Your Guide to the Complete Venice Experience!

Updated On: November 08, 2023 by   Omnia Essawy

Feel like jumping right into a medieval painting? Book a flight to Venice!

Made up of 118 small islands, breathtaking waterways, gorgeous bridges and canals, humbling architecture, and vintage brick streets, Venice is the ultimate destination for romance seekers, art lovers, and old souls. 

Despite the fact that walking around the streets of Venice is enough of an experience on its own, Venice has a lot more to offer, so much so that it has made its way into the world’s top and most popular tourist destinations. 

Venice is the capital city of the Veneto Region of Northern Italy. It lies on 118 small islands that are separated by canals and connected with a network of 400 gorgeously-built bridges, which gave Venice its nicknames ‘The City of Bridges’ and ‘The Floating City’. Seeing how it is formed by islands, the most popular and most practical way to get around Venice is known to be canoe rides. Some say strolling around the Venetian lagoon in a canoe and passing by Venice’s breathtaking architecture and scenery is enough reason on its own to make the trip out to the Italian gem that is Venezia. 

However, as amazing as it is, it is not the only mesmerizing experience that Venice has to offer, so let’s dive into the beauty of The Floating City!

Best Venice Attractions 

It can be quite difficult to narrow down your choices when it comes to the places to see and visit around Venice, so to help you out, we have compiled a list of the top-rated attractions around Venice to help you enjoy the complete Venice experience. 

St. Mark’s Basilica 

Located in Piazza San Marco, St. Mark’s Basilica is the most popular and most worldly renowned attraction in Venice and has been for centuries. 

Established in the year 1092, St. Mark’s Basilica held its ground for almost a thousand years which, of course, makes it one of the most religious buildings in Northern Italy, as well as one of the most culturally significant buildings in the world. 

St. Mark’s Basilica is a standing representation of Italian Byzantine architecture and art. It is also quite easily accessible from the grand canal, so you can’t skip out on visiting the beautifully created and architecturally baffling church, and witnessing firsthand the beauty of its ornate details, impressive sculptures, and beautiful works of art. 

Canale Grande

Out of the hundreds of canals that connect the islands of which Venice is made, the Grand Canal ‘Canale Grande’ is the largest. 

Due to its length, Canale Grande is considered a river, it connects the two sides of Venice and passes through the centre of the city in a large S shape, so a canoe ride along the Calane Grande is basically a stroll around most of Venice. 

While traveling along the Grand Canal, you will see the over 170 buildings dating back to the 13th-century line the banks of the Canal, so your canoe trip down this water monument will grant you a free tour around some of the world’s oldest buildings and architectural landmarks. 

St. Mark’s Square 

Located on the Grand Canal opposite the island of San Giorgio Maggiore, St. Mark’s Square is one of the most significant and important piazzas in Venice. 

Surrounding St. Mark’s Square is a series of ornate buildings with arched walkways. On the square itself, are multiple important buildings and landmarks such as St. Mark’s Basilica, St. Mark’s Campanile, Doge’s Palace, and Torre dell Orologio. 

Therefore, you can’t plan a Venice tour without placing St. Mark’s Square on the top of your itinerary. 

Burano 

Burano is one of the 118 islands of which Venice is made. Located in the Venetian Lagoon, near Torcello at the northern end of the lagoon, Burano is known for its brightly coloured homes which reflect onto the clear water of the canals creating a rainbow-like atmosphere. 

Strolling around the Venetian island of Burano is a truly aesthetic experience, to take it to the next level, you can get off the boat and tour on foot around the island and experience first hand the colorful beauty of the Burano homes and buildings. 

Ponte di Rialto 

Out of the many bridges connecting the islands along the Venetian lagoon, the Ponte di Rialto is one of the most worldly recognized and significant ones. 

Crossing over the one and only Grand Canal, and connecting the San Marco and San Polo districts of Venice, the Ponte Di Rialto is an extremely important pedestrian bridge as well as a tourist attraction. 

The beautifully designed ornate stone bridge that we see today was built after the original wooden Ponte Di Rialto bridge had collapsed in 1524. The architectural marvel that is the Rialto bridge perfectly frames out the Grand Canal, offering the perfect background scenery for taking truly Venetian-themed pictures to commemorate your visit to the Italian gem, Venezia. 

Best Things to Do in Venice 

Now that we have stated some of the best places to see in Venice, time to go over the best experiences and activities to help you soak up as much of Venice as you can. 

WALK!

It may sound a bit strange to place walking on the top of the list of activities to do, but when in Venice, walking is not an exercise or a means to an end, it is a spiritual and a holistic experience. 

Luckily, as grandly beautiful as it is, Venice is quite a small city, so small that you can actually walk it all in just a few hours. It may sound like a lot of walking, but when you lose yourself in the immense beauty surrounding you left and right as you walk above the calm water of the Venetian lagoon, those few hours will feel like just a few minutes. 

Go on a Gondola Ride Through Venice

Have you really gone to Venice, if you didn’t tour the Venetian Lagoon in a Gondola? That is a rhetorical question because a Venice experience would obviously never be complete without that unexchangeable Gondola ride through the canals around the 118 Venetian islands. 

To make the experience, even more, transcended, make sure to book yourself a Gondola ride on the Grand Canal in specific as it is the main waterway of Venice and connects both sides of the city. 

Attend a Concert at Teatro La Fenice 

Want to experience art in the most holistic and Italian way, then you must attend a concert at the Teatro La Fenice. Just being in this masterpiece of a building is extremely humbling and wildly gratifying to your artistic side. 

The fact that the very place you are standing in was destroyed twice by fire and restored both times to its original form, will, indeed, restore your own faith in the powers of beauty and art. 

Gallerie dell’Accademia 

Gallerie dell’Accademia is a museum gallery that hosts an iconic collection of pre-19th century art. Located opposite the Ponte dell’Accademia on the Grand Canal, Gallerie dell’Accademia features works by renowned artists such Bellini, Canaletto, and Titian. 

One of the best-known pieces in Gallerie dell’Accademia is the Vitruvian Man by Leonardo Da Vinci. Other iconic works include the Resurrection by Tintoretto, Virgin and the Child by Titian, and the Battle of Lepanto by Veronese. 

Enjoy the view from the top of the Campanile Di San Marco 

Campanile Di San Marco or St. Mark’s Campanile is the bell tower of St. Mark’s Basilica and the tallest building in all of Venice at 98.6 meters in height, dominating the Venetian skyline. 

The currently standing campanile is a reconstruction that was completed in 1912 after the previous tower had collapsed in 1902. 

Climbing to the top of St. Mark’s Campanile gives you the chance to enjoy the most spectacularly breathtaking view of all of Venice. So unless you are scared of heights, do try to climb up to the top of this magnificent bell tower, you won’t regret it. 
Although we have stated a number of places and activities for you to experience while visiting the floating city of Venezia, we can never do this gorgeous city its justice. However, if you feel like you need to know more about its beauty, or feel like you need further convincing to take the leap and book your flight to Venice, check out our virtual tour through Venice here.