Venice in one day

Venice is situated on the mainland (Mestre, Marghera) and on 118 islands around the Venetian Lagoon. It is the only city of its kind in the world – everyone dreams of visiting Venice at least once in their life. Some people spend a few days or even a week there and are still discovering something new. So, will we be able to see the most interesting places in Venice in 1 day?

Preparation

The best (i.e. cheapest) place to stay and leave the car is Mestre. In Mestre, a recommendable hotel is the “AO Hotel Venice Mestre” belonging to the German chain A&O – for about 60 euros you can spend the night in a comfortable room with a bathroom, and the hotel is located next to the train and bus stations. In the car park at the hotel and in the car parks in front of the hotel, you can leave your car at a reasonable price (10 euros for 24 hours).
At the hotel, we can buy tickets for public transport in Venice – the most profitable is a 1-day ticket for 20 euros (no discounts for children, children up to 6 years old for free) and it includes buses / trams and vaporetto – water trams (does not include transfers to the airport Marco Polo). For comparison, a ticket for 1 vaporetto ride costs € 7.50. From Mestre from the train station to Venice at Piazzale Roma, it is best to take bus number 2 (approximately 20 minutes) – travel along the 4 km long Freedom Bridge.

1 Day in Venice

From Piazzale Roma, it’s best to go to the pier F and take the vaporetto no. 1 to St. Mark’s Square – tram no.1 runs along the Grand Canal, which is the longest and most interesting S-shaped canal, 3.8 km long. Along the way, you can watch the inhabitants of Venice getting off and getting on at the next stops and you can take a closer look at the palaces and other buildings located by the water – the most famous are Ca ‘d’Oro (now a museum) and Ca’ da Mosto.
Unfortunately, in many places it can be seen that water has a negative impact on buildings, which often on the ground floor level slowly deteriorate and are not renovated.
The tram passes under 4 bridges across the Grand Canal – the first and the newest is the Constitution Bridge designed by Santiago Calatrava, the next are the so-called The Barefoot Bridge at the Discalced Carmelite Church and the Rialto Bridge which is the oldest and most famous, and at the end there is the Academy Bridge leading to the most famous museum of Venice, Gallerie dell’Accademia.

St. Mark’s Square

St. Mark’s Square is, as Napoleon claimed, the most beautiful salon in Europe – it is worth walking under the arcades and visiting the oldest cafés in the world Caffe Florian from 1720 – richly decorated inside with separate, small lounges – you can pay over … 10 euros for a coffee with the sound of music. At St. Mark’s Square, it is worth visiting St. Mark’s Basilica (entrance is 3 euro per person, 5 euro is paid separately per person for viewing the so-called Golden Altar, separate fees also for the treasury and roof terrace) – built in the Byzantine style with mosaics inside and on the the floor – there is buried the Apostle Mark, whose body was stolen from Alexandria by the Venetians. At St. Mark’s Square, it is worth visiting the Doge’s Palace (ticket combined with other museums, prices from 26 euro) and the belfry with a terrace overlooking the Square and the whole of Venice.
From St. Mark’s Square, in 20 minutes (about 1.5 km), through narrow streets and bridges over the canals, we can go to Fondamente Nove (F.te Nove A marina), from where we can go to the islands of Burano and Murano by vaporetto No. 12.

Burano

The first is the island of Burano (about 40 minutes from F.te Nove A) – the island is famous for houses painted in pastel colors – it was supposed to help fishermen find their own home after fishing. The island has retained its authentic character – in front of the houses you can see moored fishing boats and elderly women who deal with lace making (the island is famous for lace). On the island, it is worth walking along the main canal cut by small bridges, such as Tre Ponti, and looking at the bell tower of the San Martino Church, which tilts dangerously from the vertical.

Murano

From Burano, it’s best to take the vaporetto line 12 towards Murano (Murano Faro stop, approximately 30 minutes). Murano is famous primarily for the production of glass – in shops you can buy various types of glass figurines and visit small glassworks, which have been operating continuously since 1291. On Murano there is a Glass Museum (entry € 11 per person) showing the history of glass making in Venice. One of the most interesting places is the Basilica of Santi Maria e Donato in Romanesque style with a mosaic floor.
From the Murano Museo stop, you can go back by vaporetto no. 4.1 to F.te Nove C – it passes the San Michele Island, where a cemetery is completely established – there is buried there, among others Igor Stravinsky.

Venice again

From the Fondamente Nove waterfront, it is worth going across the Rialto Bridge and St. Paul’s Square to the place where we can see one of the works of the street-art king Banksy – at Campiello Mosca 2 near Campo San Pantalon there is a mural with a refugee in a life vest with flare. Although the mural was created in 2019, it is already a bit worn-out, in particular due to the annual floods (acqua alta) that haunt Venice.
However, this is not the only work of Banksy related to Venice – Banksy as a kind of revenge for not being invited to the Venice Biennale at one of the street stands presented an installation Venice in Oil consisting of 9 paintings and showing a great cruise ship to Venice (currently, cruise ships are banned from entering the center of Venice).
From Campo San Pantalon it is close to Piazzale Roma (about 650 meters), from where we can return to Mestre by bus number 12.

Cuisine

When in Venice, it is worth going to bars called bacari to try cicchetti, i.e. small sandwiches with fish, seafood or vegetables (prices from 1.50 euro) and for a glass of white wine (ombra, from 1 euro). We ate lunch in the San Vidal bar on Campo Santo Stefano – risotto funghi for 9 euros, tagliatelle bolognese for 9 euros, 0.5 l of white wine for 9 euros, tiramisu for 6 euros (one of the few places without the obligatory coperto that is 2 euros per person).

Another place worth recommending is Dal Moro’s, where you can buy spaghetti with a variety of sauces to go (around € 7 per serving). In general, in bars in Venice (the further from St. Mark’s Square the cheaper) coffee costs about 1 euro, a glass of wine about 2.50 euro, chinotto (a drink made of bitter orange) for 3 euro and a scope of ice cream from 1.50 euro.