No cars, no roads, just water and wonder
Napoleon called it 'the drawing room of Europe.' St. Mark's Basilica (free entry, dress code enforced), the Campanile (elevator to the top, panoramic views), and Doge's Palace (Gothic masterpiece, Bridge of Sighs). This is the center of everything.
Gold mosaics covering 8,000 square meters of ceiling. Free entry (modest dress code). The Pala d'Oro altarpiece has 1,927 gems. Skip-the-line tickets available for €3 — worth it.
Gothic palace that governed the Venetian Republic for 700 years. The Bridge of Sighs connects the palace to the prison — prisoners sighed at their last view of Venice through the bridge's windows. Secret Itineraries tour shows hidden rooms.
The oldest of Venice's four Grand Canal bridges (1591). Stone arch lined with shops. The morning fish and produce market at its base has operated since 1097 — one of the oldest markets in continuous operation.
Take Line 1 from the train station — it zigzags down the entire Grand Canal past Renaissance and Gothic palazzos, under the Rialto Bridge, to St. Mark's. It's a €9.50 palace tour.
Touristy, expensive (€80 for 30 min, €100 after 7pm), and absolutely worth it. Negotiate for a quiet canal route away from the Grand Canal. The small canals, with laundry overhead and cats on windowsills, are the real Venice.
Glass-blowing island, 10 min by vaporetto. Watch artisans shape molten glass into sculptures, vases, jewelry. Free demonstrations at most furnaces. Stephanie: the chemistry of glass. Emily: the jewelry shops.
Lace-making island, 40 min by vaporetto. Every house is painted a different bright color — originally so fishermen could find their homes in fog. The most photogenic square mile in the Venetian lagoon.
Open since 1720. Oldest café in continuous operation in Europe. Espresso with live string quartet on St. Mark's Square. €15 for a coffee (music surcharge). Ricki will see the bill and have a moment. But the moment is worth it.
You step off the Nightjet at Venezia Santa Lucia and the Grand Canal is right there — vaporetti churning, water taxis zipping, the dome of San Simeone Piccolo across the water. No cars. No roads. No traffic lights. Venice is a city that shouldn't exist and insists on existing anyway, magnificently, on 118 small islands connected by 400 bridges.
Take Vaporetto Line 1 from the station to St. Mark's — it's 45 minutes and it's the world's most beautiful bus ride, zigzagging down the Grand Canal past palazzos that have been sinking gracefully for five centuries.
St. Mark's Square. The Basilica (8,000 square meters of gold mosaic). The Campanile (elevator to the top). Doge's Palace (700 years of Venetian power, then the Bridge of Sighs and the prison cells).
Afternoon: Murano for glass-blowing, or a gondola ride through the quiet canals. Evening: dinner in a campo (small square) away from San Marco — cicchetti (Venetian tapas) at a bacaro (wine bar), standing at the counter with a glass of prosecco. This is how Venetians eat.
Ricki at Café Florian: espresso, live string quartet, St. Mark's Square spread before him, €15 on the bill for the music surcharge. He'll complain. It'll be his favorite moment of the trip.
Venice — San Marco, Dorsoduro, or Cannaregio
One night. Venice hotels: €200–500/night. Location matters — bridges with steps and luggage are no fun. Pick somewhere near a vaporetto stop.
Venice has NO CARS — zero. The city runs entirely on water and walking. 118 islands, 400+ bridges, 150+ canals. The foundations are millions of wooden pilings driven into the lagoon mud, preserved by the oxygen-free water.
Gondola ride! Murano glass jewelry shopping! Burano's rainbow houses! Gelato in a campo! Feeding pigeons in St. Mark's Square (technically banned — she'll try anyway).
Venice bridges have steps — no way around it. Water taxis (€70–100) are the comfortable option for longer distances. Café Florian is the ultimate sit-and-watch: live orchestra, St. Mark's Square, espresso. The vaporetto is a floating bus with seats — use it liberally.