10 things to do in Venice (see locations on a map)
- Piazza San Marco
- Basilica San Marco
- Doge's Palace
- Acqua Alta
- Gondolas
- Grand Canal
- Peggy Guggenheim Collection
- Ponte dei Sospiri
- Scuola Grande di San Rocco
- Murano
Venice Suggested Restaurants
- Vini da Gigio
- Ai Gondolieri
- Ristorante Cantina Canaletto
- Il Sole sulla Vecia Cavana
- Ristorante Al Vagon
- Le Bistrot de Venise
- Centrale Restaurant Lounge
- Harry's Bar
- Cantina Canaletto
- Locanda Cipriani
"If you read a lot, nothing is as great as you've imagined. Venice is -- Venice is better." - Fran Lebowitz
More on Venice
Venice is world-famous for its canals. It is built on an archipelago of 118 islands
formed by about 150 canals in a shallow lagoon. The islands on which the city is built
are connected by about 400 bridges. In the old center, the canals serve the function of
roads, and every form of transport is on water or on foot. In the 19th century a causeway
to the mainland brought a railway station to Venice, and an automobile causeway and parking
lot was added in the 20th century. Beyond these land entrances at the northern edge of the
city, transportation within the city remains, as it was in centuries past, entirely on water
or on foot. Venice is Europe's largest urban car free area, unique in Europe in remaining a
sizable functioning city in the 21st century entirely without motorcars or trucks.
Venice festivals
The Venice Art Biennale is one of the most important events in the arts calendar.
The festival is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two
years (every odd year). In 1893 headed by the mayor of Venice, Riccardo Selvatico, the
Venetian City Council
passed a resolution on 19 April to set up an Esposizione biennale artistica nazionale
(biennial exhibition of Italian art), to be inaugurated on 22 April 1894. Following the
outbreak of hostilities during the Second World War, the activities of the Biennale were
interrupted in September 1942, but resumed in 1948.
