Day itineraries
There and back in a day
Marco Polo, Alilaguna and the access fee
There are direct flights to Marco Polo airport (VCE) from Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao, Valencia, Alicante, Málaga and Seville. From the airport you enter the city by bus to Piazzale Roma or on the Alilaguna boats. Neither is covered by the normal vaporetto passes, which exclude the airport, so that journey is paid separately. If you arrive by train from another Italian city, you get off at Venezia Santa Lucia, already on the Grand Canal; vaporetto line 1 leaves from both the station and Piazzale Roma.
The Venice plans start in the city first thing, so it is best to land the day before and sleep inside. Early mornings and nights are a different city, and on the busiest dates set by the city council, anyone who sleeps in Venice does not pay the access fee: €5 for those who come only for the day, or €10 if they register late. Children under 14 are also exempt.
Vaporetto, passes and acqua alta
In the historic centre there are no cars or bikes. You get around on foot, along streets and bridges, and by vaporetto, which covers the Grand Canal, the outer loop and the islands. A single ticket costs €9.50 and is valid for 75 minutes; if you are going to take more than two a day, the 1-day pass, for €25, or the 3-day one, for €45, pays off. Children under 6 do not pay. With acqua alta above 95 cm the lines change: check the ACTV notices before setting out.
If you arrive by car from the mainland, you can only park at Piazzale Roma or Tronchetto, with a reservation and expensively. Better to leave it earlier and come in by train or bus. That is why the outings from Venice are by water: the Grand Canal, the lagoon and the Lido beach. The car plans around Lake Garda leave from Verona.
Fewer people in spring and autumn
The best weeks run from March to May and from September to November, with less heat and fewer people than in summer. In autumn and winter there may be fog and acqua alta, which change the vaporetto lines.
The Sunday on the Grand Canal and the Doge's Palace works all year except January, when the plan's trattoria closes for holidays; in fog it still works, because almost everything is indoors or on the water. The rowing and Lido day, on the other hand, is a summer one: from June to September, when the Lido beaches have service. Outside those months, swap the beach afternoon for the Grand Canal by vaporetto.
The Secret Itineraries of the Doge's Palace
- The first day: Grand Canal, secret Doge's Palace and Rialto. Line 1 first thing; the Secret Itineraries of the Doge's Palace, an hour and a quarter through the passages and cells that the normal visit does not show, for €40; the campanile of St Mark's by lift, and fish from the market at Trattoria alla Madonna, beside Rialto, which is closed on Wednesdays. About 4 km on foot. Book the itineraries and the campanile.
- The second, in summer: rowing in Cannaregio, lunch in Castello and Lido. A private lesson in standing Venetian rowing, 80 minutes and from €100 per boat; a walk to Castello to eat lagoon produce at Al Covo, which is open Thursday to Monday, and a vaporetto to the Lido for a beach afternoon.
With two or three nights there is time for a day on the lagoon islands and half a morning with no plan around Cannaregio or Castello. Where to sleep, what to book and what to skip is on the Venice page.