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Venice
City Guide
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Venice City Guide
Venice stretches across numerous small islands in the marshy Venetian Lagoon along the Adriatic Sea in northeast Italy. The Venetian Republic was a major sea power and a staging area for the Crusades, as well as a very important centre of commerce (especially the spice trade) and art in the Renaissance.
Official name: Venezia.
Language: Italian.
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Currency: Euro.
Venice Sights and Museums.
St Markos Square: Napoleon described St Markos Square as the "drawing room of Europe". It has a bustling etmosphere and as one of the lowest parts of thecity it has been known to flood when the tide is high.
St Markos Basilica: Next to St Markos Square is St Markos Basilica which is one of the most impressive churches in the world. You can take the lift up the bell tower to see great views of the city.
Torcello (Venice's birthplace): Hard to believe that this almost uninhabited green island is where Venice was born, as mainlanders fled to the lagoon in the early Middle Ages. Climb the bell tower for views of the island and lagoon. Tel: 041 270 24 64 (info).
Ponte di Rialto: The Rialto has always been the commercial heart of Venice, so it's hardly surprising that the first bridge over the Grand Canal was built here. Today the area is still famous for its bustling fruit and veg market, but because of its central position, the bridge itself is neck-deep in stalls selling tourist souvenirs. Cross the bridge to head into San Polo, and you'll come to one of Venice's most sublime religious treasure troves, Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari.
Cé d'Oro: This magnificent 15th-century Gothic structure got its name (Golden House) from the gilding that once decorated the facade. The building now houses the Galleria Franchetti, an impressive collection of bronzes, tapestries and paintings from the 15th and 16th centuries. A big incentive for visiting is the panorama from the balconies over the Grand Canal.
Venice Entertainment
Feb: Venice's Carnevale takes place where people dress up in masks and costumes for dancing and celebrations.
May: The Festa della Sensa (Feast of the Ascension) is held to re-enact the Marriage to the Sea, where Pietro Orseolo sailed out into the ocean and threw a gold ring into the sea.
July: The Festa del Redentore is celebrated with a regatta and fireworks and commemorates the end of the plague of 1576.
Late Aug- Early Sept: Venice hosts an international film festival in the Palazzo del Cinema, Lido.
Nov: The Fest della Salute celebrates the end of the plague of 1630 and involves a procession that crosses the Grand Canal via a pontoon bridge.
Venice Transports
How to get to Venice by coach: At the lower end of the luxury spectrum you can arrive in Venice by bus, deposited at Piazzale Roma. It's marginally cheaper than train, but much less comfortable. The bus station is on the southern side of the Grand Canal.
How to get to Venice by rail: Direct trains call a halt at Venice's Stazione di Santa Lucia (known in Venice simply as the ferrovia) from Padua, Verona, Milan, Bologna, Switzerland and France. The Stazione di Santa Lucia is in the northwest of town, at the end of the Ponte della Libertá.
How to get to Venice by air: Most visitors flying into Venice land at Marco Polo Airport, 12km (7.5mi) from Venice, just east of Mestre. A few charter flights land at Treviso's tiny San Giuseppe Airport, about 35km (21.5mi) north of Venice. Marco Polo Airport is connected to Venice by inexpensive bus (25 minutes), hydrofoil (a very scenic 60 minutes), somewhat expensive taxi (15 minutes) or super-expensive water taxi. From San Giuseppe Airport there's a one-hour connecting Eurobus service direct to the Piazzale Roma in Venice. You can also take the local bus 6 to the Treviso train station but from there to Venice your options are limited to a (pricely) taxi to Piazzale Roma or your own car. Marco Polo Airport is linked to Piazzale Roma in Venice by ATVO buses, a 20-minute trip that passes by Mestre train station. You can also catch ATVO city bus Nº 5. By boat, the Alilaguna hydrofoil runs from the airport to Venice or the Lido and Murano, or there are (more expensive) water taxis that can drop you at Piazzetta di San Marco. Land taxis are just as efficient and less costly.
How to get to Venice by road: Driving into Italy, the main points of entry are the Mont Blanc tunnel from France at Chamonix (reopened in March 2002 following the March 1999 fire), the Grand St Bernard tunnel from Switzerland and the Brenner Pass from Austria. Once in Italy, the A4 is the quickest way to reach Venice from east or west, connecting Turin with Trieste, and passing through Milan and Mestre. Once over the Ponte della Libertá from Mestre, cars must be left at one of the huge, hideously expensive car parks in Piazzale Roma or on the island of Tronchetto.
Walking in Venice can be a rewarding pursuit. Be prepared to get lost in the timeless backstreets, dead-end alleys, canalside fondamente and deserted squares that make up the real Venice. Vaporetto (water bus) is the quintessential method of getting around Venice; you won't find too many public transport routes as unforgettable as vaporetto Nº 1's trip along the Grand Canal. Get yourself a travel pass to do the vaporetto thing - single tickets don't come cheap. The classic gondola ride with the opera-warbling operator is pretty touristy and expensive but the traghetto is a commuter gondola that crosses the Grand Canal at strategic points. It's quite a balance test for newbies as you have to stand.
Water taxis(motorboats) are almost as expensive as gondolas, but their pilots don't wear stripy shirts and sing 'O Sole Mio'. Regular buses (yes, they do exist) run from Piazzale Roma to Mestre and other mainland destinations, but it's probably the least exciting way to get around the city. Obviously, don't bring the rental car to Venice - you'll just be paying to leave it in a carpark for the duration. Taxis - the regular four-wheeled variety - do operate from Piazzale Roma. Cycling is officially banned in the lagoon city - you'll see the sense of it as you traverse its narrow, choked walkways.
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