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Insider tips for your first trip to Venice

August 19, 2017

The most important thing to understand before your first trip to Venice is that the city is completely different from anything you have ever seen and that, most likely, you will want to return asap. I can also guarantee you that everything will take more time than you expect and that you will get lost at one point or another. In this post, I’ll try to prepare you as much as possible so you can avoid some common misunderstandings.

 

“Venice is always overcrowded.”

This perception is only partially true. The correct sentence is “The areas around San Marco and Rialto are always very crowded during daytime in the summer season.”. This implies that there are plenty of ways to avoid this problem. The first step is in deciding when you will visit Venice. As in most touristic cities, the summer months and school holidays are more crowded than autumn, spring or winter. If you have a chance, book your trip in one of the calmer months. You will enjoy the city much more. Weekends are also more popular than weekdays.

TIP: The city of Venice has launched a tool that predicts how busy the city will be on a specific date. Use it to plan your visit wisely.

 

The second step is planning your day in Venice. As a first time visitor, you should of course visit the San Marco basilica, Palazzo Ducale or admire the Rialto bridge. However, use your time during the day to visit other areas of Venice which are less crowded, such as Cannaregio, Dorsoduro or San Polo and Santa Croce. You can find some inspiration in my post ‘9 insider tips to avoid the crowds in Venice’. By the time the day trippers leave the city, you still have plenty of time to visit these landmarks. You could for instance visit Palazzo Ducale and Museo Correr until 11 pm (on Friday and Saturday, from May until October) thanks to the ‘Museums by the moonlight’ initiative.

venezia crowded

There are plenty of quiet streets like this one in Venice.

 

“I can visit Venice in one day.”

The answer to this is simply ‘no’. It is true that Venice is not very big, but you cannot grasp the charm of the city in a couple of hours or even one day. When you come only one day, you will probably limit your trip to the main landmarks around San Marco. This implies that you will be surrounded  by large crowds and not enjoy your visit. At the end of the day, you might even wonder what all the fuss is about. Venice is however much more than this. After visiting Venice tens of times, I still have a long list of things to see. It doesn’t even get shorter, it always seems to be getting longer.

 

When you take the time to wander around the other sestieri, you will feel as if you have to city to yourself. You will be able to take your time to admire a building without being bumped into every few seconds. This doesn’t imply that you have to go far (if that would be your worry). Only a few minutes walk is enough to find quiet streets and canals. You don’t even need a map or a planned destination for this. Just walk and at every corner, take the street with the least people. It won’t be long before you will be alone. This is the moment where the beauty of Venice will reveal itself to you. If you need some examples, just take a look at my posts about the different sestieri and what you can find there. I’m sure you will like these areas.

venice get lost

You will not discover quiet and beautiful areas like this if you only stay one day in Venice or limit yourself to the main landmarks.

 

“It’s not very far.”

Venice is not a very big city and you can easily walk from one side to the other, but it will always take more time than anticipated, either because you are lost, because you see something that you want to explore or because you are stuck in the crowds.

 

One of the reasons for getting lost is the fact that the addresses are not used in the same way as in many other cities. The first time I went to Venice as a grown-up and not having anyone make sure I didn’t get lost, resulted in taking approximately 1 hour to find the hotel. And it was only 500 metres from the vaporetto stop. What happened? We had the name of the hotel and something that we thought was a very clear address (like San Marco 3787b). Little did we know that this was not a street name but a number in a sestiere (neighbourhood). Numbers are not linked to a specific street but continue along different streets, so you have to turn right, left, back, … to follow them or to lose track. With the use of smart phones, it is easier now, but remember to bring a good map, the street name and number as well as directions from your hotel. You will have plenty of time to get lost in the city during your trip, but it’s less fun when you are dragging your luggage and are tired from your flight.

TIP: When you see something interesting (a nice palazzo, a shop, restaurant) and think ‘We’ll come back later’ – you will never find it again. By the end of the day, you will have gone through so many small streets, that everything looks exactly the same. You should either visit it immediately or take very good notes (sestiere, number, street name) of where it is or mark it on your map. Also make sure you have a very detailed map, as a lot of small streets have a dead end on a canal.

santa croce

Finding the right street name and number can be complicated in Venice.

