2 days in Venice (Italy): Must-see Visits

We just spent 2 weeks in Venice. Of course, we are working at the same time, so in real life, we really only spent 5 days visiting a maximum of things in the city, including 2 full days for its must-sees.

According to me, here are the musts of Venice to do in two days:

• Saint Mark’s Square: a huge tourist square
  • saint Mark’s Basilica: golden mosaic everywhere
  • the Doge’s Palace: sumptuous rooms, decorated from floor to ceiling
• Bridge of Sighs: connects the old prisons to the interrogation cells of the Doge’s Palace, you can walk on it while visiting the Doge’s Palace but otherwise you can see it from two other bridges
• Academy Bridge: which gives the best view of Venice
• Rialto Bridge: a bridge that houses stores
• Take a gondola ride: a tourist activity but very nice because it allows you to explore small canals that you can’t otherwise access

And my top Panoramic Views

• From the campanile of the Place St Marc (10€/person, elevator ride)
• From the bell tower of the church of San Giorgio Maggiore (6€/person, elevator up). You can get to the island by taking the boat n°2
• From the department store T Fondaco dei Tedeschi by DFS (free access)

I tell you more in details in this travel diary

Part 1: Travel Diary
Part 2: Practical Tips

Part 1: Travel Diary

Saint Mark’s Square

Saint Mark’s Basilica

This is obviously the highlight of all Venice. This square is immense, and the Basilica of St. Mark is truly the most beautiful, the most golden, the most central. It is one of the most important basilicas in the world because it houses the relics of St. Mark, one of the four Evangelists.

If there is a flood, this is where we see it first. So the day of our arrival, even if the water has receded, there were still some puddles, and the Venetians immediately get out of the small removable bridges, so that the tourists don’t get their feet wet. There are also a few tourists armed up to the knees (with a kind of plastic bag in the shape of boots probably provided by their hotels). Everyone seems ready and used to acqua alta.

St. Mark’s Basilica dominates the square. Its facade with its beautifully gilded arches always impresses me every time I pass by. The interior is under construction this year, so you can only visit the heights (Saint Mark’s Museum, 5€/person), but the view remains completely satisfactory. The part at the entrance, completely renovated, sparkles with a thousand lights. It reminds me too much of Saint Sophia in Istanbul. There is an incredible energy on the place, I like it very much!

The interior is also covered with mosaic, but it will be even prettier when it is 100% renovated and properly lit. What I like about Italy is that the structure of its basilicas is such that you can safely visit the high footbridges, either to go and see the domes or to go and see the terraces. From above, we have a view of the small footbridges, which we wouldn’t have been able to notice from the lower floor.

It is while going up on the terrace that we find ourselves face to face with 4 absolutely magnificent horses. They are copies. The originals, four antique cast copper horse statues, part of a quadrige that once adorned the Constantinople racecourse, are inside.

We saw the astronomical clock, which is still working very well. It rings and displays the time every 5 minutes. Because of the Covid, it is no longer possible to visit the interior, but from the terrace of the Basilica, we can see very well the bells ringing, two statues holding a hammer make the bells resound.

The Winged Lion: is the representation of the Evangelist Saint Mark and the protective symbol of the city of Venice. It is often adorned with a halo, accompanied by a book or a sword, placed between its front paws. The sword signifies a state of war and the book a state of peace. The winged lion is present everywhere but especially in St. Mark’s Square. The most beautiful, golden one is on the basilica and the second most beautiful is on its right, next to the Doge’s Palace.

Souvenir stores and luxury boutiques surround the square and 3 restaurant terraces compete with grand pianos and even a quartet playing world-famous music. But take a good look at the menus before you sit down, the spritz costs €15 here compared to €5 almost everywhere else in the city.

The campanile (the red bell tower) can be seen from far away and offers a panoramic view of Venice for 10€/person. The viewpoint is at the top of 10 (small) floors but fortunately it can be reached by elevator. Rumor has it that the staircase, which is very narrow, was condemned because an American tourist got stuck there one day. We are very lucky because the number of tourists is limited (in full Covid, we were 10 on the 24 authorized) and one hour after our passage, the city is entirely covered with mist, we see nothing at 50 meters whereas at the time of our visit, the sun was at the RDV. As what! In October, the fog can persist for days so take a good look at the weather forecast before opting for the panoramic views for a fee.

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Right next door is the Doge’s Palace. I have already visited the copy in Las Vegas ahahah At least in Las Vegas, you could hang out on the fake terrace, while in Venice, the terrace is forbidden to tourists 😀

The entrance fee is 25€/person because it includes 4 places and there is no other option:

• Doge’s Palace
• Correr Museum
• Archaeological Museum
• Marciana Library

We didn’t visit them for lack of time, but if you visit all of them and take the time to look at the details, it will take you all day. We visit the Doge’s Palace as soon as it opens (9am) to be quiet. Our efforts to get up early pay off because it is the most visited monument (with the basilica) and even in the middle of Covid, there are always tourists. It was the official residence of the doges of the Republic of Venice, as well as the place of representation of its major institutions. It was an administrative building so there are no good vibes like the basilica.

In spite of the sumptuous rooms, decorated from floor to ceiling, I am not that impressed, I find that there are other rooms in Venice that have more soul than this palace.

The trap to avoid is to linger in the small rooms (“wow, that’s beautiful!”), while the rooms get bigger and more impressive as you visit. Everybody is crammed into the first big room, while the room next door is twice as big.

