Venice · Italy
Palazzos and gondolas, glassblowers and the long way through the lagoon.
St Mark’s and the Doge’s Palace. The Grand Canal at sunset. Murano glass, Burano lace, Torcello at the quiet end. And the day trips by train to Verona, Padua and Lake Garda.
The first morning
Start in San Marco.
If you’ve only got one day in Venice, this is the corner everyone walks first — the Piazza, the Basilica, the Doge’s Palace, the Bridge of Sighs out the back.
The icons
Venice’s Most Popular Tours
St Mark’s mosaics, the Doge’s Palace, gondolas on the Grand Canal, Murano glassblowers. The Venice everyone comes to see, in the order it’s usually seen.
Only in Venice
Three things you can’t do anywhere else.
Plenty of cities have palaces and plenty have churches. These three are Venetian inventions or Venetian survivals — the kind of thing it’s worth booking a trip around. Each has its own thousand-year story.
Since 1291
Murano Glass
In 1291 the Venetian Republic forced every glassmaker in Venice onto the island of Murano. The official reason was fire risk in a city of timber. The real reason was to keep the technique under lock and key — cristallo, millefiori, gold-leaf glass, all invented here. The furnaces still burn on the same lagoon.
- 1 Venice: Burano, Torcello & Murano Boat Tour w/Glassblowing
- 2 Venice: Murano and Burano Boat Tour with Glass Factory Visit
- 3 Venice: Murano & Burano Panoramic Boat Tour w/ Glassblowing
Seat of the Republic
The Doge’s Palace
For a thousand years this pink-and-white marble palace was the seat of the Most Serene Republic of Venice — doge, senate, judiciary, prison, all under one roof. The Secret Itineraries tour climbs through the lead-lined cells in the attic Casanova famously escaped from. The Bridge of Sighs is the last view sentenced prisoners had of the lagoon.
- 1 Best Of Venice: Saint Mark’s Basilica, Doges Palace with Guide and Gondola Ride
- 2 Venice: Doges Palace, Prison, and Secret Passageways Tour
- 3 Venice: St. Mark’s, Doges Palace, Rialto, and Gondola Tour
Vivaldi’s city
Vivaldi in the Churches
Antonio Vivaldi was born here in 1678 and wrote much of his music for the violin orphans of the Pietà. Three centuries later, his Four Seasons still plays nightly in the same Baroque churches where it was first performed — candle-lit interiors, original acoustics, no Albert Hall amplification needed.
- 1 Venice: Vivaldi’s Four Seasons Live Classical Music Concert
- 2 Venice: Vivaldi’s Four Seasons Concert & Music Museum Visit
- 3 Venice: Vivaldi Four Seasons Concert at Vivaldi Church
Across the lagoon and beyond
Pick a corner of Venice.
Each one is its own day. The Grand Canal for the palazzos. Murano for the glass furnaces. Burano for the painted houses. Torcello for the quiet end. Verona for the arena. Lake Garda for a day on the water.
After dark
Venice has a second shift.
The day-trippers leave on the late vaporetto and the city changes character. Concerts in candle-lit churches, gondolas as the lamps come on, cicchetti standing at the bar with the locals. The Venice that doesn’t fit on a postcard.
In the church
Vivaldi at the Frari.Candle-lit interiors, period instruments, no microphones. The Four Seasons the way Vivaldi’s orphans first played it.
See the evening reviews →On the water
Gondola at lamplight.When the day-trippers have gone and the city quiets down. The back canals, the singing gondoliers, a hush off the lagoon.
See the evening reviews →Off Rialto
Cicchetti & an ombra.Venice’s tapas equivalent: tiny plates of fried sardines, baccalà mantecato, a shot of cold prosecco standing up at the bar.
See the evening reviews →By activity
Or pick how you want to spend the day.
Gondola if you want the classic shot. Walking tour if you want the history. Cooking class if you want to take Venice home with you. Wine tour out to the Prosecco hills if you want the day off the islands.
Where Venice eats
Out to the Prosecco hills.
Venice has been drinking Valdobbiadene’s sparkling wine since the 16th century, and trading the spice routes long before that. Three wine days we’d send any first-timer on — vineyard tastings on the mainland, cooking classes in the city, market-and-table tours through the back canals.
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