Venice Activities: Activities

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Ride a Vaporetto (Water Bus) down the Grand Canal right before sunset. The Vaporettos are inexpensive, but the sights are priceless: amazing architecture, soft seaside sunlight, and a fascinating parade of Venetian watercraft.

Take a Gondola if you can afford it: it's expensive, but the Gondoliere may decrease the price if you ask (but they can also decrease the time...). Make sure you reach an agreement on price and time before you start! A good tip with the Gondolieres is to bargain the price down as low as you can, then say that it's still too much and walk away. Two or three of them will chase after you, one after the other, each offering a lower price than the last. It's possible to knock €20-€30 off the price(even then, be prepared to shell out €80).

Some guidebooks discourage tourists from asking for gondola price reductions. The oarsmen have an informal habit of cutting the most interesting and little-known parts from the journey path for "discount" customers. Reduced rate riders get much less marvel in exchange for a moderate price drop, which may not be worth it.

Gondolier-for-hire business licenses are officially limited to just 430 to 455 rowers in Venice, making the market artificially scarce and inflating prices. Gondola rides are always costly, often in a princely way and that expense should be planned in advance of the visit www.gondolatour.com/en/itinerari.php. If you go as a group it might be cheaper, though the number of people who can be accommodated on a gondola varies, usually up to a maximum of six seated passangers. The "traghetti" holds more, mostly standing, as a pair of gondoliers rows short distances for canal crossing purposes at a number of points along the Grand Canal.

Venetians and especially the gondoliers among them have highly conservative ideas about society: by 900 years of tradition, all gondoliers must be male and most are born locals. There are only a few Germans in the business and a single lady, Alexandra Hai, who couldn't manage a for-hire license even after 10 years. She is officially banished to carry guests of her contract hotel only.

If a gondola seems a little pricey, the alternative is to cross the Grand Canal by traghetto. These only cost €0.50 to use and are largely gondolas that have seen better days, They are stripped down and used as municipal ferries. In the 1950's there were as many as thirty, but now there are seven points to find them. However some only operate when people are going to and from work. The length of any crossing is just a few minutes. Many visitors enjoy visiting the open air markets near the Rialto Bridge and there is a traghetto station there, at the Pescheria (fish market) joining the Santa Sophia church along the Strada Nova. You will notice that traghetti passengers tend to stand up, but if you are not comfortable doing so, sitting is possible, if you are careful.

If you are looking for something to do, you can always shop. Venice is packed full of little stores in every corner and crevice. The commonest local specialties are Carnival masks, glass, and marbled paper. Price can vary wildly, so it's a good idea to hold off buying until you have a fair idea about the relative value of things. As is the case with most tourist cities, a LOT of the "original " and "made in Venice" items are actually made in China. Murano is an island famous for its glass making. Almost in every shop you will find "original Murano glass" items. If it was really made in Murano, it would be prohibitively expensive, with prices routinely running into thousands of euros. So if you are looking for cheap souvenirs, real Murano glass is not the thing to buy! You can also see glass making demonstrations in Murano, but be sure to check that there is a demonstration scheduled for that day. And it is normally not done in winter either.

Spend a day on the islands, mainly Murano, Burano and Torcello. There are boat services to all these islands at scheduled times, including between the islands themselves. Be prepared for long lines and long waits for the boats between islands. The Glass Museum in Murano and the Lace Museum in Burano are certainly worth a visit. In Burano you will find some of the most picturesque streets and houses, with each house sporting a different pastel shade. Its really beautiful. Though there is not much to see in Torcello except for the old church, the peace and tranquility of the island is not to be found anywhere else in Venice! Just walking around on these islands is a nice experience. If you've had enough of the hype and the other tourists, hop off the vaporetto at 'Cimitero', Venice's graveyard for a peaceful walk. There is also a free toilet there.

While going through Venice, make sure you take in the beauty of it all. Walk through the alley ways, and take the water taxi to different parts of the island, sometimes at night you can just go sit in a main area and watch people and tourists. It is wonderful. There are many museums and churches that are around the city that allow tourists to go in a visit. They are many great sights to keep you busy throughout your visit.

The “Secret Itineraries in Doge's Palace” www.museiciviciveneziani.it/main.asp?lin=EN worth a visit, take the visitor into the most secret and fascinating rooms in the Palace. It’s better to book in advance.

Because Venice is now pretty much only inhabited by tourists and people serving the trade, it gets very quiet by 9.00 and there is very little to do in the evening (outside of eating). There are a few exceptions, like some classical music concerts. If you want an entertaining evening whilst learning about the history of Venice then try: Carnival - The Show: Celebrating the Story of Venice'. It's in a rather splendid venue just next to St. Mark's Square - in the center. It uses very striking projections of video and painting and photos to completely change the auditorium. One moment you could be inside the famous Basilica, and the next, floating down the misty lagoons 1,400 years ago. There are live actors as well so it is fresh and feels like a proper show - and apart from being informative it can also be good fun. It plays pretty much every evening - and you can also buy a ticket for the meal with the show. You can find out more and book tickets on their website: www.venice-carnival-show.com.

If you would like to have a guide to show up the highlights of Venice, you can choose between many offers. There are walking or boat tours, focused on shopping or history or for art lovers, and many itineraries. One tours site is Aguideinvenice.com www.aguideinvenice.com and another is Artviva.com www.italy.artviva.com. Context Venice www.contexttravel.com/venice is a network of scholars who organize in-depth walks of the city's architecture, art, and history, including such unusual tours as an Ecology of Venice, a two-part seminar on Venetian Renaissance, Jewish Venice, and orientation walks of the Castello and Canareggio neighborhoods.

If you are the kind of person that prefer to find your way through the city on your own instead of being guided consider the Venice edition of The Ruyi, a series of guidebooks called whaiwhai www.whaiwhai.com/gioca/Venice/4.php?lang=2 that turn visits to Venice into intriguing treasure hunts.

If you are interested in exploring all things related with Italian food you have to visit the freshly open "i Tre Mercanti" www.itremercanti.it (campo della guerra 2 mins from S.Marco square) an amazing food gallery where you can find typical Italian specialties, a wide range o f the best wines and the usual classics like Olive Oil, balsamic vinegar, parmesan, Limoncello along with hundreds of regional specialities (including 97 pasta sauces!). Classy and friendly the staff speak many languages and is open every day. If you don't feel like shopping you can always browse the shop and ask cooking tips and the history of products to the helpful manager.

Send a Postcard or even better, an entire mail dedicated to an important one (the old "snail mail" one, not the electronic variety)! Venice has a long, celebrated tradition in postal services, paper and written communication in general (including one of the earliest medival book printing houses).

Venice it's also Riviera del Brenta old canals. You can go with local rental bike services shop in Mira to see antique villa Pisani at Stra, old watermill and big open air market at Dolo and fresh milk at farm on Mira.