Venice is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. A historical treasure of immense cultural and artistic value, which you absolutely cannot miss the opportunity to spend at least an afternoon in, whether you’re on an airport layover, in the city for work, or on vacation in Northern Italy.
Here is an itinerary for just such a situation, for one day spent in Venice from morning to evening. You can’t see everything, obviously. It’s necessary to limit your travels to the most famous sights, just a taste of the beauty of this city, but it’s certainly better than nothing.
One day isn’t much, but if it’s planned right, it can give you great satisfaction — and the desire to come back as soon as possible for a longer stay!
When your train arrives at Venezia Santa Lucia, walk out of the station and… BOOM! Gondolas and boats floating through the canals, Venice looks just like you always imagined it, like a postcard.
If instead you arrived by airplane, take the bus to Piazzale Roma. Cross the Ponte della Costituzione (also called the Calatrava) and keep going for 400 meters until you reach the railway station.
From there, your tour begins on board the “vaporetto”, Venice’s version of the city bus, which crosses through the whole historic center of the city and will take you all the way to Piazza San Marco. Take the Linea 1, towards San Zaccaria.
Get on at the head of the line, look for a seat by the window (or better yet, outside on the deck) and enjoy the view.
Traveling down the Grand Canal allows you your first real sight of Venice. This waterway, about four kilometers long, is enchanting. You can admire the characteristic bridges (the Rialto, among them), the little side canals, the gondolas, and the many ancient palaces (Ca’ d’Oro, Ca’ Pesaro, Ca’ Loredan, Ca’ Vendramin Calergi, Palazzo Labia, Palazzo Franchetti, Palazzo Grimiani di San Luca, Palazzo Grimani, Fontego dei Turchi…) that line the canal for its entire length.
Watching the merchants, the postal carriers, the bricklayers, the police, the ambulance and the ordinary people all traveling by boat and stopping at the docks… it’s a strange sight, and seems almost unreal.
When you arrive at the imbarcadero (the vaporetto stop) “San Zaccaria”, in front of the Hotel Danieli, now is the time to get off the boat and continue on foot towards Piazza San Marco.
A few steps from the vaporetto stop is the Ponte della Paglia, which isn’t anything particularly special as a bridge, but happens to be in an extremely strategic location for tourists… on one side is the Palazzo Ducale and the Palazzo delle Prigioni, on the other is the dock of San Marco with the islands of San Giorgio and Giudecca.
The Ponte della Paglia is always very crowded because it offers the best view to take the best photos of the famous “Bridge of Sighs”, the cruise ships coming and going from the harbor, the gondolas which pass underneath the bridge and the most beautiful Venetian evenings with the sun setting behind the Basilica of Santa Maria della Salute.
It’s also, unfortunately, a favorite location of pickpockets, so pay attention to your surroundings and keep an eye on anyone who bumps into you or comes closer than necessary. (The ideal solution is to walk through this part of town early in the morning, before the tourist crowds come in, but be patient. It will still be there next time.)
When you arrive in Piazza San Marco, if you have the time, you can go up to the top of the Campanile, the bell tower, from which you can enjoy a spectacular view of the city. You can visit the Palazzo Ducale, the Basilica of St Mark or just wander around the area and enjoy a few hours of relaxation before continuing on to the oldest part of the city, Rialto.
The Rialto Bridge, one of the symbols of Venice, is an attraction that you can’t miss. Inside it has a lot of shops, and the view of the Grand Canal is stupendous. This is another place you can dedicate a few hours to the neighborhood and soak up the Venetian atmosphere before moving on.
The last part of the itinerary takes a bit under an hour of an extremely enjoyable walk, which will take you from the Rialto back to the railway station. Along the way you will find curious little corners, splendid palaces, shops of all kinds, little taverns, fruit and vegetable stands, shops selling masks and Venetian glass…
This is the zone of Cannaregio, less touristy than the others and therefore less crowded, where you can taste, hear and discover a peaceful and authentic Venice very different from what you find on Piazza San Marco or the other major tourist destinations. It’s also a neighborhood where prices will be lower than in the rest of the city!
The most beautiful thing to do in Venice is distance yourself from the crowds, San Marco and Rialto, and discover hidden treasures. The saying “get lost in Venice” is absolutely true, you need to lose yourself wandering and enjoy all the beauty you find along the way.
By the way, the neighborhoods of Venice are called “sestieri” because they divide the city into six zones: Cannaregio, Castello, Dorsoduro, San Polo, Santa Croce and San Marco.
At the end of your walk, you will arrive at the Ponte degli Scalzi. Together with the Rialto, Accademia and Calatrava, it’s one of the four great bridges that connect the courses of the Grand Canal. The bridge, and this area near the railway station, is very busy. But for those who are leaving the city, it is always a melancholy point of arrival, since from the top of the bridge there is one last, beautiful panoramic view of the Grand Canal at dusk.
Until next time!
P.S. So as not to waste the time you have available, pack some sandwiches for lunch. Remember that you can’t eat in the open in Piazza San Marco, seated on the ground or the steps. You can in the nearby Giardinetti Reali.
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