Essential tips for traveling to Venice

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Travel to Venice It is sure what you are thinking when you have reached this post or even, you may already have the tickets reserved and now you only have the fascinating moment to prepare the route and decide what places you want to know. Whatever your situation, we believe that although travel to Venice It is relatively easy, it does not hurt to know some data, so that the organization process is much simpler and more pleasant.

That is why after our two trips to the City of Canals, the first in a trip to Venice in 3 days and the second in which we wrote this travel guide to Venice, we have decided to publish this post on tips for traveling to VeniceIn which we will talk about the best time to travel, recommendations for accommodation, possible routes and places to visit, which we hope will help you with the travel arrangements.

Venice

Best time to travel to Venice

Although any moment is perfect for travel to Venice, it is important to keep in mind that the central months of the year, which coincide with the summer, and the dates that include holidays, such as bridges, Easter or Christmas are the busiest times in the City of Canals.
In addition to this if we consider that winters tend to be mild and spring and autumn offer pleasant temperatures, we believe that these would be the best times to make your trip. In case your choice is to travel to Venice in February, remember that the famous Carnival of Venice is celebrated and that the streets are usually full of people and prices tend to triple.
Also do not forget that from October, the rains are usually common and you could find "Acqua Alta", a natural phenomenon that causes the rise of the tide and floods a large part of the lower areas of the city making in some cases, very difficult to move around the most tourist areas of Venice.

We choose to do the last trip to Venice In the month of February, a few weeks before the carnival and after the experience, we can say that it was a fantastic decision, which allowed us to enjoy things to see and do in Venice practically alone.


Documentation for a trip to Venice

  • If you are a Spanish citizen, from the EU or EEA, you can travel to Venice only with your ID or passport and you do not need to have any type of visa.
  • If you are not going to be in Italy for more than 90 days, citizens of: Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Vatican City, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Colombia, El Salvador can only travel with a passport , United States, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Macao, Malaysia, Mexico, Monaco, Nicaragua, New Zealand, Panama, Peru, Paraguay, Republic of Korea, San Marino, Switzerland, Singapore, Uruguay and Venezuela.
  • If you have any other nationality, it is best to consult the Italian Embassy of your country to know the details to travel to Venice.

Transportation in Venice

Although Venice is a small city, in it you can find many means of transport, some of them aquatic, to be able to move comfortably through the city. Keep in mind that if you are staying in the most central area or in the adjacent neighborhoods, you probably do not need to use any of them, except for the vaporetto, as an experience to travel the Grand Canal and the one you choose to go from the airport to Venice .

Vaporetto

The vaporetto is probably the most used means of transport in Venice, as it is an experience in itself and we would even include it in the things to do in Venice.
Although there are many more lines, the most used by travelers are the following:

  • Line 1: Without a doubt, this is the line that every traveler should use at least once and travel with it the Grand Canal. It has stops at the main tourist attractions that line the canal and our recommendation is that you take it in St. Mark's Square and arrive at Piazzale Roma and then return back to the city center.
  • Line 3: If you have reached Piazzale Roma with line 1, from here you can take Line 3 to reach Murano Island.
  • Line 7: This is the line that takes you from San Marcos Square to Murano Island.

Vaporetto

The vaporetto fare is 7.50 euros per way, so if you are going to make more than two routes, you should buy the transport card for Venice and its islands, for 1,2,3,5 or 7 days, with which you will save a lot.

Traguetto

This means of transport in Venice is nothing more than a gondola that is used to cross from one side to the other of the Grand Canal for a price of 0.50 cents. This is very useful if there is no bridge nearby or just as an experience to ride a gondola if you have a tight budget and cannot afford to enjoy a gondola ride through the canals or a gondola ride with a serenade.

Alilaguna

This company offers the water transport service from Marco Polo Airport to the center of Venice or different points of interest for a price of 15 euros or 27 euros round trip.
Like the vaporetto, it has several lines, highlighting the following:

  • Orange Line: This is the one most used by travelers as it travels between the airport and St. Mark's Square, crossing much of the Grand Canal, where it also stops at several of Venice's main tourist attractions.
  • Blue line: Link the airport with the cruise port.
  • Green line: This line is used by many travelers to take a tour of the famous islands of Murano, Burano and Torcello. The journey is approximately 4 hours and the price is 20 euros per person.

Check the post "How to go from Venice airport to the center" for more information on this route.

Water taxi

With quite high prices, this is the most exclusive means of water transport. Keep in mind that the price of a journey between the airport and the center is usually about 130 euros and the prices are marked by the company and depend on the distance or the number of people using the service.

Venetian taxi

Gondola

This Venetian means of transport, which today has become one of the major tourist attractions of the city, is a narrow boat, which during the 18th century was the main means of transport in the City of Canals.
Nowadays a symbol of the city, they say that taking a walk in it is a must for any traveler who wants to know Venice from the most romantic perspective.
Keep in mind that the official rates are 80 euros for a 30-minute gondola ride and 100 euros for 30 minutes at night.

