Gillian Knows Best guide: One day in Venice
If you want to see the greatest hits
I am going to start by asking you to ignore the title of this post and please please please spend more than one day in Venice. This is the first in a series of one day in Venice itineraries that I will create for you dear readers.1 My hope is that you use it to plan just one of the many days you spend in our splendid improbable city. This is the blockbuster, superstar, do all the big things day. You can also just pick just one or two of the things from this list and then spend the most of your day drinking spritzes in a campo.
Venice is at her emptiest and most romantic and atmospheric in that thin veil of time between morning and night.
Venice in the Morning
🌅This is the time of day when Venice is a Richard Scarry scene come to life. Start your day early with a visit to the area around Rialto famous for the market and the bridge. You can see trash barges and delivery boats, private taxis and vaporettos all at work on the grand canal.
☕️Take a break with coffee or chichetti
🛍️ Venetian Treasures: A Shopping Stroll
Make stops at Antica Drogheria Mascari to buy spices or balsamic vinegar. Piedaterre for velvet slippers, Marina e Susanna Sent for glass jewelry, and Emilio Ceccato for some official gondolier stripes.
An Afternoon to Remember: Art, Palaces & Gondolas
🚣A ride in a gondola is an essential experience. Seriously, where else in the world can you do this?2 The price and route are fixed and not negotiable. How to pick? My advice is to chat with the gondolier and vibe it out. I prefer the smaller quieter routes Look for the Stazi near the chiesa di Santa Maria dei Miracoli and the Ponte del Megio. These are two good choices.
🖼️ Galleria dell’Accademia I love this museum. It is not too big and rarely crowded. There is usually a special exhibit.
I find the Palazzo Ducale to be overwhelming if you have a day full of activities
✨ The Basilica San Marco is dazzling. Those gold mosaic ceilings and intricate marble floors, the jewels embedded in the Pala d’Oro!
Evening in Venice
🍸 Watch the sunset from the bell tower in Piazza San Marco or at one of the cafes along the Riva degli Schiavoni. The Hotel Londra has a good martini and for something much more casual we like the Wine bar Angio near the Arsenale.
🍽️ I am a broken record. I know. I always tell people if you have only one meal in Venice it should be at Ristorante Al Covo. Book your table as soon as you have your plane and hotel reservations.
🌌Walk back to Piazza San Marco after dinner and you will have the place almost to yourself. In the summer the grand cafe orchestras play until 11:00pm-ish and if you are lucky there will be a full moon rising over the Grand Canal.
🗺️ Want a Guide? Tours Worth Taking
Book a full day tour or a Rialto market food tour or an after hours visit to the Basilica.3
Titles in my drafts folder include; Contemporary Venice, Venice with teenagers, What to do when it rains. Let me know in the comments if you have a suggestion for a one day in Venice theme.
You can take a gondola ride in Las Vegas. You have to wear a seatbelt!!
These are affiliate links. I only work with Walks and tell you about tours I have been on and think are great. If you book through this link I receive a small commission 🙏
Loved your recommendation to wake up early. When we have guests, we always try to explain that it's very helpful to get on an Italian schedule. If you can get up and moving early, you see any city in Italy at its best, you avoid the masses of tourists, and you can organize your day to steer clear of the heat. If you don't get going until closer to noon, you're stuck. The time to relax is in the middle of the day, or the early evening.
Loved the first line in this.