Top Attractions in Venice

Venice's largest piazza, Saint Mark's Square, is the city's main meeting place. Lined with cafes, shops, and a number of museums, this magnificent piazza at the mouth of the Grand Canal is one of Europe's most famous and photographed.

During the 1,000-year reign of the Republic of Venice, its headquarters – and the residence of its leader, the Doge – were at the Doge's Palace, now a museum. Get a glimpse of the rooms occupied by Venice's executive, legislative, and judicial branches, as well as go on the Secret Itineraries Tour, which includes access to torture chambers, prisons, and the Bridge of Sighs.

This superb example of Byzantine architecture next to the Doge's Palace is dedicated to Venice's patron and is Venice's main basilica. Treasures inside Saint Mark's Basilica include glistening Byzantine mosaics and paintings by leading Venetian artists.

This ornamental stone bridge on the Grand Canal is one of the most famous bridges in Venice and is an icon of the city. Take a stroll across the always-crowded the Rialto Bridge and enjoy its lively shops and markets.

The leading place to see Venetian art from the 14th to 18th centuries is the Galleria dell'Accademia. Its collection of works by Veronese, Tiepolo, and Titian make it one of the top museums in Venice.

Modern art lovers will love the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, one of the first contemporary art museums in Italy. The museum houses priceless works from the leaders of 20th-century painting including Pollock, Klee, Mondrian, and de Chirico.

For many visitors, a gondola ride is an expensive splurge. It can be quite romantic and it is quintessential Venice. Particularly when you get away from the Grand Canal, a gondola ride through the city's network of narrow waterways is also a fantastic way to explore the city's famous bridges and buildings from a different perspective. Here are some tips for enjoying your gondola ride in Venice.

Venice's best-known festival is Carnevale – Carnival – which sees several weeks of celebrations in which Venetians dress in period costumes, elaborate masks, and other finery. The festival, which typically occurs in February, is always packed with entertainment, food, and thousands of costumed revelers.

The Biennale, art, film, and dance festival occurring every year in odd-numbered years since 1895, is an essential part of the Venice art scene. There is also a Biennale of Architecture and Theatre, which occurs every other year in even-numbered years.  These biennales always promise a jolt of the contemporary in this old world city.

In a 13th-century effort to reduce the risk of fires in the city, Venice's glassmakers were ordered to move to the island of Murano. It's now a world-famous destination for colorful hand-blown glass, from simple trinkets to enormous chandeliers. Take the 4.2 vaporetto from St. Mark's Square and discover the island's glass-making traditions, as well as interesting churches and a museum of glass.

The number 12 vaporetto from stop Nove A in Cannaregio will connect you in 20 minutes to Burano, a Venetian Lagoon island known for its handmade lace and its brightly colored houses. Tradition says that the houses are painted technicolor so that fisherman returning home in the fog-filled lagoon can find their homes in the mist.

Now largely abandoned, the island of Torcello once rivaled Venice in population and importance. It now has several important early Christian churches and mosaics, and a deluxe hotel and restaurant. Most visitors combine Torcello with a day trip to Burano. 

Beginning in the 1500s, Venice's Jewish population was forced to live in a segregated area of the city—the word "ghetto" allegedly originates from here. The two parts of the ghetto, Ghetto Vecchio (old) and Ghetto Nuovo (new) are both in Cannaregio, about a 25-minute walk from San Marco. A Jewish community still lives in this quiet area, home to two synagogues and several Kosher restaurants.

If you don't want to spring for a gondola ride or you need to get around Venice faster than your feet will carry you, take a vaporetto, Venice's answer to the city bus. The number 1 and 2 vaporetto lines run the entire length of the Grand Canal, so are a great way to see the city.​ A single tourist's ticket, good for 75 minutes, currently costs ​​​€7.50.

For a quick, exciting ride, try a traghetto, an oversized gondola on which passengers stand. Traghetto routes cross the Grand Canal in places where there are no nearby bridges, so they provide shortcuts from one point to another. Trips take just a few minutes and for tourists, they currently cost ​​​​​​​€5.

The Baroque-style Basilica Santa Maria della Salute was built in the 17th century to give thanks for the city being delivered from the plague. (The church's nickname is simply Salute, or health.) It sits on the point of the Dorsoduro sestiere, and can be seen from Piazza San Marco. The interior features several works from artist Titian.

Year-round classical and operatic music performances are a hallmark of Venice. There are inexpensive performances in churches and music schools across the city. On Venice's busier streets, you'll encounter people in elaborate period costumes selling tickets to these performances.

Venice is an enchanting maze of tiny streets, connected by footbridges. Some of the streets are only as wide as your outstretched hands. ​Wandering these narrow streets and alleys, many of which dead end at canals, is a delightful way to spend time in the city.  

Located in the San Polo sestiere shortly past the Rialto Bridge, this authentic fish market features more varieties of fish and shellfish than you might have imagined exist, most delivered fresh off of fishing boats that ply the lagoon and the adjacent Adriatic Sea. Open since at least the 11th century, the market stalls also sell a bounty of fresh fruit and vegetables, but seafood is the real star. Open every morning but Sunday.

If you're ready for a break from the densely packed crowds of Venice, hop on vaporetto 1 and head to Lido di Venezia (Venice Lido), the lagoon barrier island lined with sandy beaches. There are shops, restaurants, bars, and hotels on Venice Lido, and often they're less expensive than those in Venice itself.

They may be called tapas in the rest of the world, but in Venice, small plates of tasty snacks— usually paired with a glass or bottle of local wine—are called cicchetti . Enjoying several plates of cicchetti in a bàcaro, or informal wine bar, is a great way to experience a slice of local life among residents of Venice. Read more about cicchetti in Venice.

The Acqua Alta, or high water, is an extremely high tide that occurs frequently in Venice and floods the city's streets and squares, especially Piazza San Marco and especially in the autumn. It's usually triggered by lunar cycles, low-pressure systems or high winds. Venetians take it in stride, and so should you. Souvenir stands sell rubber boots or disposable plastic ones for you to wade around the city.

When it comes to souvenir shopping, Venice is most famous for handblown Murano glass, Carnivale masks, and lace. If you want a Murano glass keepsake for yourself or loved ones back home, know that much of what is sold on the streets of Venice is cheap imitation product made in China. Don't trust labels that read "Made in Venice" or "Made in Italy." Ask for a certificate of authenticity and remember that if a price seems too good to be true, then it probably is.

Though the event officially takes place on Lido di Venezia, the entire city is abuzz for 10 days each September, when cinema's biggest stars come to town for the Venice International Film Festival. Though you might not score tickets to any big-name screenings, your chances of spotting celebrities in Venice are higher than ever at this time of year.