How To Spend 1 Day in Venice, Italy

3 weeks ago 9

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It’s hard to do a city like Venice justice in just one day, but if you have limited time, this itinerary will show you how to make the most of it. Venice is one of the most enchanting cities in Italy (and all of Europe!) with its opulent palazzos, endless canals and bridges, and narrow pedestrian-only streets.

It’s hard to believe that this elegant city rising up from 118 small islands in the middle of the Venetian Lagoon even exists, and it’s one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world — for good reason.

Although Venice has suffered from overtourism and major hordes of tourists in recent years, please don’t let that stop you — it’s still possible to get off the beaten path and discover a hidden side of Venice if you only walk 10 minutes away from the crowds.

With just one day in Venice, you can see the main tourist attractions and explore the more relaxed and local side of the Floating City. In fact, that’s exactly what I did on my first and second visits to Venice, both of which were day trips from Florence!

So yes — a day trip to Venice is definitely doable. I’m excited to show you how to spend the perfect day in Venice, Italy!

This post was published in August 2024 and was co-written by Adventurous Kate and Dale Peterson.

A view from above of the Grand Canal in Venice, surrounded by houses with orange roofs.

When to Visit Venice

Keep in mind that when you go to Venice can greatly impact the experience you have there. Venice gets very hot and crowded during the summer, especially in the months of June, July, and August. If you’re traveling at this time, you might also need to pay a small day visitor fee (more on that below).

I think the best time to visit Italy is spring or fall, when the weather is milder and the crowds are lower. Winter is also a nice time to visit Venice, although it can get quite cold.

While winter is typically a very quiet time to visit Venice and feel like a local, it does get extremely crowded during the Carnival festival, which typically occurs in February. Keep in mind that fall and winter bring a risk of acqua alta, when water levels rise and the city floods. Locals are ready for this with their tall rain boots.

If it were up to me, I would visit Venice between late fall and early spring. I think Venice looks nice when the weather is a bit gloomy, and the lack of crowds is an added bonus.

A row of houses in Venice against a canal, light up bright pink at sunset.

How to Get to Venice

There are four main ways to arrive in Venice: by plane, train, by bus, and by car. If you’re coming by train, you’ll want to make sure you go to Venezia Santa Lucia, which is actually in Venice, and not Venezia Mestre, which is on the mainland.

Venice is home to Marco Polo Airport. From here you can take the Number 5 bus to Piazzale Roma, or book a private water taxi into the city (a pricey but dramatic way to make your entrance).

Many trains arriving in Venice from other Italian cities stop in Mestre first, so be sure to stay on the train an additional 15 minutes (or switch trains, if necessary), until you get to the last stop, Santa Lucia.

If you’re arriving by bus to Venice, you’ll likely find yourself in either Piazzale Roma or Tronchetto, the only two areas in Venice accessible to vehicles. Piazzale Roma is more central (it’s adjacent to the Santa Lucia station) while Tronchetto is a little further out of the way.

If you’re driving to Venice, your options for parking are also Piazzale Roma and Tronchetto. Piazzale Roma is the most expensive at around 30 EUR ($33 USD) for a daily parking rate, while in Tronchetto you can park for about 20 EUR ($22 USD) for the day.

Another option is parking near the Mestre station on the mainland, where it’s a lot cheaper, and then taking the train to Santa Lucia in Venice.

I recommend arriving in Venice as early as humanly possible so you can get a head start on visiting your first stop, which is one of the most popular tourist areas in the city.

A vaporetto boat bus taking people through the grand canal in Venice.

Getting Around in Venice

Regardless of where you arrive in Venice, you’ll want to take the vaporetto, or water bus. This is Venice’s unique form of public transportation, and it’s the easiest way to get around the city. A 24-hour pass will cost you 20 EUR ($22 USD) and a single ride is 7.50 EUR ($8 USD.) If you take the vaporetto three or more times, the 24-hour pass will pay for itself.

To start off your day in Venice, you’ll head straight to Piazza San Marco.

If you arrive at Santa Lucia or Piazzale Roma, hop on the Line 1 or Line 2 vaporetto and get off at Rialto, which is about a 15-minute ride. From there, it’s a five-minute walk to Piazza San Marco, your first stop of the day.

If you arrive at Tronchetto, take the Line 2 vaporetto to Rialto, which is about a 25-minute ride, and then walk over to Piazza San Marco.

This vaporetto ride is an excellent introduction to Venice because you’ll be sailing down the Grand Canal, the largest and longest canal in Venice. This backward-S-shaped canal has long been the most important thoroughfare in Venice, and the Grand Canal is lined with dazzling palazzos dating back to the glory days of the Venetian Republic.