 

“I’ll just take a taxi to the hotel/ restaurant/ shop/ …”

I guess you figured out already that there are no cars allowed in Venice. However, have you thought about the consequences?

 

The majority of the hotels do not have direct access by boat. It will therefore not always be possible to be dropped off by a water taxi at the front door with your luggage. Most likely, you will have to carry your luggage yourself across one or more stepped bridges. So travel light if you don’t want your arrival to spoil your whole trip. Unfortunately, many bridges don’t have a ramp, so if you’re in a wheelchair, you’ll have to choose your place of stay and plan your routes very well in advance with these maps of accessible routes. On a positive note, Gondolas4all has created a gondola which is accessible with a wheelchair.

 

You cannot hail a water taxi just like you would do with a land taxi in a big city. There are only specific places where they are allowed to pick up guests.

TIP: Upon arrival in Venice, a water taxi is really the best way to be immediately immerged in the atmosphere of the city and it is always the first guilty pleasure on my trips. You can either book a private taxi upfront (if you use the coupon code TVI_2018, you will get a small discount) or get in line when you arrive, or you can book a shared water taxi. This will bring down the cost but you might have to wait a bit for the other passengers. However, if you’re lucky, it might be just your party so you’ll pay less for what is then a private taxi. Or you might get a long ride across Canal Grande and the smaller canals of the city – if you’re the last one to be dropped off. Try to get the seats in the back, so you can stand up in open air if the weather is nice, feel like a movie star waving to the tourists and take pictures.

Venice water taxi

A typical water taxi in Venice

 

“I’ll quickly jump on the next vaporetto.”

Vaporetto’s are large waterbuses and only use the Canal Grande and the waterways around the city. They do not enter the small canals. Chances are big that you’ll have to walk first to get onto them.

 

Tickets need to be purchased upfront and can be bought in a lot of newspaper shops or at the sales booth or ticket machines at some of the larger vaporetto stops. You have one-way tickets, day and multiple day tickets. Compared to other cities, these are relatively expensive, so think wisely which ones best fit your travel preferences. If you plan to walk most of the time and don’t have a day ticket, you can also buy the cheaper ‘ferry’ tickets if there’s no alternative to cross the water than by boat – for instance to visit Lido, San Giorgio Maggiore or the San Michele cemetery. More details about all the different possibilities are mentioned in ‘A practical how-to guide on transportation in Venice‘,

 

You need to validate your ticket every time before entering the platform, even if they are for multiple days and have already been activated once. Not doing so can lead to fines and there are much better ways to spend your money in Venice, for instance on a spritz or a nice dinner.

TIP: Make sure you know upfront which is the closest vaporetto stop to your destination and count this in number of bridges, not only in metre or foot. You can then decide which line you have to take and where you have to change, if needed.

Vaporetto Venezia

A vaporetto or waterbus decorated for carnevale

 

“Venice is always flooded.”

‘Acqua alta’, which is how they call this flooding, is still a problem in Venice, but it isn’t something that you should worry about too much. First of all, it’s only very bad on a limited number of days a year. To give you an idea, since 2000, the water rose only 9 times to 140 cm above sea level, which corresponds with a flooding of approximately 50% of the city. Second, it’s only a couple of hours a day. Third, it is not all over the city, so you can either avoid the flooded area, which is mainly around San Marco, or walk on the heightened sidewalks. If you want to be prepared, check the forecasts a couple of days prior to your arrival. If it says ’80 cm above sea level’, this means only a very little flooding, and only when it’s 100 cm above sea level will you need to adapt your routes.

TIP: Don’t use your scarce luggage space to bring rubber boots if you are only going for a couple of days. If you feel adventurous or want to take some pictures standing in the water, buy these ‘temporary wellies’, wander through the water and pray they won’t start to leak. There is no need to worry where you will find these, as you will see an increasing number of vendors the closer you get to the acqua alta.

San Marco

Acqua alta on the San Marco square

 

“The locals don’t like tourists.”

