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The Best of Venice Top Things To Do in the City You Cannot Miss

The Best of Venice 

Top Things To Do in the City You Cannot Miss

St. Mark's Basilica is one of the greatest and most beautiful buildings in the world, a breathtaking synthesis of Byzantine, Gothic, and Romanesque architecture whose golden mosaics, soaring domes, and extraordinary treasures have been accumulating since the 9th century. The interior, covered from floor to ceiling with shimmering gold mosaic depicting scenes from the Old and New Testaments, is one of the most overwhelming and affecting architectural experiences in Europe. The Pala d'Oro, the extraordinary golden altarpiece studded with precious stones, and the horses of St. Mark on the loggia are among the greatest treasures of Western art. Booking entry in advance is strongly recommended to avoid the long queues that form daily at the basilica door.

P.za San Marco, 328, 30100 Venezia VE, Italy

The Doge's Palace is the most magnificent secular Gothic building in the world and the former seat of the Venetian Republic's extraordinary political and judicial machinery. The vast sequence of state rooms, painted by Tintoretto, Veronese, and the greatest artists of the Venetian Renaissance, the terrifying Council of Ten chambers, the Bridge of Sighs, and the dark, damp prisons beneath the palace combine to tell the story of a republic that was at once gloriously civilized and ruthlessly powerful. A visit to the Doge's Palace is one of the most historically rich and visually overwhelming museum experiences in Italy. Book tickets online in advance and allow at least three hours.

P.za San Marco, 1, 30124 Venezia VE, Italy

A gondola ride is the most iconic and romanticized Venice experience, and while it is undeniably expensive and unquestionably touristy, it is also genuinely wonderful. Gliding silently through the narrow back canals of Venice in a gondola, with only the sound of water against the hull and the gondolier's occasional call at each blind corner, offers a perspective on the city that is simply not available in any other way. The best gondola rides avoid the Grand Canal and instead explore the quieter, smaller canals of the sestieri, where the city's domestic and architectural intimacy is at its most captivating. Evening rides, when the calli are illuminated and the canal reflections shimmer with light, are particularly magical.

The Rialto Bridge is the oldest and most famous of Venice's four Grand Canal bridges, a magnificent single-arch stone structure built at the end of the 16th century that has been one of the most recognizable and photographed landmarks in Italy for over four centuries. Walking across the bridge and pausing to take in the extraordinary views up and down the Grand Canal is one of the essential Venice experiences, though the bridge itself is perpetually busy with tourists. The best time to cross is early in the morning before the crowds arrive, when the Grand Canal traffic of vaporetti, delivery barges, and gondolas is at its most atmospheric and the light on the water is extraordinary.

30125 Venice, Metropolitan City of Venice, Italy

Taking the Number 1 vaporetto, the slow water bus that travels the full length of the Grand Canal from the Piazzale Roma to the San Marco basin, is one of the best and most affordable ways to see Venice's most spectacular waterway. The Grand Canal is lined on both sides with an unbroken sequence of magnificent Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque palaces, and the hour-long journey from one end to the other is a genuinely extraordinary architectural experience. Sitting at the front or back of the vaporetto gives the best views. The journey is most beautiful in the late afternoon when the light on the facades is at its most golden and the canal traffic is at its most theatrical.

Vibrant Venice canal scene at Accademia, capturing afternoon summer light and lively waterways.

The Gallerie dell'Accademia in Dorsoduro houses the greatest collection of Venetian painting in the world, tracing the full sweep of Venetian artistic achievement from the 14th century to the 18th with masterpieces by Bellini, Carpaccio, Giorgione, Titian, Tintoretto, and Veronese. The sheer concentration of outstanding works is overwhelming, and even a focused visit covering the highlights requires at least two hours. Booking timed entry tickets online in advance is strongly recommended, particularly in the peak summer months when the museum can become very crowded.

 Calle della Carità, 1050, 30123 Venezia VE, Italy

The Peggy Guggenheim Collection on the Grand Canal in Dorsoduro is one of the most important and enjoyable modern art museums in Europe, housed in the former Grand Canal home of the legendary American collector Peggy Guggenheim. The collection spans the full range of 20th-century modernism, with major works by Picasso, Dalí, Pollock, Mondrian, and Rothko, and the sculpture garden overlooking the Grand Canal is one of the most beautiful outdoor art spaces in Italy. A visit to the Guggenheim is a wonderful and refreshing counterpoint to the Byzantine and Renaissance art that dominates so much of Venice's cultural landscape.

One of the greatest pleasures Venice has to offer requires no ticket, no advance booking, and no particular destination. Simply putting away your map or phone and allowing yourself to get genuinely lost in the labyrinthine network of calli, campi, and fondamente that make up the city is one of the most rewarding and memorable ways to experience Venice. The city rewards wandering with constant surprises: a hidden campo you had never seen on any map, a doorway opening onto an unexpected garden, a canal view of extraordinary beauty around a corner you almost didn't turn. Getting lost in Venice is not a mistake. It is the point.

