There is no city anywhere like Venice. Set on a lagoon, built on wooden piles driven in over a thousand years ago, the Serenissima reigned for centuries over the Mediterranean before becoming this floating stage set where you travel by vaporetto and where silence, once you leave the main arteries, has something magical about it.
Two days let you see the essentials and taste that timeless atmosphere, provided you rise early and dare to get lost. Find the visits on our what to do in Venice page.
Day 1 — The heart of the Serenissima: St Mark’s & the Rialto
Head to St Mark's Square, which Napoleon reportedly called “the finest drawing room in Europe”. Its basilica with Byzantine domes, shimmering with gold mosaics, testifies to Venice's ties with the East. Right beside it, the Doge's Palace tells the power of the former Republic: don't miss the Bridge of Sighs, prisoners' last glimpse of freedom.
Then reach the Rialto Bridge, which has spanned the Grand Canal since the 16th century, and wander the nearby market. Then, at dusk, treat yourself to the unashamed but irresistible cliché: a gondola ride through the small canals, when the light gilds the façades.
Doge's Palace & gondola
Skip-the-line tickets for the Doge's Palace, gondola rides and guided tours.
Day 2 — The lagoon islands: Murano & Burano
Take the vaporetto for an escape into the lagoon. Murano has kept the art of blown glass alive since the 13th century — watch a demonstration in a workshop. Then Burano, a fishing village of brightly painted houses, dazzling in the sun: it's one of the most photogenic spots in Italy.
Back in Venice, drop the map and deliberately get lost in the Dorsoduro or Cannaregio, far from the tourist flows. It's there, between a cicchetti bar and a deserted bridge, that Venice truly reveals itself.
Murano & Burano trip
Boat trips to the lagoon islands and guided tours.
