Venice Itinerary for First Time Visitors

Venice can be a magical city unlike most others you will travel to in Italy or even Europe. If you haven’t heard, it’s slowly sinking, which is evident when a heavy downpour occurs and flood ensues. While experts say it will sink by 2100, we should have several generations around to enjoy its wonder. While certainly one can say that there are other “man-made” islands (¼ of Manhattan is man-made) it’s hard to imagine the genius plan being hatched to build man-made islands back in the 7th century. 

I’ve been lucky enough to have traveled to Venice three times and I still enjoy a child-like wonder when I first arrive. This past summer, the Party of 10 came to Venice, the first trip for the 6 kids in the group. As we exited the train station, it was lovely to watch these first time visitors’ eyes light up in wonder as they saw their first canal. 

Venice is one of those cities that can easily be done in two days but you often wish you had more time to just sit and enjoy the city. It’s too often that it’s the first or last part of your trip to the area and jam packed with seeing all “the things”. I’m determined that my next trip won’t be with any newbies and I can just enjoy the parts I haven’t seen and enjoy some wine watching the gondolas go by. 

But maybe this is your first time and you need to see it all. I can promise you, you will want to come back. They tell you to pack light to Europe, and we always do. But this is one of those cities where traipsing around with a lot of luggage isn’t the best idea. Water Taxis or ferries are pretty much the only form of transportation here. The first is expensive and the second can be quite crowded. With that in mind, we chose to stay a little closer to the train station. It was a lovely hotel called Hotel Olympia with its own private garden, quite unique in this land-locked island.  A short walk from the train station and an easy walk to most of the rest of the island. It was also a relatively quiet location without all of the hustle and bustle of the main areas closer to St. Mark’s square. Of course, the other times we have stayed closer to the Rialto Bridge and it’s also a great location but perhaps more expensive and more crowded. If you are staying with larger families (think 5 in a family group), it may be harder to find a space to fit you all. Hotels in Europe are traditionally smaller. You aren’t there to do much more than sleep after all. 

Day One

If you can start your day in the morning (assuming you aren’t traveling in), then start Day One at St. Mark’s square and the Doge’s Palace. Now depending on where you are staying, this may require navigating the waterbus system. You can read more about that after the two-day itinerary. Pre-book your tickets and entry time for opening at 9:00am. You will skip a very large line and be escorted right in. I would plan on 1.5 – 2 hours here. While it’s not as large as other museums or palaces, it still has a lot to see.  Built in the 14th and 15th Century, and rebuilt several more times due to fire, the Palace was where the Doge lived, the seat of government and was also a jail. You can actually visit where the prisoners were kept down in the dungeon. It’s also where you can see the famous Bridge of Sighs aptly named because it was the last view of Venice for the prisoners. From the entry into the Golden Staircase, the armory, the Doge’s apartments and the Great Council Chamber, the palace is quite impressive. 

After you are finished with the Doge’s Palace, walk over to the St. Mark’s Basilica and get in the line for pre-booked tickets. I recommend pre-booking for around 11 or 11:30 depending on how long you think you will take in the palace. You will see a long line for the Basilica but that is for those who don’t have a ticket yet. Go to the entrance and you will find a much shorter line. Note that they are very strict on ensuring that all shoulders and knees are covered up so prepare in advance. You can easily do the Basilica in 30 minutes. There is an extra cost to go to the top of about €5 and with our large Party of 10, we didn’t pay for that. If you want to see a great view of Venice, we would recommend you instead pay to go to the top of the Bell Tower. it’s a bit more at €10 but in our opinion, worth that extra cost. 

