33 Best things to see & do in Venice

Surely the most exquisite place of worship in Italy, St Mark’s is a cathedral built to satisfy the wildest dreams of the Doges.

Built in the 11th century to house the alleged remains of St Mark, its Byzantine mosaics, Gothic carvings and sumptuous treasures were accumulated during many centuries of Venetian trading and looting.

From the Pala d’Oro (jewel-encrusted altarpiece, made in Costantinopoli in 976) to its wealth of sculptures and magnificent bronze horses rearing over the piazza, its OTT opulence, both inside and out, it is a testament to La Serenissima’s power and might.

A one-stop-shop of Venetian painting, the Accademia Gallery is to Venice what the Uffizi is to Florence and one of Italy’s foremost repositories of art.

From the glittering Byzantine-style devotional works to Carpaccio’s scenes of Venetian life, complete with lissom gondoliers and little white dogs and Tintoretto’s magnificent portrayal of the Transport of the Body of Saint Mark, it is not only a dazzling collection of masterpieces but also a voyage through the history of Venice itself.

The collection was made possible by Napoleon, who closed many Venetian churches and convents, moving their artworks here not only for storage but also to be used by students for study.

With its rose pink-and-white brickwork shimmering on the edge of the lagoon, the Doge’s Palace seems more mirage than monument. While other states fortified their power with forbidding castles, the Venetians showed off their security with this airy, ethereal palace.

The hub of the far-reaching political power of La Serenissima since the 9th century, today it is a testament to the best of Byzantine, Gothic and Renaissance architecture and painting.

Highlights include the arcaded courtyard, the frescoes by Veronese, Tiepolo and Tintoretto in the grand chambers and the collection of armour and weapons in the old Armoury. Tintoretto’s Paradiso is the largest oil painting in the world.

Dating back almost a thousand years, the Venetian Carnival (or Carnevale) is a two-week estravanganza of dressing up, partying and posing enjoyed by  Venetians and tourists alike.

Carnevale enjoyed its heyday in the 18th century when it became popular as a pagan festival. It was revived in the 1970s when the city administrators realised it could still draw the crowds (and bring in the cash), and it worked; today tens of thousands flock to the city each year from round the world for the spectacle.

For two weeks in February each year, the streets of Venice fill with people wearing masks and elaborate masquerade costumes. The original purpose of the costumes and masks is thought to have originally been to hide the wearer’s identity, removing social differences and allowing them to engage is less reputable practices.

Venice is best known as a centre of religious art, daubed across small yet stunning Catholic churches and scuole. But there’s also a vibrant contemporary art scene: a slew of good commercial art galleries, the palatial collections of world-class patrons such as Peggy Guggenheim, and the world-famous Venice Biennale.

Venice’s scuole (schools) were established from the 13th century by the patrician class, partly as religious and charitable institutions, partly as guilds and confraternities, that had members from all walks of society.

By the 15th century, there were some 400 minor scuole and six more important, powerful ‘Scuole Grandi’ which commissioned the great artists of the day to beautify their headquarters. Carpaccio, for example, decorated San Giorgio agli Schiavoni and Tintoretto San Rocco.

To all intents and purposes, the Grand Canal (or Canal Grande) is Venice’s high street, a wide thoroughfare lined with elegant palazzi that winds through the city. Like any high street, it is full of traffic (water buses, ambulances, builder’s barges, gondolas and private boats) and is essential to Venetian life.

Two miles long, and traversed by four bridges, the Canal flows between the train station and St. Mark’s Square (Piazza San Marco). Between the 12th and 18th centuries, every important Venetian family built a palazzo (often called a Ca’) on its banks, each with a water entrance. The most notable palazzi include; Ca’ d’Oro, Ca’ Pesaro, Ca’ Foscari, Ca’ Rezzonico and Palazzo Grimani.

The cheapest boat ride is to hop on one of the regular water buses (vaporetto) that ply the Canal from one end to the other. Progress is slow, and they are often crowded, but a sought-after open-air seat at either the front or the back allows you to see everything. For a more exclusive experience, and to up the glamour stakes, take a water taxi or a gondola.

Dishes, both fish and meat-based, are seasonal, prepared with the minimum of fuss and often dressed with just olive oil, a little lemon and seasoning. In spring and summer, menus feature abundant fresh vegetables, many sourced from the  island of Sant’Erasmo.