The ritual of going from bacaro to bacaro in the early evening, eating small bites of cicchetti and drinking ombra wine at each stop, is the most authentic and enjoyable way to eat and drink in Venice and one of the most pleasurable food experiences in all of Italy. The best bacaro crawl routes follow the streets of Dorsoduro from the Cantine del Vino già Schiavi towards the Campo Santa Margherita, or the lanes of San Polo from the Bar All'Arco through the Rialto market area. Allow two to three hours, visit four or five bacari, and eat and drink just enough at each to leave room for the next stop.

10. Take a Day Trip to Murano, Burano and Torcello

The lagoon islands of Murano, Burano, and Torcello are among the most rewarding and enjoyable day trips from Venice, each offering a completely different and equally extraordinary experience. Murano is famous worldwide for its extraordinary glassblowing tradition and its working furnaces and showrooms. Burano is one of the most photogenic places in Italy, its houses painted in brilliant and extraordinarily varied colors that reflect in the canals with dazzling effect. Torcello, the most ancient and most haunting of the three, is a largely deserted island of meadows and reed beds with a magnificent Byzantine cathedral containing some of the finest mosaics in Italy.

Sunset in Venice at the island of Torcello with boats docked in the canal

The Rialto market, one of the oldest and most atmospheric markets in Europe, is the best place in Venice to experience the everyday food culture of the city and to see the extraordinary variety of fish, seafood, fruit, and vegetables that the lagoon and the Veneto countryside produce. The fish market on the Grand Canal is particularly spectacular in the early morning, when the stalls are piled with creatures drawn from the Adriatic and the lagoon, many of which are entirely unknown outside the Venice area. The adjacent fruit and vegetable market is equally rewarding, and the surrounding bacari and cafes make the area ideal for a complete morning of eating, drinking, and market browsing.

 Campo della Pescaria, San Polo, 30125 Venice, Italy

The Zattere, the long and beautifully atmospheric fondamenta running along the southern edge of the Dorsoduro sestiere overlooking the Giudecca Canal, is one of the finest and most enjoyable walks in Venice at any time of day, but it is particularly magical at sunset. As the light falls on the façades of the churches and palaces across the canal and the water turns golden, the Zattere fills with Venetians and visitors alike, sitting on the fondamenta edge or at the outdoor tables of the cafes, enjoying the long, warm evening light. There are few more peaceful and beautiful ways to end a day in Venice than a slow walk along the Zattere at sunset with a gelato in hand.

13. Attend a Concert in a Venetian Church

Venice has an extraordinary tradition of sacred music, and the city's churches provide some of the most atmospheric and beautiful concert settings in the world. Vivaldi's Four Seasons, perhaps the most famous piece of music ever written in Venice, is performed almost nightly in several of the city's churches, and while the tourist-oriented concert circuit can vary in quality, a well-chosen performance in a candlelit church interior is one of the most evocative and memorable cultural experiences Venice has to offer. The Scuola Grande di San Rocco and the Frari church are among the most musically and architecturally outstanding venues.

 Various churches and venues across Venice, Italy

The Ghetto Nuovo in the Cannaregio sestiere is the oldest Jewish ghetto in the world, established by the Venetian Republic in 1516 and home to one of the most historically significant Jewish communities in Europe for over four centuries. The campo, surrounded by the unusually tall buildings that resulted from the community building upwards due to space restrictions, has a profoundly atmospheric and moving character. The Jewish Museum and the beautifully preserved historic synagogues, accessible by guided tour, offer a deeply educational and emotionally resonant insight into the extraordinary history of this community.

 Campo del Ghetto Nuovo, Cannaregio, 30121 Venice, Italy

The Campanile di San Marco, the tall red brick bell tower that has dominated the Piazza San Marco skyline for centuries, offers the finest and most comprehensive elevated view over Venice available anywhere in the city. The lift to the top takes you to a height of nearly 100 meters, from which the full extraordinary geography of Venice and its lagoon is revealed in one breathtaking panorama. The view takes in the entire city, the lagoon, the Lido, the Alps on clear days, and the shimmering waters stretching away towards the Adriatic. Queues can be long in peak season, so arriving early or booking in advance is recommended.

Venice fills up fast at almost every time of year, and securing the right hotel well in advance is one of the most important things you can do for your trip. We recommend heading to 

 to find your perfect Venice base. With properties across every sestiere and price point, honest guest reviews, great rates, and a Rewards program that earns you a free night for every 10 nights booked, it is the most reliable and enjoyable way to plan your Venice stay.

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Related Articles

The Best Bars in Venice From Historic Caffès and Bacari to Cocktail Bars and Jazz Clubs

The Best Luxury Hotels in Venice Where to Stay in the City in Ultimate Comfort and Elegance

What to Buy and Where to Shop in Venice The Best Shopping Experiences, Crafts and Markets in the City

A Taste of Venice The Best Traditional Food and Dishes You Need to Try