern art, we always like stopping into great collections. Picasso, Pollack, and more.

11. Wander the streets

No list of things to do in Venice would be complete without the age-old act of walking around. Venice is a fairytale land – and a shopper’s paradise. Everything from kitchy souvenirs to high-end boutiques to Murano glass collectibles can be found throughout the streets. We spent an entire afternoon getting lost in the maze of streets.

12. Barhopping for some cicchetti

San Polo was the recommended district for us to find some famous Italian Cicchetti, or small plates. We loved the Cantina do Mori and the Cantina do Spade restaurants for their selection of small plates and their vats of wine.

13. Checking out the restaurants

We loved Poste Vecie (20% discount if you also hold the rolling venice card)

14. Abbazie di San Giorgio Maggiore

a. A quick vaporetti ride across the water leads you to the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore. The highlight of this Church may just be the bell tower that with views of San Marco piazza (but make sure you carry cash as this Campanile was cash only). Even without going up, the views of Venice from afar are worth the short trip a bit outside the main tourist loop.

15. The Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute

This Basilica is free to enter and has great views both inside and outside. It was built in honor of the end of the plague back in the late 1600s. There is also a cupola that you can climb up for views for a fee.

Should I get the Rolling Venice Card?

Link to Official Site

The Rolling Renice card is a discount card for individuals from 6-29 years old. We used it while travelling through venice, and thought it was definitely worth it. Here’s how we used it:

We purchased the card in advance. We bought it through the link above, and it needs to be ‘activated’ when you arrive in the city. There are activation points at the vaporetto stations, where you can scan your reservation QR code and get the actual ticket.

We purchased the options with a one-way airport transfer. We were seeing comparable airport transfer options to be around 40 euros, with the implied price using the Rolling Renice card to be 7 additional euros for the transfer. The Rolling Venice option does involve public transport (we took a bus), but for so cheap a price it was well worth it.

We used the pass for the following options:

Unlimited transport (including boats to Murano/Burano/San Giorgio -for reference, when we were there, a one-way vaporetti ride within the city was 9 euros)

• Doges Palace
• Correr Museum
• Archeological Museum
• Peggy Guggenheim Museum
• Discount on dinner at Poste Vechi (20%)
• Discount on gelato (10%)

Here’s a full list of what’s offered with the Rolling Venice card.

We chose the 34 euro option, and made it up for the transportation alone. I’d recommend scouting out the attractions you plan to do while in the city and adding up the individual costs.