If you want to enjoy this experience in a more economical way, you can opt for the following options:

Take a walk in Gondola, one of the best tips for traveling to Venice

Bus

Although you cannot drive in the center of Venice, the bus may be the best option if you want to go from Marco Polo Airport to Piazzale Roma, for example. The price is 1.50 euros per trip and the travel time depends on factors such as traffic.

Travel insurance in Venice

Another of the tips for traveling to Venice, refers to health and is that if there is something important in any trip, is to make it safe. For that nothing better than having good travel insurance. And we can not forget that although Venice is in Europe and has the European Health Card, it does not cure certain aspects that we believe, it is necessary to take into account when traveling. We leave you the post "The best travel insurance to Europe" in which we give all the details on this topic.

In our case we always travel insured with Mondo, with whom we carry insurance that is totally adequate to the needs that we will have on the trip.
The hiring process is very easy and intuitive and also, just for being a reader of Street Travelers, you have a 5% discount.

Accommodation in Venice

Finding accommodation in Venice is usually one of the biggest problems when traveling to Venice. This is not precisely because of the lack of options, but rather because of the high prices they have, especially in high season and doubts about which area to choose to have the best location.
With this in mind, our advice would be to opt for a central area, especially if your trip is a few days, since most tourist places in the city are perfectly accessible on foot and having a strategic location will ensure you a saving of Moving time

We leave you different options, divided according to the districts of the city:

Accommodation in San Marco (center of Venice)

This is the most recommended option especially if you are traveling to Venice a few days and want to be close to most tourist attractions. Keep in mind that this is also the most expensive option, since most accommodation in this area exceeds 100 euros per double room, although they can go down a lot in low season.

In our case and on the second trip to Venice, we stayed at Antica Locanda al Gambero, located next to the San Marcos Square and the Rialto Bridge and with one of the best quality / price ratios in the area. The rooms are spacious, with all the comforts and breakfast included in the price of the room.
Without hesitation for a second, after the experience, a totally recommended accommodation.

Book your room here at the Antica Locanda al Gambero

Find your accommodation here in the San Marco area in Venice

Accommodation in San Polo (center of Venice)

This district is located in the area surrounding the famous Rialto Bridge and is without a doubt, another of the most recommended options where to stay in Venice, both by location and its history, since this is one of the oldest places in the city, where you can also enjoy incredible churches, palaces and countless shops, markets and places of interest.

Find your accommodation here in the San Polo area in Venice

Accommodation in Dorsoduro, the university district of Venice

Located in the southwest area of ​​Venice, Dorsoduro is known for being the liveliest district of the city, since it is the place where the vast majority of university buildings are located and therefore, the place where the city is housed. Most students in the city.
It is also here where the buildings of the Academy and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection are located in addition to the Church of Santa María della Salute and that of San Sebastiano. If the two previous areas do not fit you for prices, for us Dorsoduro is another of the excellent options in which to stay in Venice.

Find your accommodation here in the Dorsoduro area in Venice

Dorsoduro, the university district of Venice

Accommodation in Cannaregio, the largest and most populated district of Venice

Carnaregio is the name by which the northern part of Venice is known and is also one of the largest districts in the city. In addition to these features, it is also one of the cheapest options to stay in Venice, since its location is more far from the center, so we believe it is not recommended if you are traveling to Venice a few days.

Search here for your accommodation in Cannaregio in Venice

Accommodation in Castello

In the eastern part of the city, the Castello district may initially seem to be the furthest from the central area of ​​Venice, but if we take into account that according to the point, you can be only 700 meters from St. Mark's Basilica, the perception It already changes, right?
It has tighter prices for the San Marcos and San Polo areas and in it you can visit the area surrounding the Doge's Palace and the Basilica of Santi Giovanni e Paolo, the largest church in Venice.

Search here for your accommodation in Cannaregio in Venice

Accommodation in Santa Croce, the area furthest from the center of Venice

This is probably the least recommended area to stay in Venice, since it is the furthest from the tourist attractions, but it is also the one with the cheapest prices and the only one in the city where traffic is allowed, so according to whatever your needs may be an option to value.

Search here for your accommodation in Cannaregio in Venice

AirBnb in Venice

Although travelers usually opt for hotels when traveling to Venice a few days, another highly recommended option may be to look for an apartment, something that will allow you in many cases to save money and live a local experience, highly recommended. We leave you 35 euros discount on AirBnb here.

Grand Canal of Venice

Money in Venice

One of the questions you ask us most, especially when we are traveling, is how to get money abroad. To avoid paying commissions and always having the current change, we recommend using the N26 card to pay and the Bnext and Revolut cards to get money at the ATMs. They are the ones we use, They are free and will save you a lot.
You can find more information in this article about the best cards to travel without commissions.