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Bridge of Sighs

Here is the Bridge of Sighs seen from the Ponte della Paglia. This bridge connects the Doge’s Palace to the building for the New Prisons.

The nickname “Bridge of Sighs” dates back to the Romantic period and refers to the sighs of the prisoners who, coming out of the Palace Court, crossed the canal across this bridge to reach the prison.

Closed and covered, it consists of two corridors separated by a partition. Thus, one crosses the bridge via one corridor and returns to the Palace via the other corridor. As the bridge is completely covered, it is more beautiful seen from the outside than from the inside 🙂

I don’t enjoy visiting the prisons that much and I am relieved to leave this unhappy place to go to the exit.

The café at the exit is particularly pretty, I don’t know if we can access it without visiting the Palace but I can see myself putting my computer down to work. One observes better the staircase known as “The staircase of the giants” decorated by the statues of Mars and Neptune. Every detail is carefully made, look at the patterns on each step.

Let’s now move on to an essential stop in Venice: the Academy Bridge

Academy Bridge

This bridge isn’t particularly pretty, but the view from this bridge is my favorite view of Venice. Do you prefer with, or without mist?

My favorite activity is to sit at the front of the boat n°1 (tourists are fighting for this strategic place) and travel the Grand Canal in both directions. I love to look at the facades of Venetian houses. It’s so pretty, I tell myself that I’m going to choose 2 or 3 of them and recreate them in paper.

Rialto Bridge

This bridge is the most famous in Venice. It is beautiful in real life but terribly difficult to take a picture of it because it is huge. Like the old bridge in Florence, there are stores on the bridge itself, it’s very nice. The structure is a little different from Florence: three pedestrian crossings, one in the center between two rows of stores. In the fourteenth century, it was the center of an open-air Rialto stock exchange, where ship shares were exchanged. The area around it is very touristy and luxurious

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Next door is a luxury department store with an incredible terrace. You can access it free of charge and observe the bridge and Venice from above. I highly recommend it!

In the evening, this department store shines with a thousand lights, it’s super pretty.

Another view point that I highly recommend is on the island next door:

Island of San Giorgio Maggiore

This island has nothing special (ah if a photo exhibition), but you can go up to the top of the church bell tower by elevator (6€/person) and have a panoramic view of the main island. Here is the timelapse that I was able to realize :

This is the place to be to watch the sunset.

Gondola ride in Venice

The gondola ride is an essential tourist activity. Each gondola costs about 25,000€ and is always made by hand (there is also a gondola workshop that can be seen from afar in Venice). At the moment, most of the gondolas are parked along the shore due to the lack of tourists. Hard blow for the gondoliers.

Rates are fixed: 80€ per gondola for 30 min during the day (up to 6 people) or 100€ for 35 min in the evening. The gondolas leave from the Grand Canal or at the bend of an unsuspected small canal. Times are hard so the gondoliers propose us all reductions without opening our mouths, we could leave for 50€ the 30 minutes, with a furtive passage in front of the Rialto bridge on the Grand Canal. Do not take the gondolas from the Grand Canal because with the passage of big boats, the gondolier will take 15 minutes to wait for the others before sneaking into a small canal. Take your gondola directly from a small canal. The itinerary will depend on the location of your gondolier so don’t hesitate to ask for more information about the monuments you will see.

These boats are surprisingly stable, and slip through narrow passages without any trouble. There are one-way canals and being so close to the water allows us to better see the buildings and doors at the back, completely eaten away by the water. The gondoliers all know each other and greet each other at every passage, it’s super cute.

Although their role today is mainly tourist; gondolas were the main means of transportation in Venice,during the 18th century the canals were filled with gondolas.

We took the gondola one day when the water was particularly low, revealing several centimeters of shells clinging to the walls. Emanates thus a small very unpleasant odor in places ahahha. I do not know if the gondolier is supposed to sing, ours vaguely hummed, as if to deceive boredom. In any case, it was a very pleasant walk and a unique way to discover the small canals not otherwise accessible.

If there are many of you, 80€ is quickly paid back, but if there are only 2 of you, I admit it’s too high. You can go through Viator (a Tripadvisor company): 30€/person or Civitatis to share your gondola for 33€/person

Continued : a travel diary full of spots a little less known but very nice in Venice : 3rd & 4th days in Venice (Italy) : Arsenal, churches, the Scuolas, Murano & Lido

Part 2: Practical Tips

Budget

• Transport : not necessary because everything is possible on foot but it’s still nice to go along the Grand Canal by boat
  • 75mn : 7,5€
  • 24h : 20€
  • 48h : 30€
  • 72h : 40€
  • 7 days : 60€
  • you can buy tickets in advance (at the same price as on site) on the Civitatis website
• Visits :
  • Saint-Marc Museum : 5€
  • Palace of the Popes & 3 other museums: 25€
  • Panoramic views :
    • From the campanile of the Place St Marc (10€/person, elevator ride)
    • From the bell tower of the church of San Giorgio Maggiore (6€/person, elevator up). You can get to the island by taking the boat n°2
    • From the department store T Fondaco dei Tedeschi by DFS (free access)
• Airbnb : 49€/night near the Arsenale in October 2020. Get up to 50€ discount for your 1st reservation on Airbnb by clicking here
• Gondolas :
  • 80€/gondola in the morning, 35mn
  • 100€/gondola in the evening, 35mn
  • or 30€/person on Viator
  • or 33€/person on Civitatis

You will also find a personalized Google Maps that I made with my sister for Italy here and all our articles in Italy here