You’ll find unique ingredients in Venetian restaurants such as moeche (soft-shelled crabs), and schie (tiny grey prawns).

Meals are traditionally divided into antipasti (starters), primi (soup, pasta), secondi (meat, fish) and dolce (dessert).

Cicchetti are Venetian tapas, tasty morsels to whet the appetite and soak up a glass of wine or two. They are traditionally served in a bacaro (wine bar), which also offers wines by the glass; Venetians eat cichetti before lunch or dinner, usually standing at the bar. A plate of cicchetti is one of the cheapest ways to fill up in this expensive city; 6 or 7 make a light meal, and at an average price of €2, along with a glass of inexpensive local wine, that’s a bargain.

A fun way to enjoy this tradition is to plan a tour of different bacari, tasting a couple of cicchetti in each. Expect polpette (fried meat balls), baccalà mantecato (creamed salt cod), a whole variety of weird and wonderful seafood, and lots more.

The unfinished, one-storey Palazzo Venier dei Leoni was the home of eccentric American millionairess Peggy Guggenheim and today still houses her extraordinary collection of modern art.

Guggenheim brought her collection of mainly surrealist and modernist works to Venice in 1949 purchasing the charming Grand Canal-side palazzo to house it and herself. She died here in 1979 aged 81.

From Picasso to Pollock, Brancusi to Max Ernst, Guggenheim’s brilliantly unfailing eye picked out the best of the 20th-century avant garde; this collection gives the city a modernist stamp it would otherwise have lacked.

Gazing across the Grand Canal, with the rambling sculpture garden overlooked by the café, there are few more alluring spots in Venice.

Murano became the capital of glass in 1291 thanks to a decree banning all furnaces from Venice proper to avoid fire risk. The island soon became centre for glass-blowing, shipping chandeliers, mirrors, vases and glass tableware across the world. Today, Murano remains a unique place where the skills of centuries are still practised by latter-day artisans.

Watching a top glass-blower is an absorbing sight, from the ferocious heat thrown out by the yellow glow of the furnaces to the balletic genius of the Murano craftsmen as they blow, snip, twist and tug at their fiery blob of liquid to transform it into an exquisite vase or seahorse. Afterwards, you can buy pieces in the showrooms.

Although there has been a bridge over the Grand Canal at this point since 1173, todays’ iconic stone Rialto Bridge dates from 1588. Crossed by millions annually and with three parallel staircases and concealed shops, it was designed by Antonio da Ponte; views from the top are splendid.

It’s huge, and often crowded, but St. Mark’s square is one of the most emblematic spots in the city and is lined with over-priced cafés that offer live music. But out of season, on a foggy winter’s evening or at dawn, it’s undeniably atmospheric.

La Biennale transforms Venice annually into a surreal blend of ancient-and-contemporary culture unrivalled anywhere else in the world; it attracts giants of the international art world and vast numbers of visitors. The original Biennale (established in 1895) focused on art and is still held in odd years, but in 1980 an architecture equivalent was added in even years.

The annual bonanza divides into two main sections: individual countries have pavilions in the Giardini (Public Gardens) while artists and architects chosen by a curator exhibit within the magnificent spaces of the old Arsenale. The result is a pop-up museum of painting, installation, sculpture, film, new media and architecture that spreads its tentacles across palaces and churches across the city.

Venice is set in the middle of a lagoon joined to the mainland by a manmade causeway and surrounded by water and 39 islands.

Murano is the best-known island thanks to its glass-blowers, and colourful Burano is the subject of many an Instagram shot, but there are others that are worth exploring, especially if you fancy getting away from it all. Each offers a very different atmosphere; some are all but deserted apart from the odd church, and on others, life seems to continue almost oblivious of the tourist madness just across the lagoon. All are accessible via vaporetto from Venice proper.

Venetians have shopped and haggled at this food market on the banks of the Grand Canal since 1097 AD. It’s a mosaic of stalls piled with aubergines, tomatoes, vats of artichoke hearts and (under the arched Pescaria) a zillion varieties of wriggling, glistening fish.

Although you can’t actually walk over it, the Bridge of Sighs (visible from the Ponte di Paglia) is one of Venice’s most famous sights and links the Doge’s Palace to the adjacent prisons and torture chamber. The sighs were emitted by prisoners en route knowing what awaited them.

