10 Things to do in Venice
Many claim it’s the most beautiful city in the world, and its melancholic and poignant aura attracts millions of tourists every year. Venice, however, more than a city, is a real ecosystem at risk, a place threatened by the constant menace of being submerged by the waters of the lagoon that surrounds it.
Atypical and special, its fragility increases its charm: here the streets are called calli and the districts sestieri, the gps doesn’t work, people move by vaporetto and life seems to flow to the rhythm of the canals.
The experiences to live during a trip to Venice are many, at least as many as the events that animate it in every season. From the blown glass of Murano to the tour of museums, and indulging in a detour on a gondola and around its many bacari, we selected the most unmissable activities, those that, on the return flight, will make you think you have really lived the city.
Here’s our top 10 picks:
1 Enjoy spritz and cicchetti in a local bacaro
The bacaro is a sort of bar, an authentic (and cheap) place that exists only in Venice, where you can meet the inhabitants and immerse yourself in the drinking culture of the city. Here, Venetians drink spritz - which is more or less a cult - and wine (in small glasses called ombre, meaning shadows) accompanied by cicchetti, small sandwiches stuffed with everything, from creamy cod (a typical dish of Venice) to cold cuts. Find one, maybe in front of the canals, and spend the evening there.
2 Wander around the canals in a gondola (even a vaporetto will do)
No vehicles on the land, here we move on water. The vaporetto and the water taxi allow you to circumnavigate the city and its islands by moving around the lagoon, but if you want to enter the heart of Venice and cross it in the internal canals the gondola is the means of predilection. Tourist attraction? Of course, but the immortal and romantic charm of the boat and the gondoliers in uniform make the gondola ride one of the essential activities to check out in the Venetian to-do list.
3 Take a glassblowing course in Murano
Little island not far from the city, Murano is famous in the world for the craftsmanship of glass. In its furnaces, glass is blown (but also worked with a lamp, melted according to the technique of Murrina, etc.) to create unique masterpieces. The workshops include blowing courses where, alongside the artisans, you can become the protagonist of the process and craft souvenirs in Murano glass to take home with you.
4 Take a picture with the colorful houses in Burano
Still off the lagoon, Burano seems to have remained at a time that is no longer there. The island, small and little inhabited, is an expanse of colorful houses in bright tones, boats, bridges and canals, where the specialty is not the glass blowing but the weaving of lace. An excursion, together with its sisters Murano and Torcello, is a must.
5 Attend the Venice Carnival
The Venice Carnival is an institution in the city and in the world. For more than two weeks a year, the lagoon turns into a party of masks, dresses and carnival floats that parade, and the entire population - together with the tourists that the event attracts in the city - pours into the streets and squares of Venice, in an ancient tradition that ends in San Marco’s square with fireworks on Shrove Tuesday. In 2023, the Venice Carnival will be held from 4 to 21 February: if you happen to be in the city at that time, it’s a must-see.
6 Feel like a star at the Venice Film Festival
The second film festival in the world (after the Cannes Film Festival), the Venice Film Festival is an appointment with the lagoon and with quality cinema, held every year between the end of August and the beginning of September. In those days, everyone arrives at the Lido di Venezia - actors, directors, celebrities, but also curious - days are marked by the schedule of the screenings and it’s not hard to find yourself face to face with Oscar winners, even away from the red carpet.
7 Admire Venice from above
Its charm lies also and especially in its streets, but you can’t leave the city without having seen it from above, with its terracotta roofs, the paths of the canals, the geography of the islands.
Where can you see Venice from above? From the Fondaco dei Tedeschi - the shopping center overlooking the Grand Canal - the more hidden Scala Contarini, or San Marco’s bell tower. Or you can take the vaporetto and get off at San Giorgio Island: from here, the bell tower of the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore offers a breathtaking view of the lagoon (and the adjacent Borges Labyrinth).
8 Spend a night at the Opera House
Not far from San Marco, La Fenice is one of the most beautiful theaters in Italy and among the most prestigious in the world: it held the world premieres of musicians of the caliber of Rossini, Verdi and Donizetti, and today it’s not only a jewel of architecture, but also a place which values lyric art. with concerts and operas of global significance. A place to visit for its beauty, but above all to experience by spending a night at the opera.
9 Purchase a book from the Acqua Alta Library
Undoubtedly the most famous bookshop in Venice, the Acqua Alta Library is an unusual and particular place, where books aren’t stored in shelves, but in gondolas, tanks and boats, to preserve them from the high water that threatens the existence of the store. From narrow corridors always crowded with readers and curious to the gondola on the canal (which you can climb), the library is a magical corner of Venice: purchase a book, whatever book, and take it home as a souvenir.
10 Go to museums
You got lost in its streets, you took a gondola ride, you entered the Basilica of San Marco and you don’t know what to do anymore. Yet Venice is full of places of art and culture that are worth a visit: Correr Museum, Doge’s Palace, Peggy Guggenheim Museum or Gallerie dell'Accademia? The city is spoiled for choice. Every two years, moreover, the city holds the Biennale, an art festival that, between the Gardens and the Arsenale of Venice, involves artists from all over the world.
11 Bonus track: watch the sunset over the lagoon
You haven’t really been to Venice if you haven’t watched the sunset over the lagoon. Whether you are on the Riva degli Schiavoni (the promenade that runs along the water), on a vaporetto, on top of the Rialto Bridge or on the Punta della Dogana, when the sun sets Venice changes face, and there’s no place in the world that makes you feel as lucky to be there.
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