Best Things to Do in Venice (2026 Guide)

The best things to do in Venice begin before the crowds arrive. Walking from the Rialto Bridge to St. Mark’s Square (Piazza San Marco) at dawn — when the pigeons and the golden mosaics have the square to themselves — is one of travel’s great free experiences. St. Mark’s Basilica’s free entry requires advance online reservation (skip.actv.it) but allows access to the Pala d’Oro gold altarpiece (a Byzantine masterwork of enamel and gems) and the four bronze horses of San Marco (Roman originals, upstairs). The Doge’s Palace: the Bridge of Sighs, the armoury, and Tintoretto’s Paradise (the world’s largest oil painting, 22m x 9m) together require 3+ hours. The Secret Itineraries Tour of the Doge’s Palace — conducted through the administrative torture chambers and Casanova’s prison cell — requires separate booking and is worthwhile.

Best time to visit

November, February (pre-Carnival), and early March are the best months: fewer tourists, lower prices, the acqua alta flooding season (November-December) bringing surreal ankle-deep lagoon water into Piazza San Marco, and a melancholy beauty to the city. The Carnival of Venice (February, 2026 dates: February 7-17) is the city’s most dramatic annual event: 10 days of baroque masquerade balls, costume competitions, and piazza performances. The Venice Biennale art exhibition (odd years ending) and architecture exhibition (even years) run June-November in alternating years — the most prestigious cultural calendar event in the city. July-August is the most crowded: 65,000+ day-trippers arrive daily, narrowing the campo squares to shoulder-to-shoulder processions.

Getting around

Venice has two transport modes: walking and the vaporetto (water bus). No cars exist on the main islands. ACTV vaporetti Line 1 (slow, all stops, Grand Canal) and Line 2 (faster, fewer stops) are the primary transit routes. A 48-hour ACTV pass ($20 USD equivalent) covers all vaporetti and is worthwhile for any stay over 2 days. Water taxis are available but expensive (€15 minimum, typically €50-80 from the airport). Traghetti — standing gondola ferries that cross the Grand Canal at 7 points for €2 — are the cheapest and most local way to cross the canal. Gondola rides: the official rate is €80 for 30 minutes (daytime), €100 at night. The Alilaguna water bus from Marco Polo Airport to Piazza San Marco costs €15 and takes 75 minutes.

What to eat and drink

Venetian food culture centres on cicchetti and bacari. Bacari are small Venetian wine bars — not unlike Spanish tapas bars — serving cicchetti (small snacks on bread: baccalà mantecato, sardines in saor, polpette meatballs, Gorgonzola with honey) for €1-3 each with a small glass of wine (ombra, €1-2). The best bacari are in the Rialto Market area: All’Arco, Cantina Do Mori, and Osteria all’Orto for the Castello neighbourhood. The Rialto Market fish and vegetable vendors open Tues-Sat 7am-1pm — the most authentic Venice food experience. Squid ink pasta (pasta nera al nero di seppia) and risotto di goe (lagoon clams) are the classic Venetian restaurant dishes. Avoid tourist-trap restaurants within 100m of San Marco — prices are double and quality is poor. Prosecco (ordered as a spritz with Aperol or Campari), local wines, and tramezzini (crustless triangular sandwiches) are the bar staples.

Neighborhoods to explore

San Marco — The institutional centre: Piazza San Marco, St. Mark’s Basilica, the Campanile, the Doge’s Palace. Avoid in midday summer; magical at dawn and after 7pm when day-trippers have left.

Dorsoduro — The southern sestiere: Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Gallerie dell’Accademia, the Punta della Dogana, and the Campo Santa Margherita (the most lively neighbourhood square in Venice, popular with students from nearby Ca’ Foscari University).

Cannaregio — The largest sestiere and the most residential. The Venice Ghetto (the world’s first, established 1516), the Campo dei Mori, and the Fondamenta della Misericordia canal-side restaurant strip — where local restaurants outnumber tourist ones.

Castello — The eastern sestiere: the Arsenale (Venice’s medieval shipyard, now the venue for the Biennale’s military park pavilion), the Church of SS Giovanni e Paolo (the Gothic funeral church of the Doges), and the quietest streets in the city.

Murano & Burano (Lagoon Islands) — Murano: glassblowing demonstrations (free to watch, no obligation to buy), 7 minutes by vaporetto. Burano: photogenic coloured houses and lace-making, 45 minutes by vaporetto. Combined as a half-day lagoon excursion.