There has been a lot of commotion lately about the reaction of the locals towards tourists, not only in Venice but also in other cities such as Barcelona. It is true that some Venetians are getting more and more upset with the behaviour of some groups of tourists. The residents use the city to go to work or school, to buy their daily groceries, to attend an appointment with the doctor or to meet their friends. This is the same as you do at home. For example, when they have to pass the crowds who block the entrance to their street or have to queue to enter the vaporetto, this implies that they have to leave earlier to be on time in school or at work. The only thing they ask is respect for their city and its residents. They expect you to walk on the right so a part of the street is free, that you give priority to the porters who have to carry goods around the city, that you don’t leave any garbage in front of their houses and so on. Just imagine how you would feel if this would be the case in your street at home.

 

The Turismo Città di Venezia has therefore launched a new awareness campaign: #EnjoyRespectVenezia. The goal is to create a sustainable tourism in harmony with the daily life of residents. The campaign involves an overview of itineraries around the whole city of Venice (as I also mentioned above), rules for the responsible visitor and also a list of forbidden behaviour. This includes no swimming in the canals, no picknick on San Marco, no sitting on monuments, no swimsuits in the city, no feeding of pigeons, no littering and no cycling. These might seem obvious, but apparently not for everyone. Breaking these rules can result in fines up to 500 euros.

enjoyrespectvenezia

 

 

Venice is a delicate city with a lot of historical and cultural heritage. Overall, the key to enjoying Venice is to keep an open mind, to be prepared to walk a lot – with good walking shoes and a detailed map, and to remember that everything will take more time than you imagined. You will very easily get accustomed to the fact that there is no noise from cars, no traffic lights where you have to wait, and no need for a quick jump onto the sideway when you all of a sudden realize you’re in the middle of the street to admire a building.

 

You can find more tips on how to prepare your trip to Venice in my post ‘How I prepare my trips to Venice as a frequent visitor‘. I also suggest you browse through the other posts on my blog such as ‘A practical how-to guide on transportation in Venice‘, read some books to get to know the city, look for my favourite addresses and my list of bookmarks, or if you’re really overwhelmed, contact me for a personalized travel plan.

 

 

Buon viaggio!

 

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19 Comments


C. G. Estabrook
August 21, 2017 at 03:37
Reply

The top picture is not of Venice but Murano, I think.



    Katia
    August 21, 2017 at 18:37
    Reply

    Ciao,

    It is indeed Murano 🙂 But as most people consider this as a visit on their first trip, I thought it was appropriate to add it to this post.

    Best regards
    Katia – The Venice Insider

Alexandra
August 21, 2017 at 15:56
Reply

A very useful update – will share on my page!



    Katia
    August 21, 2017 at 18:42
    Reply

    Ciao Alexandra,

    I’m glad you like it! And thanks for sharing 🙂 I appreciate it.

    All the best.
    Katia – The Venice Insider

Turner
August 31, 2017 at 19:26
Reply

After having lived in Barcelona for a couple of summers, I can attest to why locals feel as agitated with tourists. It is hard not to be when there are sooo many, even more so when they come in big tour groups and clog streets up. I haven’t been to Venice yet, but you definitely addressed a lot of what I hear from fellow travellers. Thanks for the heads up.



    Katia
    August 31, 2017 at 21:34
    Reply

    Hi Turner,

    Thanks for your feedback. I hope I convinced you that there are ways to visit in a responsible way, which will please the locals and which you would enjoy much more as a tourist. Do you have any plans to visit Venice in the near future?

    Best regards
    Katia – The Venice Insider

Marielena
September 28, 2017 at 00:27
Reply

Katia,

Great blog post with lots of helpful info. I’m super excited to head back to Venice this weekend for a week-long photo workshop. I’ll be updating my Venice blog post after this visit and will be sure to link to your blog post as well. I’m looking forward to visiting San Giorgio Maggiore this trip to get a great view of Venice. Thanks! Marielena



    Katia
    September 28, 2017 at 20:33
    Reply

    Ciao Marielena,

    I’m glad you find this interesting. Enjoy your trip and feel free to send me some pictures or a link to your post. I’m curious to see your pictures!

    Katia – The Venice Insider

      saifullah
      March 14, 2019 at 11:29

      Thanks a lot ciao,

      Iam also going to visit venice for one day.

