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see + do
Venice see + do
It's hard to believe, but it's true: The Venice you know from reading books and watching Merchant Ivory films really is that magical, improbable water world—a timeless place where footsteps clatter along dark cobblestone alleyways, and gondolas glide through narrow canals. Of course, if you only stick to the main tourist tracks between St. Mark's and the Rialto Bridge, it can also be a place of annoying, slow-moving hordes and tacky souvenir shops. To glimpse the real Venice, where people shop rauc_us_y in markets and hang washing out to dry across the streets, where children scream through squares on bicycles and older folks stroll elegantly arm in arm, you'll need to venture off the beaten path. Bring good walking shoes and a sense of adventure, and be willing to get lost.
For a note on Venetian addresses, see our Fact Sheet.
Jacopo Robusti (c. 1518–94)—better known as Tintoretto—spent most of his artistic life with a major chip on his shoulder. Until his...more
One of the most charming—and unsung—Venice attractions is the Scuola di San Giorgio. Scuole (schools) were charitable institutions, set up by trades...more
When Napoleon and his army descended on Venice in 1797, the French general described this immense open public space—almost 40,000 square feet—as...more
When poor little rich girl Peggy Guggenheim's personal art collection was turned down by London's Tate Gallery in 1949, she brought it to Venice. It was a lucky...more
One of the most important stately homes in Venice was finally opened to the public at the end of 2008, after a huge restoration project that felt like it would...more
The Palazzo Grassi has been giving the Guggenheim some stiff modern-art competition since it reopened in spring of 2006. Formerly an exhibition space...more
Punctuating the lagoons around Venice are a few islets that are well worth visiting—and they can all be reached by vaporetto. Torcello was a city long...more
Hopelessly clichéd but utterly romantic, a gondola ride is something every visitor to Venice should do once. The experience doesn't come cheap (see...more
Since 2005, this repository for centuries of stunning Venetian art has also been an obstacle course of scaffolding and builders' clutter. Ongoing renovations...more
When the Dominicans and Franciscans arrived in Venice at the dawn of the Renaissance, they enticed parishioners by filling their churches with art. The works in...more
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