Of all Venice’s many churches, the huge, barn-like Frari is one of the most art-packed. The Franciscans started on the present Gothic church in 1338 and finished in 1469; it boasts the second-highest bell tower in the city and a severe exterior, but once inside, the quality of the art is extraordinary.

The assault begins as you go in when your eyes are drawn immediately to the High Alter and Titian’s vivid, soaring Assumption. Other works by Titian to look out for include his Madonna di Ca’ Pesaro (1519).

The Sacristy contains one of Giovanni Bellini’s greatest paintings, the Madonna and Child with Saints. To the left of the high alter is the fabulous Reniassance tomb of Doge Niccolò Tron (1473) by Antonio Rizzo.

The last existing furnace using fire in the historical centre of Venice, Orsoni has been using the same techniques to produce 24k gold leaf mosaic tiles since 1888. Visitors can watch skilled artisans create the tiny gold and enamel squares in some 3,500 different colours. Pre-booking is essential.

Japanese superstar architect Tadao Ando was brought in to convert Venice’s 17th-century customs house on the tip of Dorsoduro and 18th-century Palazzo Grassi into stunning exhibition spaces to house French billionaire businessman Francois Pinault’s vast contemporary art collection.

Although Carnevale falls in February/March, you can learn to make your own Venetian Carnival masks year-round at one of several workshops in the city. Experienced artisans teach the art of papier-maché mask making and decorating in traditional Venetian style. Great for kids and adults alike.

One of Venice’s more curious sights lies near Campo San Manin. Signs lead to a small courtyard and Giovanni Candi’s exuberant spiral staircase (ca. 1500) stuck onto its relatively plain palazzo. Climb to the top of this eccentric confection for delightful views over the city.

Venice’s magnificent opera house was all-but-destroyed by fire in 1774, 1836 and 1996 and is all faux Baroque opulence. The programme of excellent opera productions and symphonic concerts offers a chance to put on your glad rags. You can also take a behind-the-scenes tour.

Venice’s original Jewish ghetto dates from 1516 and is a fascinating, atmospheric neighbourhood. It remained home to the city’s Jewish population until 1797; today you can take a guided tour of the five magnificent synagogues and museum and eat in a neighbourhood Kosher restaurant.

Dedicated to the history of the Venetian Republic, the Correr museum houses an eclectic collection of documents, maps, coins, ivories, weapons and so on. Artworks include paintings by Veneziano, Tintoretto, Antonello da Messina and Carpaccio whose Two Venetian Noblewomen appears on many a postcard.

Magnificently located at the entrance to the Grand Canal, this vast pale – and unique – church was built in honour of St. Mary of Health in thanks for deliverance from the plague of 1630-31. The best artworks are in the Sacristy, most notably Tintoretto’s Marriage at Cana.

The Redentore church on the Giudecca is showcased each third weekend of July when a pontoon bridge is built across the Giudecca canal. On the Saturday night, boats of all description filled with partying Venetians crowd the lagoon to watch a fabulous fireworks display.

This museum recalls the fact that along with Amalfi, Pisa and Genoa, Venice was once a glorious Maritime Republic. Exhibits include ships through the ages, naval instruments and uniforms, model ships (including the Doge’s barge), and a wonderful display of Gondolas, one belonging to Peggy Guggenheim.

The little-visited Palazzo Grimani is one of the city’s great Renaissance palazzos, now a museum housing an extraordinary collection of classical sculptures, stuccoes, elaborate frescoes and paintings by Hieronymus Bosch.

Way off-piste in northern Cannaregio, Madonna ‘of the Garden’ (1399-1473) is stuffed with paintings by the great Venetian master who is also buried here along with his son and daughter. A highlight is his beautiful painting of St. Agnes in the Contarini Chapel.

Dating from 1720, world-famous Florian’s is a jewel-box of a café, all mirrors, stuccoes and frescoes. Join the locals perched at the bar rather than pay way over the odds for a table seat where a simple espresso is likely to set you back €10.

For a special lunch on a beautiful garden terrace, hop over to Torcello and this iconic restaurant; Ernest Hemmingway and Princess Diana were fans. People come for the peaceful, bucolic setting as much as the food – pasta with scampi and seabass with artichokes, maybe.

A perfect place for foodie gifts, this deliciously retro grocery shop sells a fabulous range of exotic spices, dried fruits and mushrooms plus wines, olive oil and vinegars from all over Italy. The range of coffees and teas is also excellent.