How To Spend 1 Day in Venice: Itinerary

Rialto Bridge

Before you walk to Piazza San Marco, stroll across the Rialto Bridge (Ponte di Rialto). This is the most famous of the four bridges that cross the Grand Canal. It’s also the oldest bridge, having originally been constructed in the year 1173. Thanks to its striking architecture, it’s one of the most popular tourist attractions in Venice.

The Rialto Bridge has stairs on either side leading to a central portico. There are two rows of shops on the bridge, mainly selling souvenirs and jewelry. You can get a great view of the Grand Canal from either side of the Rialto Bridge.

There’s also a famous market near Rialto Bridge that happens every morning of the week except for Sunday and Monday. At the Rialto Market, you’ll find vendors selling fresh produce, seafood, fruits, and vegetables. This historic market has been happening since the 11th century!

The basilica of San Marco in Venice, with several domes with spires topping its roof.

Piazza San Marco

Piazza San Marco, also known as St. Mark’s Square in English, is the most famous square in Venice. I strongly recommend you start your day here, admiring the stunning architecture of the square, because this will become one of the most crowded spots in the city before long.

From Rialto Bridge, it’s just a five-minute walk to the square.

This square is where you’ll find Basilica San Marco (St. Mark’s Basilica) and St. Mark’s Campanile, its striking bell tower. You’ll also see the pink-hued Doge’s Palace, which was built in the 14th century and served as the residence of many doges, the sovereign leaders in the era of the Republic of Venice.

Caffè Florian, which opened in 1720 and is the oldest cafe in Venice, can also be found in St. Mark’s Square. But unless you want to pay close to 20 EUR ($22 USD) for a coffee, which is an ABOMINATION in a nation where coffee is usually just a euro, you’re better off just taking a peek inside the cafe’s opulent interior.

The interior of a church covered with gold and deeply colored frescoes.

Basilica San Marco

Visiting the Basilica San Marco, or St. Mark’s Basilica, is worth it to see one of the most beautiful churches in Italy. Elements of the church date back to the 11th century, and the basilica is said to contain the relics of St. Mark, the patron saint of Venice.

The cheapest way to visit St. Mark’s Basilica is to buy a ticket at the entrance. Tickets are 3 EUR ($3.25 USD) and can be purchased with cash or card. The basilica opens at 9:30 AM every day (except Sunday when it opens at 2 PM) so if you arrive early in the morning, you shouldn’t have to wait in a line too long.

If you’d prefer to book your tickets in advance, you can buy skip-the-line tickets online for 6 EUR ($6.50 USD) and choose your preferred time slot.

Another option is booking a guided tour of St. Mark’s Basilica, which includes skip-the-line access to the church.

Once inside, there are two additional “upsells” you can pay for: the Pala d’Oro, or high altar, which is an additional 5 EUR ($5.50, USD) and the Museo di San Marco and Loggia dei Cavalli, which is an additional 7 EUR ($7.50 USD.)

If you’re interested in seeing religious artifacts, you might want to check out the Pala d’Oro and the Museo di San Marco. The Loggia dei Cavalli, which is the balcony outside the church, offers a cool viewpoint of St. Mark’s Square, but you can actually get a better view from St. Mark’s Campanile, the bell tower.

If you want to visit the bell tower, you can book skip-the-line tickets in advance for 12 EUR ($13 USD) for your preferred time slot. There’s an elevator that goes to the top of the bell tower, and it offers some of the best views in Venice. Personally, I’m a big fan of this view of Venice, and if you’re into views, it’s definitely worth it!

A palace on the edge of the water in Venice, with a tall pointy tower and more than a dozen porticoes along the side.

Doge’s Palace

Your next stop in Piazza San Marco should be the Doge’s Palace. At this point, if you’ve been to St. Mark’s Basilica and also visited the church museum or climbed the bell tower, it should still be mid-morning.

The Doge’s Palace, known as Palazzo Ducale in Italian, is one of the most iconic landmarks in Venice. It’s a must-visit to learn more about Venetian history and the era of the doges.

I recommend buying tickets for the Doge’s Palace online in advance to avoid waiting in a long line. Tickets also sell out completely on busy days. The cost of an adult ticket is 25 EUR ($27 USD) and reduced tickets for youths 25 and under and seniors 65 and older are $15 EUR ($16 USD.)

Your ticket includes access to the Doge’s Palace as well as the Museo Correr, the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, and the Monumental Rooms of the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana. These other museums are also located in St. Mark’s Square, and if you want to spend more time exploring museums later in the day, you can come back and check them out.

You can visit the Doge’s Palace on your own in a couple of hours, or take a guided tour to learn more about Venice’s history and cover the highlights of the palace.