  • Something to keep in mind is that in Venice, especially in tourist places, you can pay by card in practically all places, so having a card without commissions can be the best travel companion.
  • Regardless of what we mentioned earlier, carrying cash is also necessary, since in some places they do not accept a card, so it is always important to carry some money.

Routes through Venice

As we said before, to travel to Venice, it is important to be clear about the places you want to visit, so that you can fully enjoy the available time without going from one place to another and more in a city like Venice where you get lost, Even with a map or GPS, it is the easiest thing in the world.
With this in mind, we leave several routes around Venice optimized according to the number of days to make the most of the time.

Rialto Bridge in Venice

What to see in Venice

In addition to the previously linked routes, after our two trips to the city we leave you several articles in which we talk about the different places that we believe are essential, to get to know and enjoy Venice as much as possible.

Recommended excursions in Venice

Although all the places that we have visited and visited in Venice can be visited perfectly for free, if you want to know this city more thoroughly, in a more comfortable way and know its history, we leave you a series of guided tours in Spanish, Perfect for traveling to Venice.

  • Excursion to Burano, Murano and Torcello
  • Excursion to Burano and Murano
    More information about this tour in this post about the excursion to Murano and Burano from Venice or how to go from Venice to Burano and Murano.
  • Offer: Guided tour + Basilica + Doge's Palace
  • Guided tour of the Doge's Palace
    More information about this guided tour in this post about the Doge's Palace in Venice - Tickets and prices.
  • Guided tour of St. Mark's Basilica
  • Guided tour of Venice
  • Gondola ride through the canals
  • Gondola ride with serenade
  • Dinner cruise in the Venetian Galleon
  • Entrance to La Fenice Theater
  • Many more excursions and tours in / from Venice here

Bridge of Sighs in Venice

Security in Venice

Although we believe that there is no need to talk much about security in Venice, since traveling to the City of Canals should not be a problem, it is true that it is worth following some basic security measures, such as not carrying much objects value at night or go with caution in tourist places, without losing sight of your belongings. In addition to this, we must bear in mind that in the center of Venice most streets are narrow and at night they do not have much lighting, so it is also advisable not to show off if you are going out at night and you do not have clear the area where you are going to move.
As we always say, common sense is the greatest security we can carry with us when we travel.

Recommendations and tips for traveling to Venice

We leave you a series of recommendations and tips to travel to Venice, in addition to some basic aspects, of a city that we are safe, will surprise you and make you fall in love equally.

  • In Venice it is the same time as in Spain.
  • Although business hours may vary from one location to another and depending on the season, they usually open from 10am to 7pm.
  • The official language of Venice is Italian, although Venetian is also spoken. Also in the tourist areas, practically everyone speaks English, so if you have basic notions of the latter, you will not have any problem to travel around the country.
  • In Italy the voltage is 230 V, the frequency 50 Hz and the plugs and plugs are of the F / L type.
  • If you have more days complete this list of places to see in Italy essential
  • The currency in Venice is the euro.
  • If you are going to make a route through the country follow this list of essential tips for traveling to Italy.
  • As we mentioned earlier in the money section, in Venice the use of a card, whether Visa or Mastercard, is very widespread for both payments and money withdrawals.
  • The prefix to call Italy is +0039 plus the prefix of Venice which is 41 and the telephone number.
  • Holidays in Venice:
    1 of January New Year
    January 6 - Witch Befana, the holiday that is equivalent to our Magi.
    February - Carnivals of Venice. It is usually at the end of the month, although the dates vary every year.
    March-April - Holy Thursday. It does not have exact dates.
    Easter Monday: first Monday after Easter day.
    April 25: Liberation Day and St. Mark's Day.
    May 1: Labor Day.
    June 2 - Republic Day.
    August 15 - Ferragosto.
    November 1 - All Saints.
    November 21 - Feast of Our Lady of Health.
    December 8 - Immaculate Conception.
    25th December, Christmas.
    December 26 - San Esteban.

Venice

Recommended restaurants in Venice

We know that another of the most important aspects when traveling to Venice, is to know its gastronomy. This is something that in our case we value very much in all destinations, but we believe that it is something even more special in Venice, where Italian cuisine is one of the main protagonists.
Although in the most tourist areas, according to our experience, the best restaurants are not usually found, we understand that when the trip is a few days, it is difficult to get too far away to look for a good restaurant.
Given this, we want to leave you a series of recommendations and advice, both of the restaurants we have tried throughout the trip, as well as the remarkable things that have caught our attention.

For more information do not miss the post on "Where to eat in Venice: recommended restaurants".

Venice

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Video: 7 Essential Travel Tips for Venice Italy (March 2024).