Is Venice for Day-Trippers? About 19 million Day-Trippers each year visit Venice Italy for only one day. Can you imagine an additional 52,000 people in your home town each and every day? With a current resident population of only 47,000, Venice more than doubles the number of people on their walkways and in their shops every day of the year.
Day-Trippers
Most of the 52,000 Day-Trippers arrive because of big cruise boats. At most, these cruise-boat day trippers will only spend 4 or 5 hours in Venice. Four hours is only enough time to travel from the cruise ship, now docking in the mainland port of Marghera, by small boat to the Rialto Bridge. Here, the Day-Trippers will probably dis-embark for a sightseeing walk to the Piazza San Marco. That’s it. Well, maybe they will get a gondola ride too with 5 of their best friends. It is not nearly enough time to see what else Venice is hiding.
Missing the Bella Vita
If you can find a way to stay longer in this fairy-tale city, you’ll discover the pleasures of la bella vita (the beautiful life) that day trippers never get to know. They won’t experience all the wonderful little shops in the tiny alleyways,
the experience of traveling on a Traghetto (a small standup gondola), a cena in un ristorante locale or a swim in the Adriatic Sea at the beaches on Lido Island.
Piazza San Marco
At a minimum the Day-Trippers will be able to visit the Basilica di San Marco, the adjacent Palazzo Ducale, and the Bridge of Sighs. They are definitely worth visiting in the Piazza San Marco for the 4 hours. There is so much more. For example, visitors now will be able to enter the Procuratie Vecchie
in Piazza San Marco for the first time in nearly 500 years. It houses an interactive museum on the third floor. The building stretches the entire length of the north side of the Piazza San Marco. It is arguably one of the most famous and most photographed buildings in Venice. Nearby is the Teatro La Fenice (the Opera House). What a gorgeous building inside and out. There is no time for this if you are a Day-Tripper trying to visit Venice Italy in one day.
Background
This remarkable and unique city was built on a grouping of more than 119 islands connected to one another by various very narrow walkways, bridges and overpasses.
More than 200 original canals are linked together to form a dense urban network on either side of the curving Grand Canal, running from the railway station, Stazione di Venezia Santa Lucia, to the San Marco Piazza in the Sestiere (District or Neighborhood) San Marco. These canals are lined with tiny workshops and tempting cafes, fabulous palazzos and vast town squares called Campo’s, which literally means “fields” or “parks”. The city offers colorful markets, seemingly at every corner.
The City’s architecture is incredibly diverse with original Baroque classics, Basilica San Marco, the Rialto Bridge, the Doge’s Palace, the Bridge of Sighs. Venice also has 139 churches, 88 of these buildings remain operating churches that hold at least one weekly mass. The other 51 former churches have been converted into museums, schools, shops, or storage facilities.
Art Lovers
Art lovers should make sure not to miss the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, home to Tintoretto’s finest works; or, for more modern tastes, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, showcasing masterpieces of 20th-century art, current and avant-garde movements.
3 Day-Trippers
Please try at a least 3 day stay in Venice. Get some friends interested and rent an apartment. Take a look at “Views on Venice” or VRBO for apartments to rent. You can rent a nice 3 bedroom, centrally located, apartment for a 300 hundred euros a night. Use the efficient vaporetto (water bus) system
to get anywhere you need to go. They also have 3 day passes that are very economical. Concentrate on discovering four Sestiere in Venice; San Marco, Cannaregio, San Polo and Dorsoduro. If you can squeeze in a fourth day spend it on Lido Island. Many visitors feel a visit to the islands of Murano or Burano is a “must” but, there really isn’t much to see other than one little shop after another selling Murano glass on one and Burano lace on the other. It is not worth the effort. Many of the trinkets you find are not original to the islands.
Sestiere San Marco
The neighborhood of San Marco is named after the patron saint of the city. It is the smallest Sestiere but is has the most visitors. It’s always crowded. San Marco houses most of the city’s landmarks, noted above, but, nevertheless, it is still one of the most charming districts.
Sestiere Cannaregio
The neighborhood of Cannaregio is adjacent to the Sestiere San Marco, to the west and north. It is the most populated district in which once lived notables such as Marco Polo, and artists Titian and Tintoretto. A landmark which you shouldn’t miss visiting in Cannaregio is the Ca d’Oro, one of the most stunning palaces in Venice, currently open to the public. If you are readers of author, Daniel Silva’s books you will recognize Cannaregio as the Venice home of spy master, Gabriel Allon.
Famous Authors
On this visit to Venice we spent considerable time investigating many of Gabiel Allon’s haunts including the Chiesa di San Giovanni Crisostomo
where he described refurbishing Giovanni Bellini’s last painting. Yup, it was there.
Speaking of authors, many other recognizable authors have penned books based in Venice. They include Steve Berry, James Patterson, Nora Roberts, William Shakespeare and Ernest Hemingway.
Sestiere San Polo
San Polo was founded on the west side of the Rialto ( originally Rivo Alto, which means “High Banks”) Bridge.
Some of the locals believe that this is where Venice got its start. Even though it is the smallest of the six districts, it has the city’s central market for fresh seafood and produce, which has been in operation since 1097. That’s right, nearly 2,000 years. Even Johnny Depp did not put it out of business in his 2010 film “The Tourist“.
Just over the Rialto Bridge, in San Polo, is the oldest church in Venice, San Giacomo Rialto, with its 800 year old tower clock.
Sestiere Dorsoduro
Dorsoduro is on the other side of the Grand Canal from Sestiere San Marco. This neighborhood has always been our favorite. Dorsoduro also includes Giudecca island. This Sestiere is home to the University of Venice and has become a cool, artsy, lively and trendy area.
Two of the most important art galleries are here as well, the Gallerie dell’ Accademia and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection.
Best Sestiere for a 3 or 4 Day-Tripper
Our apartment for several years, was located on the Grand Canal at the Ca’ Rezzonica vaparetto stop. Ca’ Rezzonico is one of the most beautiful palazzos in Venice.
Definitely make time to explore this district. Its not only inhabited by college students but regular neighborhoods, like Campo Santa Margherita, Campo San Barnaba or even Campo Santa Margherita. There are many restaurants, cafes, grocery stores and wine bars, just like a real village or town. Dorsoduro is much less crowded than San Marco. The prices are much more reasonable, too.
Our apartment now is a little further to the east and south near the Guidecca Canal. We are still in Dorsoduro, but closer to vaporetto stops that give us a more direct route to the Lido. Its also easier to get to San Marco via the nearby Academia Bridge and vaporetto stop.
Once over the academia Bridge proceed straight ahead to the Campo Santo Stefano in Sestiere San Marco for really good restaurants like the Art Blue Cafe.
Lido Island
The Lido island is one of the two barrier islands of the Lagoon of Venice. Lido is a long and narrow island with sandy beaches along most of the ocean side.
Much of the beach on the Lido belongs to various hotels so check before going. The island developed in the 19th century as a tourist center and a leisure seaside resort. It has many 19th century villas and hotels. It is famous for being the home of the Venice Film Festival and for its grand hotels, such as the Grand Hotel des Bains, the Hotel Excelsior and the Hotel Ausonia & Hungaria. The Gran Viale Santa Maria Elisabetta crosses the town, from coast to coast, and links the vaporetto stop to the beach. At the southern end of the island is Alberoni, an area famous for Venice’s golf course and the Alberoni Dune Oasis, which has one of the largest and best-preserved dune systems on the coasts of the Northern Adriatic Sea, with dunes of up to 40 feet high.