Don’t miss crossing the Bridge of Sighs to visit the palace’s prison cells. This famous covered bridge got its name because of its small windows that allowed prisoners one last glimpse of the outside world (and a sigh) before they were locked away.

An ornate white covered bridge hanging over a canal.

Bridge of Sighs

After you finish up inside the Doge’s Palace, don’t forget to head around the corner of the palace to see the Bridge of Sighs from the outside. You can get an excellent view of it from the Ponte della Paglia, another bridge.

The Bridge of Sighs is the perfect spot to take a photo, and it’s one of the most photographed locations in Venice. After walking across the bridge from inside the palace to the prison cells, you’ll gain a new appreciation as you view the bridge from the outside.

A man piloting a small gondola boat through the canals of Venice.

Gondola Ride

It’s time for one more activity before taking a lunch break, and trust me, this is something you won’t want to miss: a gondola ride! There’s hardly anything more iconic than sailing down the canals of Venice in an ornately decorated gondola.

Private gondola rides don’t come cheap, though. They have a fixed rate of 90 EUR ($98 USD) for a 30-minute ride during the day and 110 EUR ($119 USD) for a 30-minute ride at night. That’s the total price for a gondola ride for up to five people.

There are several gondola stations around Venice, but you can find one near Piazza San Marco, close to the San Marco vaporetto station.

If you want to pre-book your gondola ride in advance, that’s also an option. This Venice tour includes a guided walking tour of the city’s most popular spots and a shared gondola ride through the canals of Venice.

Looking for a cheaper option? Honestly, you just take a scenic vaporetto ride for a fraction of the cost of a gondola ride. Line 1 and Line 2 are two of the best routes because they take you down the stunning Grand Canal. This morning, you took the vaporetto down the Grand Canal to Rialto, which only covered about half of it.

Right now, you can hop on the vaporetto at the San Marco stop and take it to Rialto again, this time covering the other half of the Grand Canal that you haven’t seen yet.

An even more unique option is taking a ride on the traghetto. This is a basic gondola that just takes passengers across the Grand Canal (a journey that takes about two minutes) but it only costs 2 EUR ($2 USD.)

The Santa Maria del Giglio gondola station is a good place to catch the traghetto. There’s no set schedule, but the boats cross the Grand Canal all morning and afternoon.

Two aperol spritzes next to a plate of small fried appetizers.

Lunch around San Polo or Dorsoduro

By the time you’ve finished up your gondola ride, you’re probably ready to stop somewhere for lunch. Being a coastal city, Venice is best known for its seafood — it’s not as well-known for pasta, and definitely not pizza! (Honest advice? Eat pizza anywhere but Venice.)

You can find a lot of great trattorias in the neighborhoods of San Polo and Dorsoduro. These areas are not too far off the beaten path, and yet they’re less touristy than San Marco and more affordably priced.

Osteria Fanal del Codega is a great canal-side restaurant serving fresh local seafood at reasonable prices.

Keep in mind that most restaurants in Venice are only open for lunch from around 12:00-2:30 PM, so your options for a sit-down meal might be limited outside these hours.

A gondola filled with books in the middle of a bookstore absolutely stuffed with books from every angle.

Libreria Acqua Alta

After lunch, head to Libreria Acqua Alta, one of the most unique bookstores in the world. This must-visit bookstore is named for the weather phenomenon Acqua Alta (“High Water”) that causes temporary flooding in Venice during the fall and winter months.

Located in the Castello neighborhood of Venice, Acqua Alta is packed from floor to ceiling with books. There’s even a gondola in the center of the bookstore filled with books.

Outside, you’ll find a waterlogged tower of books that has become a popular photo op. The bookstore is located right on a canal, and sometimes the water levels mean that it starts to flood a little bit, so watch your step!

A pointy red metal sculpture next to a museum entrance.

Option 1: Another Museum

It’s now probably late afternoon on your day in Venice, and you have a couple of options for how to spend your time. If you’re up for another museum, now is a great time to visit one.

If you purchased tickets to the Doge’s Palace, you also have access to several museums located in St. Mark’s Square: the Museo Correr, the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, and the Monumental Rooms of the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana.

The museums are open every day from 10:00 AM until 6:00 PM, and they stay open until 11:00 PM on Fridays and Saturdays.

All of these museums are connected, and they’re worth a visit if you want to make your way back to St. Mark’s Square. These museums are great for history and art lovers, especially if you want to learn more about Venice’s past.

You could also head to the Peggy Guggenheim Museum, an incredible art museum located on the Grand Canal. Located in an 18th-century palazzo, this museum houses the impressive collection of the eccentric American heiress Peggy Guggenheim, who lived in Venice for more than thirty years. A must for an art lover.