At this point, it’s good to take a break and find a place to eat. Wander down a few streets outside of St. Mark’s Square and you will surely find a nice place to eat. We had the very best pizza in Venice and they are also known for their tapas called Cicchetti. And I highly recommend having Gelato in Venice – some of the best – we even had it for dinner one night! You only live once:)

Once you are ready to get going again, find your way to Rialto Bridge. Half the fun of Venice is wandering the streets, over bridges and finding unique areas that can’t be found on a map. We walked into a mask store that was amazing, took a sneak peak into small churches and enjoyed finding new squares to enjoy a drink. Rialto bridge is the oldest bridge on the canal and houses several shops. Alongside the bridge are restaurants as well as gondola docks. There are so many places to get gondolas and they are regulated on their pricing so it should be the same no matter where in the city you go. I highly recommend you take a gondola at dusk as the sun is setting. We’ve done both daytime and now dusk and it’s magical at dusk. The price is higher at night but in my opinion worth the extra cost. Daytime rates are fixed at 80€ for 25-30 minutes (this is a private charter for up to 5 people). At night, the rate is 120 euros. Most places ask for cash instead of credit card so we had to quickly find a bank around the corner since it was the end of our trip and we didn’t have that much euros left.

Day Two

Spend the day exploring other islands near Venice, specifically Murano and Burano. You can do a combo tour through GetyourGuide or Viator or simply take the ferry boat over yourself. I recommend starting on Murano and if you are doing it on your own, be prepared to wait a bit (unless you time it really well) for a glass factory tour. You could easily do Murano and Burano in a little more than half a day allowing for more time in Venice. The difference between Murano and Burano is that Murano is all about glass and Burano is all about lace. I wish we had made time for Burano because all of the pictures online show colorful houses on the canal. Both islands are far less crowded and more laid back. It’s a great chill day without a bunch planned in advance. 

When you are back on Venice, you have you decide how best to spend your day. If Venice is the end of your trip, you may very well be “museumed-out”. But if not, there are some great museums with old and modern art in cool architectural wonders of Venice. Consider booking tickets for the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in an 18th century palace where Peggy herself lived. Another popular museum to go to is Galleria dell’Accademia which houses art from the 13th to 18th centuries.

Alternate options to going to a museum include a historical walking tour, 3-4 hour food tour of Venice, often with wine, and of course, as mentioned before, just wander around and you will find something interesting.

Transportation in Venice is limited to walking and boats. While we preferred walking, sometimes it was easier to take a boat. If you are walking and using an app like Citymapper or google, it can still be a bit tricky with the walking paths intersecting and the bridges – I feel like we walked over hundreds of bridges in our two short days. There are often signs for the major attractions so you can just follow them or use an old fashioned paper map. 

If you are arriving in Venice by Train, you will be able to either walk or take a boat to your hotel (or near your hotel). If you are arriving by plane, then you may have to take more than one form of transportation. The cheapest route is by bus and then walk/boat. But this of course takes valuable time and the transfer of transportation is a pain with luggage. While it may be a splurge depending on your budget, we highly recommend securing a private boat ride directly (or close by) your hotel from the airport. If you happen to stay at Hotel Olympia, it’s actually accessible by car – another bonus! We recommend hiring a private water taxi back to the airport as well. You can usually arrange this with your hotel directly but do it early? It was already full (through the hotel) when we tried to do it so we had to find our own private taxi. This is especially important if you have an early flight. 

Getting around the island by Waterbus also known as Vaporetto? It’s not as cheap as you might think it should be. Each ride is €9/person and is good for 75 minutes. Important to note that you must validate your ticket before you get on the boat. We ended up purchasing a day pass for €25 because we knew we were going to use it to get to Murano and around Venice. You should do the math on how much you will actually use it. Again walking is the best method simply because of the cost. If you have limited time and budget, it actually could be a good way to see Venice by boat. You could start at one end of the canal and enjoy your ride to the other end of the Grand Canal. You should start at No 1 leaving from Piazzale Roma. The main confusion about the waterbus is which bus to take. Citymapper will help or simply ask your hotel and they will direct you. Similar to any metro, you will want to make sure you are getting on the right line number and in the right direction. Then review the map line on the boat to see where your stop is located. 

With a few exceptions to booking tickets for a few attractions ahead of time, Venice is best explored without a full plan – not something I would normally say about most European cities. The magic of Venice is within its meandering streets – both paved and water. Going to Rome next? Check out our itinerary for first time visitors to Rome.