Venice

Venice is a town of 249,385 inhabitants in the province of Venice, in Veneto, Italy. It is the capital of Veneto.

The municipality covers 415.94 km², with a density of 600 inhabitants per km².

The nearest airport is Venice Marco Polo (VCE), about 8 km away as the crow flies. Read our guide to the airport.

Where to park in Venice

A city built on water

Venice rises on more than a hundred small islands in a lagoon, linked by some four hundred bridges, with canals instead of streets and boats instead of cars. Once the capital of a powerful maritime republic, it is unique in the world and, together with its lagoon, a UNESCO site.

What to see

St Mark's Square is the heart of the city, with the golden mosaics of St Mark's Basilica, the bell tower and the Doge's Palace, linked to the old prisons by the Bridge of Sighs. Ride a vaporetto along the Grand Canal to see the palaces, pass under the Rialto Bridge and visit the market nearby.

The Gallerie dell'Accademia hold Venetian painting from Bellini to Titian, while the Peggy Guggenheim Collection is devoted to modern art. Get lost in quieter districts such as Cannaregio and Castello, and take a boat to the islands: Murano for glass, Burano for lace and colourful houses, Torcello for its ancient cathedral.

Food

Cicchetti with a glass of wine in a bacaro, sarde in saor, risotto with cuttlefish ink, liver alla veneziana and tiramisù, which was born in the Veneto.

A short history

Venice was born when people from the mainland took refuge on the lagoon islands from the invasions of the fifth and sixth centuries. Tradition places the first doge in 697. For a thousand years the Republic, the Serenissima, ruled the trade between Europe and the East, with an empire from the Adriatic to Cyprus. Napoleon ended it in 1797; after Austrian rule Venice joined Italy in 1866.

Events and festivals

Carnival fills the city with masks in the weeks before Lent. The Biennale alternates art and architecture from spring to autumn, and the Film Festival takes over the Lido at the end of August. On the third Saturday of July the Redentore is celebrated with a bridge of boats and fireworks; on the first Sunday of September the Regata Storica parades down the Grand Canal.

Getting there and around

Marco Polo airport is linked to the city by bus and water bus, and Santa Lucia station is right on the Grand Canal. Inside the city you move only on foot or by boat. The Carnival in February and the Biennale are the busiest periods.

Getting there

Marco Polo airport, at Tessera, is linked to the lagoon by Alilaguna boats to San Marco and Murano in about an hour, by ACTV and ATVO buses to Piazzale Roma in 20 minutes, and by water taxi in 30. Treviso, used by low-cost airlines, is reached by ATVO bus. Trains stop at Santa Lucia, on the Grand Canal. Cars stay at Piazzale Roma or Tronchetto, joined by the People Mover.

Venice on the map

Nearby towns

All towns in the province of Venice →