Venice

Venice is a beautiful Italian gem to explore. It’s the kind of city that’s totally unique, with miles of canals, tiny alleys and a whole heap of history, you’ll be totally spoilt for choice when deciding on all the best things to do in Venice whilst you’re there.

By Ben Groundwater | There's a distant clop of feet on stone, a beat that's growing more insistent, a sound that's bouncing off brightly-coloured walls and soaring over tiled rooftops as it gets louder, as its source nears. Here in Burano the streets are ghost-town empty this morning, it's an island at peace but for the urgent thud of those approaching steps...

Baldassare Longhena's magnificent basilica is prominently positioned near the entrance to the Grand Canal, its white stones, exuberant statuary and high domes gleaming spectacularly under the sun. The church makes good on an official appeal by the Venetian Senate directly to the Madonna in 1630, after 80,000 Venetians had been killed by plague. The Senate promised the Madonna a church in exchange for her intervention on behalf of Venice – no expense or effort spared.

Holding pride of place on the waterfront, this pretty Gothic confection may be an unlikely setting for the political and administrative seat of a great republic, but it's an exquisitely Venetian one. Beyond its dainty colonnades and geometrically patterned facade of white Istrian stone and pale pink Veronese marble lie grand rooms of state, the doge's private apartments and a large complex of council chambers, courts and prisons.

Venice is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe. Each year, millions flock into the city to witness the Canal City's grandeur. Seeing canals instead of lanes is probably the most bizarre, yet beautiful thing you are likely to witness. The gondola rides are most likely the first image that comes to one’s mind when thinking of Venice, but the city has a lot more to offer.

Be ready for anything in Venice. This floating city consists of a group of 117 small islands separated by canals and linked by bridges. It can be the most romantic place on earth, but it can also be terribly expensive and feel like a tourist trap if you don’t do your research.

Venice is one of the most beautiful and unique cities anywhere in the whole world. This city made up 118 islands and 400 bridges is a fairytale world like nowhere else on earth and somewhere you have to visit at least once in your lifetime. However Venice has become a victim of its own popularity and in recent years has suffered from massive overtourism. Visiting Venice when busy and crowded is not fun and you could very easily leave hating the city that you wanted to visit so much.

By Rossi Thomson | This is a comprehensive travel guide for first-time visitors to Venice, Italy. It includes lots of simple insider tips to make your Venice trip as easy and enjoyable as possible. Scroll down for many first-hand recommendations for things to do and not to do in the beautiful city of water.

The first and perhaps best budget travel tip for visiting Venice involves selection of dates for your trip. Be warned: if you visit Venice in summer, the experience will be far different than an off-season stopover. Plan to be patient and wait in line for major attractions. Look for higher peak-season prices, too. If this is your only season of opportunity, by all means go. But plan ahead and know that you will be sharing this beautiful place with thousands of others.

In the 20+ years since we launched our first Venice travel-planning site, we've seen visitors make the same mistakes over and over--often at considerable cost in time, money, or vacation enjoyment. This article is designed to prevent such glitches, and we hope you'll find it useful.

How many times did you find yourself in difficult situations while on holiday, just because you couldn’t speak a word of the local language? How many embarrassing scenarios could have been avoided if only you had had a small, yet practical list of useful sentences?

The Venice City Pass is the all-inclusive sightseeing pass to experience the best of Venice: see more and spend less at top attractions and skip the lines. What’s included in the Venice City Pass...

Purchase the Venice Museum Pass online from our website. This Pass saves you time and money during your city trip to Venice. The Museum Pass allows one single entrance for each museum on the list. Visit the museums in Venice at your own pace because the Venice Museum Pass is valid for 6 months. With the Museum Pass in your pocket you enjoy a hassle-fee city trip to Venice. What’s more, you save money at the same time because buying separate tickets for each museum is much more expensive. This Museum Pass is your ticket to hassle-free museum visits!

So you’re off to Italy as any good Italy Foodie would be, and it’s time to think about the little things — like hailing a cab, changing money, and ordering food in Italian. If you’re on a group tour, chances are most of these details will be taken care of for you...

By Anthony Dennis | It's likely the almost four-kilometre Grand Canal, Venice's monumental palazzo-lined watery main street, will be a prominent feature of your visit...

By Shaney Hudson | During the Middle Ages, Venice was extremely wealthy and controlled most of the trade in the Adriatic. You get a sense of the power and wealth they had by visiting the Doge's palace, but to get an idea of what this meant in terms of maritime strength and ship building, visit the Venice Naval Historical Museum or the Arsenale...

The largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily lies at the toe of Italy’s “boot,” separated from the mainland by the narrow Strait of Messina. Home to Europe’s tallest active volcano, Sicily is a mountainous island with rugged landscapes tamed by centuries of cultivation and deforestation...

Italy is home to the greatest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the world. High art and monuments are to be found everywhere around the country. Its great cities of art, like Rome, Venice and Florence are world famous and have been attracting visitors for centuries. Besides its art treasures Italy also features beautiful coasts, alpine lakes and mountains. No wonder it is often nicknamed the Bel Paese (beautiful country)...

Looking for a few fun facts about Italy? Italy may be our favorite country in Europe and for that matter one of our favorites in the world. It has amazing food, iconic countryside, fantastic wine, a rich history, and strong Italian culture.

Naples, Florence, Rome and Bologna, all with their own unique flavours, history and culture, are the perfect spots for our Secret Food Tours that will take you on a journey through Italy's best cuisine...

There’s nowhere quite like Italy when it comes to ice creams (or gelato, as the locals would call it). Italy is renowned the world over for its ice creams and there isn’t a single city or town you’ll visit in Italy where you won’t find some homemade ice cream parlour...

More than 500 DOCG, DOC and IGT wines characterize every single region of Italy, enriching the tourist experience in their terroirs: here are 3 examples of excellence...

Please check for travel restrictions before booking and travelling to an accommodation. Travel may be permitted only for certain purposes and in particular, touristic travel may not be allowed...

EU rules on bus and coach rights apply if your journey starts or finishes in an EU country, and mainly apply to regular long-distance bus and coach services. These rights apply if you are travelling with regular services that operate along specified routes where passengers are picked up and set down at predefined stopping points according to a set timetable. Long-distance means that the scheduled distance of the service, not your individual trip, is 250 km or more.