Venice in 2 days
St Mark's before eight, Cannaregio in the afternoon and a vaporetto instead of a gondola — two days that dodge the day-tripper crowd.
- How long
- 2 days for the city
- Getting around
- Vaporetto, €9.50 a ride
- Rhythm
- The square before eight
Venice has two entirely different faces in the same day: before nine in the morning and after six in the evening it is a city where you hear footsteps, and in between it is a city thirty thousand day-trippers pass through. A plan that respects that sees a different city from the one in the photographs.
The square before everyone, then Dorsoduro
St Mark's Square, empty. This is not an exaggeration: until eight you walk it alone, and after ten you queue for everything. The photographs people show you were taken in this hour.
St Mark's Basilica at opening. The nave is free, but the slot is booked online; the Pala d'Oro (€2) and the museum with the loggia and horses (€5), from which you see the square from above, cost extra.
The Doge's Palace (€30–35), on a booked slot. The Bridge of Sighs is crossed from inside, from the palace towards the prison — from outside it is just a bridge everyone photographs.
Lunch in Dorsoduro, away from the square; cicheti in a bacaro — small bites with a glass of wine, standing.
The Accademia or the Peggy Guggenheim, depending on whether you want old or modern. Both are in Dorsoduro, ten minutes apart.
The Zattere, the promenade along the Giudecca canal, before sunset. Here the city faces the sun, and here the Venice that lives here sits.
Cannaregio, Rialto and the water
The Rialto market while it works — the fish section runs to midday and closes on Mondays. One of the few places in the centre still serving the city rather than its visitors.
Cannaregio and the Ghetto — the first Jewish ghetto in the world, from 1516, which is where the word got its meaning. Five synagogues, a museum, and the calmest quarter in the city.
Vaporetto line 1 the length of the Grand Canal, from Ferrovia to the Lido. A bit over an hour, one fare (€9.50), and the only „cruise“ that makes sense.
The Scuola Grande di San Rocco — fifty Tintoretto canvases in two halls, which took him twenty-three years. Empty even when the city is full.
Dinner in Castello, the easternmost quarter, where prices are still local.
A third day, if there is one
- Murano — glass; the workshops work outside the demonstrations laid on for groups. about ten minutes by vaporetto.
- Burano — painted houses and lace, forty to forty-five minutes further. The most photographed island in the lagoon and packed after midday.
- Torcello — five minutes from Burano, with eleventh-century mosaics and about fifty residents. This is where the lagoon began.
Before you go
Short answers to what people ask most before setting out.
When is St Mark's Square empty?
Before eight in the morning and after six in the evening. In between you queue for everything, because the day-trippers arrive around ten and leave around five.
Is a gondola worth it?
If you want the experience, once, and in the evening in the side canals. If you want sightseeing, vaporetto line 1 runs the whole Grand Canal for one fare.
How many days does Venice need?
Two for the city and a third for the islands. Arriving and leaving the same day shows you the city in exactly its worst hour.
Ready for Venice?
Where to next
Day trips from Venice
→Glass, lace, Giotto's chapel and an amphitheatre — five day trips, from a ten-minute vaporetto ride to a full…
Verona · 104 km
→An amphitheatre that still stages opera in summer, a courtyard tied to Shakespeare's tragedy and a fortress over the river — all inside a loop you can walk in a day, with a second day opening up Lake Garda.
How well does Venice suit you?
→Six questions: a score for this place and others like it.
Front row for the next trip
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