Venice

Why Venice works

Venice has no cars, no roads in the conventional sense — only canals, bridges and narrow calli that force every visitor to slow to walking pace. St Mark's Square, framed by the gilded Byzantine domes of St Mark's Basilica and the pink-and-white Doge's Palace, was called by Napoleon 'the drawing room of Europe,' and remains the city's grandest public space, flooded regularly by acqua alta tides that locals navigate on raised walkways. The Rialto Bridge, the oldest of four spanning the Grand Canal, has hosted market stalls since the 16th century, and the fish and produce market beside it still opens at dawn. A vaporetto (water bus) ride down the Grand Canal passes over 170 Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque palazzi, their facades reflected in water that has shaped Venetian architecture for a millennium. Beyond the tourist core, the Dorsoduro and Cannaregio districts offer quieter canals, bacari (wine bars) serving cicchetti (small plates), and the Jewish Ghetto, the first in Europe, dating to 1516. Murano and Burano, easy vaporetto trips across the lagoon, are known respectively for centuries-old glassblowing traditions and rainbow-painted fishermen's houses. A gondola ride at dusk, though touristic, remains the definitive way to see the city from water level, the way it was built to be seen.

Trip Snapshot

Suitable For