Tickets are limited, so you should purchase them online in advance. The cost is 16 EUR ($17 USD) with reductions available for students and seniors. The museum is open every day except Tuesday from 10:00 AM until 6:00 PM.

A quiet piazza in Venice with a mural of a worker holding up a fist in solidarity.

Option 2: Walking Tour

If you’re not up for another museum, you could also spend the late afternoon on a walking tour discovering another side of Venice. Although most tourists stick to a few specific areas, there are so many different parts of Venice to explore.

This off-the-beaten path walking tour includes many of the sights most Venice visitors miss, and is led by an expert guide.

Another option is this free walking tour that visits hidden gems in the lesser-known neighborhood of Cannaregio in Venice. (Be sure to tip your guide on the free walking tour! That’s the only way they make money!)

A quiet street in Venice with a line of laundry hanging between apartments.

Get Lost and Wander

One of my favorite things to do in Venice is to get lost wandering the narrow streets and myriad canals of the city. Spend some time on your day in Venice, even if it’s just half an hour or so, exploring the city without consulting Google Maps first.

Even on a busy day in Venice, you can escape the crowds with a few random turns on the maze-like streets of the city. Since Venice is so difficult to navigate, you’ll often see signs that say “Per San Marco” or “Per Rialto” with an arrow pointing down an alleyway, pointing you in the direction of popular tourist destinations.

Rather than following these signs, head down an alley in the opposite direction instead and see where you end up — it’s a fun way to discover hidden gems you would have never stumbled upon otherwise.

The Dorsoduro district, home to Venice’s university, is a great area to wander around and explore. So is the neighborhood of Cannaregio. Which brings us to our next item…

A platter covered with little pieces of bread topped with various toppings, like salami, mortadella, brie-like cheese, tomato and mozzarella, and more.

Cannaregio Evening

Rather than booking a dinner reservation, I think you’ll enjoy heading to the Cannaregio neighborhood and strolling at sunset, grabbing eats along the way. Cannaregio is a great area in northern Venice that has fewer tourists and a more local feel.

It’s also where you’ll find a lot of affordable restaurants, cafes, and bars, rather than the overpriced ones in the more touristy areas in the city.

A popular pre-dinner evening activity for Venetians is enjoying cicchetti (chih-KET-tee) and wine with friends at a bacaro, or wine bar. Cicchetti are small plates similar to Spanish tapas.

My favorite spot in Cannaregio is Vino Vero, which serves a collection of cool wines and some of the best cicchetti in the city. 4-6 pieces is enough for a meal, and I always make sure to grab a piece topped with mortadella and pistachio! Just take your plate outside and eat on the edge of the canal.

Most cicchetti are priced at under 5 EUR ($5.50 USD), so this is a cheap way to experience the local cuisine of Venice and soak up the ambiance as you walk from bacaro to bacaro along the canals of Cannaregio.

Brightly lit cafe alongside a canal in Venice.

Departing Venice

When it’s time to leave Venice, allow yourself more time than you think you’ll need. If you finish off your evening in Cannaregio, it’s a 10-minute walk to Santa Lucia station, a 15-minute walk to the Piazzale Roma bus terminal, and about a 30-minute journey via walking and vaporetto to the Tronchetto bus terminal.

However, don’t leave it to the last minute! You should arrive at least 15 minutes early for your train or bus if that’s how you’ll be leaving Venice. Also, give yourself time in case you walk in the wrong direction for a few minutes.

And be sure to keep an eye on the departure screens and an ear out for announcements at the train station. I once missed a train at Mestre station because a platform was changed at the last minute, and it was only announced with no notifications on the screens.

The almost neon, brightly colored buildings surrounding a canal on Burano Island in Venice.

Venice Day Visitor Fee

Beginning in 2024, the city of Venice is charging a small fee for day visitors. Known as the Venice Access Fee, it’s designed to help alleviate the effects of overtourism on Venice.

The fee is only applicable on specific dates (weekends in April, May, June, and July) and it only applies to day trip visitors, not overnight visitors staying in Venice. The fee is €5 ($5.50 USD) and you can pay it online.

You’ll receive a QR code which you may be required to show at access points like Santa Lucia station or Piazzale Roma in order to access the historic center of Venice. If you don’t pay the fee, you risk facing up to a €300 ($330 USD) fine, so it’s wise to book it online ahead of time.

Venice's Grand Canal, lined with colorful buildings, and in the background, a church with a large dome.

Have a great time in Venice!

I hope that your one day in Venice serves as a teaser for what this magical city has to offer — and inspires you to return for a much longer visit. Because while Venice is nice for a day, that’s nothing compared to what several days can offer.

I hope this itinerary helps you enjoy your time in Venice to the fullest!

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