Venice in 3 days
- pat kelly
- May 22
- 4 min read
Updated: May 23
A few years ago we did a family vacation including Venice, Tuscany and Rome. This is a great first Italy trip as it is easy to fly into Venice and out of Rome or vice versa. Venice is incredible. There is a reason it is packed with tourists. Don't let this keep you away. Many of the hordes are day trippers and never stray far from Piazza San Marco. If you just wander aimlessly away from this huge central square you cannot help but be charmed. There are some sights that everyone wants to check off their list such as Rialto Bridge and the Doge's Palace which should be seen but the compact city is very fun just to wander around and pop into shops and churches that appeal to you.
You could have fun here on a day trip as many happy tourists do- just get away from the crowds in San Marco. Two days allows you to wake up and enjoy what is a great early morning town. I slurped a coffee at a counter outside an empty Piazza San Marco and took the first of many photos. We ended up with 3 days due to missing a train to Florence-I'm not mad at the extra day in Venice.
Sound advice on where to stay in Venice generally says: Not in or around Piazza San Marco. Instead opt for San Polo, Dorsoduro or Cannaregio. I would add a caveat: unless you can stay in the Hotel Danieli. I had hotel points so we splurged. This building dates from the 14th century. It was the palazzo of a noble family who had 4 doges amongst their lineage. After it was converted to a hotel in 1822, it has been featured in 3 Bond films and hosted many greats: Charlie Chaplin, Charles Dickens, Marcel Proust. The list of films and celebrities is long.
The rooftop restaurant offers incredible views. We had breakfast up there and enjoyed the Grand Canal spread out in front of us.
The first day we just wandered after checking in to the hotel. We headed to Dorsoduro and only a few minutes away from San Marco, the crowds were gone. We had a great lunch (black squid ink lasagna is a thing) and some gelato. We made our way to Gallerie dell'Accadamia, a museum featuring some of the Venetian greats. We wandered toward the famous cupola of Basilica Santa Maria della Salute. This beautiful church is an iconic part of the city's architecture. It found its way into paintings by artists from Canaletto to Sargent. It found itself in the backround of several of my photos as well.
After a while we headed back to the hotel but stopped in Piazza San Marco because the kids loved playing with the pigeons. Half of the world's pigeons reside in Piazza San Marco. It is probably worth sitting at one of the cafes that line the square to take in the scene. We had a drink at a table outside Florian. This cafe has been around since 1720 and is full of history. The interior is pretty incredible but we just enjoyed the action in the square- musicians aided the ambiance as we watched the kids chase pigeons among throngs of tourists. The Doge's Palace and the Saint Mark's Cathedral provide a nice backdrop. You may not want to spend your whole visit in this crowded spot, or even have dinner here but it is worth a drink.
The next day we started with the famous house of plunder known as St. Mark's Cathedral. Much of the interior of this church was taken from Constantinople during the crusades. The church was created to house the remains of St. Mark which were removed from Alexandria by two Venetians in 828. The interior is filled with gold leaf and mosaics and was incredible looking when will we entered with morning sunlight streaming through the upper windows. Despite several no photography signs, I noticed every tourist snapping away with their phones, so I took a few as well. Even if you have church fatigue, don't miss St. Mark's.
After the church tour, we hopped next door to visit the Doge's Palace. Although this was less interesting to the family, they did enjoy the Bridge of Sighs which connects the Palace with the New Prison. This is where a person would get a last view of the canals of Venice and sigh before being tossed into a dark cell.
After these two main tourist sites, we again struck out wandering away from Piazza San Marco. Aimless strolling is the way to go to find the charm of Venice.
When will you feel the urge, step into a shop or grab a drink. We had dinner at Aciugheta which hit the spot.
We finished the day with the required gondola ride. Despite the cost, it seems like everyone should glide through the canals in style. We picked up one outside Hotel Danieli but there are a lot of options.
We were supposed to hop a train for Florence after two days but tickets were sold out due to an Italian holiday so we had nearly a full extra day with no planning. We ended up heading to northern parts of the city: San Polo and Cannaregio. If I had time for advance planning, I might have included a trip to Murano/ Burano but the group wanted to chill out with more aimless wandering.
Cannaregio had a Jewish ghetto and very little crowds. We wandered into a church and had lunch at a quiet canal side spot.
San Polo is home to the Rialto Market which was a fun stop and this sestieri has narrow atmospheric streets that once housed artisans and even a red light district in ancient times. This turned out to be a great last day despite the lack of a plan. The next stop was train ride to Florence and Tuscany.
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