Venice

The city on the water: St. Mark's Square, gondolas and the colorful island of Burano, a global poster child for overtourism and crowd management.

Venice lies in the Adriatic lagoon of the Veneto region in northeastern Italy, made up of 118 small islands, more than 400 bridges and over 170 canals. In 1987, the entire city and its lagoon were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The main island is divided into six districts (sestieri): San Marco (St. Mark's Square, the Basilica, the Doge's Palace, the Bridge of Sighs; the most crowded core for visitors); San Polo and Santa Croce (the Rialto Bridge, the Rialto Market, the Frari church); Dorsoduro (the Accademia Bridge, the Gallerie dell'Accademia, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, the Basilica of Santa Maria della Salute and the Zattere promenade, quiet and artistic); Cannaregio (the train station, the Jewish Ghetto, a district where locals live); and Castello (the Biennale gardens, the Arsenale). Outer islands: Murano (glass), Burano (colorful houses and lace), Torcello (Byzantine church) and the Lido (beach and film festival). Climate: April–May and September–October are pleasant and the best seasons; the February Carnival (January 31 to February 17 in 2026) is lively with masks and parades but accommodation is expensive; June–August is muggy, with many mosquitoes and the largest crowds; from November to January "acqua alta" (high water) often floods St. Mark's Square, though the MOSE flood barriers, operational since 2020, have greatly eased this, so still bring rain boots. Getting there and around: from Marco Polo Airport, take the Alilaguna water bus (about €15, 70 minutes) or the airport bus (€10, 20 minutes to Piazzale Roma) into the city; from Milan, Florence and Rome, high-speed trains run directly to Santa Lucia station (on the main island of Venice; don't get off at Mestre station by mistake). On the islands you can only walk or take the vaporetto water bus (€9.50 per single ride; 1-day pass €25, 2-day €35, 3-day €45; line 1 crawls along the Grand Canal and is the best "sightseeing boat"); a gondola ride costs €90 for 30 minutes (€110 after 7 p.m.); a traghetto gondola ferry across the canal costs just €2. Recommended length of stay: 2–3 days (1.5 days on the main island plus 1 day on the outer islands). Notes: from 2025, Venice charges day visitors an entry fee of €5–10 on designated days (weekends and holidays from April to July, 54 days in total), which must be registered on the official website; overnight guests are exempt but still need to register; sitting on the ground, feeding pigeons and picnicking in St. Mark's Square are banned and carry fines; the Basilica and churches require covered shoulders and knees; restaurant prices on the main island are high, so look for local wine bars (bacari) in Cannaregio or Dorsoduro for cicchetti snacks with a Spritz.

Top sights

Where to eat

Itineraries