Must See in venice

Must see in Venice walking tour

Today, in the 20th century, the essential Venice must still be explored on foot, otherwise you will miss half of its treasures hidden at every corner. Sometime the most interesting details of a city so rich in history, are to be found in the places where ordinary people live and not just in the big and famous buildings. It is so hard to define an area where the interesting places to visit are concentrated. Certainly the area around Piazza San Marco is one of your most important stops, but there is much more to discover around Venice! 

Just to give you an idea, crossing past the Bridge of Sighs (Ponte dei Sospiri), if you keep walking for about ten minutes you will reach l’Arsenale di Venezia. The Arsenal used to be the great boat building area of the city, which helped to create the great maritime power that Venice was in the past. Keep walking in this direction for about half an hour and you will reach the Ormesini foundation and the Madonna dell’Orto, the most popular areas for the Venetians to live. Remember the golden rule for visiting Venice on foot – don’t look down at your phone all the time but look up! You will see so much more! Even the cities balconies are embellished with bas-reliefs, flowers and pinwheels!

Essential Venice: into the heart of the Serenissima

What better way to discover the history of Venice than by walking around with an expert guide? Step by step you will discover the political heart of the Serenissima: St Mark’s square Palazzo Ducale, St Mark’s Basilica, the Bell Tower, the Marciana library and the Procuratie. Later we will move away from Piazza San Marco and through the Mercerie you will reach the Castello district where the San Giovanni e Paolo Hospital (one of the extraordinary beauties of the fifteenth century), the Malibran theater and Campo Santa Maria Formosa are hidden. A Walking tour of Venice will take you back into the heart of history .

Must see in Venice a new tour of the artisans!

What is the story behind a glass pearl created with the lamp technique? How long does it take to make a new forcola (row lock) for the gondola? How do you make a papier mache carnival mask? How was hand made paper once produced? How is a mosaic made?

Craftsmanship in Venice is synonymous with value, quality and often luxury … It is a special thing to find a true artisan on the island and their work will stand out very clearly from the contents of the many standardized souvenir shops. In Venice, a tour of artisans is a unique opportunity to discover a facet of the city that often remains hidden to the average day visitor. Let us guide you to the workshops and laboratories where ancient arts and crafts are handed down and still practised today! You will get the opportunity to watch the masters at work!

Follow our Venice Guide Tour

So far we have presented you with historical-cultural and artistic-crafted Venice Guide Tour. But there are even more guided tour options in Venice! What about a photo tour where you are the subject of the photos!? A tour of the islands by boat is a very popular thing to do for visitors. Take a trip to Murano to learn about the history of venetian glass making which is famous the world over. You can watch pieces being made in the furnace by artisans and marvel at the detail and colours which can be incorporated into the glass itself. 

Burano island is probably the most colourful island in the world! Almost all the buildings there are painted in bright contrasting colours which make the best photographs ever! Legend has it that the fisherman painted their house a bright colour so that they could distinguish it through the fog on the lagoon as they returned from their fishing trips. It is also famous for Burano lace still made here today – intricate and ancient. 

What about discovering the history of the city by participating in a traveling theater show? You can tour through the city accompanied by a costumed character who will draw you into the historical stories of this fascinating city. Or why not try a bike on the Lido of the island, where you can cycle along the shores of the great lagoon and the sea as well! Or maybe you are interested in art and would like to visit one of the many interesting museums? What about the Gallerie dell’Accademia or the Peggy Guggenheim collection?

Essential Venice : bacaros and spritz

Wine tasting with a sommelier could be more up your street as the Veneto region produces many quality wines and in fact the most wine by volume of all the Italian regions.You will have heard of the famous Prosecco which is from the Treviso region here as well as Soave, Valpolicella or Amarone wine. You may prefer to take your own self guided tour to visit venice’s many bacaros or wine bars and have some wine or a spritz Veneziano while sampling the local tapas or chicchetti? The typical food of a place tells a story too!

Have we managed to excite your interest enough?

You can find other unusual and engaging experiences in the following thematic sections:

• What to do in Venice at night
• An authentic Venice
• Visit Venice with kids
• Romantic venice
• Venice sightseeing from the water
• Get your hands on it: free time Venice courses
• Food and wine in Venice
• Learn Italian in Venice, Italy
• Day trips from Venice : discover the Veneto region