Venice Travel Tips: Doing It Right in the Floating City

Venice is not like other cities - plan accordingly

There are no cars. Your hotel luggage gets walked or boated to your room. 'Walking distance' means bridges and stairs. And the map you're used to reading doesn't apply - Venice is a maze, and that's the point. The travelers who hate Venice are usually the ones who tried to do it like any other city.

Getting there right

Fly into Marco Polo (VCE) - the Alilaguna water bus or a private water taxi takes you into the city. Trains arrive at Venezia Santa Lucia, the dreamlike station right on the Grand Canal. Don't stay in Mestre (the mainland) and commute; the whole magic is being in the city after the day-trippers leave.

The crowds strategy

St. Mark's Square at 10am in July is a human ocean. At 7am it's the most beautiful square in Europe. The strategy: see the icons at dawn, explore the back neighborhoods (Cannaregio, Dorsoduro, Castello) during the day, and let the evening belong to the hidden osterie. A private early-morning guide transforms Venice completely.

• ✦Dawn: St. Mark's, Rialto, the Bridge of Sighs
• ✦Midday: Cannaregio, the Ghetto, the back canals
• ✦Evening: Dorsoduro sunset, cicchetti bars
• ✦The islands: Murano, Burano, Torcello by boat

The practical essentials

Buy a vaporetto pass only if you'll use it a lot - Venice is walkable, and the water bus is more for transport than sightseeing. Book St. Mark's Basilica and the Doge's Palace in advance. Watch your step on the bridges (they get slippery). And don't worry about 'getting lost' - in Venice, every wrong turn is a photo.

Our planners handle the logistics - transfers, island boats, early-access tickets, the table in the hidden courtyard - so your Venice is the one in the paintings, not the one in the cruise-ship photos.