The Venice Insider – inside informatie over Venetië – Ciao tutti – ontdekkingsblog door Italië
January 23, 2018 at 06:00
Reply

[…] informatie voor Venetië, voor zowel beginners als gevorderden. Zo geeft Katia je in het artikel Insider tips for your first trip to Venice tips die onmisbaar zijn voor je eerste bezoek (van acqua alta tot vaporetto en watertaxi) en vind […]



lenore
May 27, 2018 at 16:14
Reply

Hello Katia and greetings from New York City,

We will be visiting Venice, for the first time, for 6 days this August. We are so excited. Thank you for your wonderful blogs (I read them all!).

I’ve heard many times about the importance of a GOOD map. Would appreciate any suggestion.

Lenore



    Katia
    May 27, 2018 at 18:15
    Reply

    Hello Lenore,

    I’m sure you are looking forward to your trip to Venice. Do you have anything special in mind or just a general first time visit?

    A good map is indeed very important. I always use the map of Touring Editore. This is a very practical map of Venice. It gives a lot of details, although it doesn’t cover part of the Castello and Sant’Elena district nor Giudecca. It is also rain and tear resistant. You can find it in book stores in Venice or order one online before your departure via this link http://geni.us/1KU3 .

    Enjoy your trip!
    Katia – The Venice Insider

Mihai Mos
June 12, 2018 at 15:27
Reply

Katia _ I totally agree with you. I advise anyone first time in Venice not to rely on the hotel provided map. Ours was inaccurate and gave us a lot of frustration when we had to return exhausted from a day of walking and enjoying those marvelous achievements by past generations of Venetians. Have a powerful magnifier available to read it. Walking through the labyrinth of the narrow and irregular streets was charming, but with way too much wasted time and frustrating exhaustion, because of that unreliable map. Even better, use your smartphone.
At the arrival in the airport we experienced hours at Customs and waiting from the guide to take us to the water taxi. We lost our first scheduled tour. No explanations whatsoever.
Also, if you can use your own noise cancelling head set connected to the receiver provided by the guided tours, instead of those chip disposable ear buds, will be perfect.
This was the first time in Venice for us. We don’t think going a second time there.



Mike Waite
June 6, 2019 at 16:48
Reply

I totally agree with everything you said, Katia. Mainly that walking is doable if you can navigate with a good map. And I’ve been there a bunch of times and one day is DEFINITELY not enough time to spend. Cool link to the tool with a tourism crowd index. To cope with the crowds I’ve found that the “skip the line” apps like MyPass Venezia saved me so much time because I wanted to see the big things like the Doge’s Palace, Biennale, and Guggenheim but I was afraid I’d waste half my trip just waiting, especially in the summer ( https://www.mypassvenezia.it/en/ ). There ‘s a bunch of other apps for like Bacardi for food so I’d recommend to anyone to go prepared otherwise you won’t make the most of your time. Enjoy Venice!



    Katia
    June 8, 2019 at 09:27
    Reply

    Thanks for your tip Mike!

    Katia – The Venice Insider

Sarah
July 27, 2019 at 10:52
Reply

Hey there are probably some useful tips on here. On the other hand if you are going to a famous place you should expect crowds as part of it. You do suggest other places which could be helpful. However I gave up reading because it’s too negative and repetitive about crowds. Consider how this is your experience at this destination but also consider with a little neutrality. It might not be the same experience for someone else.



    Katia
    July 27, 2019 at 11:23
    Reply

    Sarah,

    Thanks for your feedback. The goal of the article was indeed to offset the negative feeling many people nowadays have about Venice. I will review the text and ensure the overall tone is more positive.

    best regards
    Katia – The Venice Insider

majid khan
June 11, 2020 at 11:17
Reply

Now I have serious wanderlust! It really looks incredible and made me feel more excited to travel Venice in the future!



Sadie Powell
August 22, 2020 at 16:04
Reply

On my latest visit to Venice (13 so far) I saw a photograph in a restaurant of a flying boat / seaplane near the Punta delta Solana. I cant seem to find out anything about it.
Can anyone help.



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