Although it would be ideal to enjoy Venice (at least) for two days , you may only have 24 hours left on your trip through Italy to spend in this famous town. Don't despair: if you organize yourself well you can get a lot out of it. If you already know that you only have one day in Venice , you may be wondering what the best 24-hour itinerary is so you don't miss the most important things. We are going to try to help you, keep reading!
One day in Venice: the best itinerary
If you only have a few hours to explore Venice, you better put on your most comfortable shoes and write down the route we are going to suggest: we have visited Venice many times (we studied near here so there were plenty of opportunities to go on getaways, not counting the times we returned after leaving Padua !).
If you prefer to visit the city with an organized tour, here is a free tour of Venice ideal for first-time visitors.
Venice in a day itinerary: tomorrow
For convenience, we will divide the visit into 3 blocks: morning, midday and afternoon. We will start with the first visits that we recommend you make when you first arrive in Venice:
› Rialto Area
We assume that you haven't been tossing and turning in bed like a bear in a stupor and that you'll be arriving at Venezia Santa Lucia station early in the morning . On your way out, after having fallen in love with Venice, you'll have to cross the Ponte dei Barefoot and start walking through the narrow, colourful streets of the city to the first stop: the Rialto Bridge. Go up and admire the splendid views of the lively Grand Canal. But don't cross it yet - if you continue north along the canal you'll see the Ca' D'Oro palace on the other side with its impressive façade.
This is where we recommend you take a break: in Rialto you will find one of the most colourful and interesting markets in Venice, the Rialto market , not very fancy name but absolutely not to be missed! It is the place where fresh fruit and vegetables and fish freshly caught from the sea are sold every morning. You might get a little hungry… don’t feel guilty, it’s the air of Venice. So you look at your watch and ohhh (whatever the number it says) it’s the perfect time to have an aperitif .
The aperitivo is the Italian version of vermouth: you drink a glass of wine/spritz and accompany it with something to nibble on. In Venice there are many bars ( bacaro ) that offer wine and tapas (cicchetti) perfect for snacking between meals. And guess what: the Rialto area is one of the best for this. Here is a guide to the best bars (bacari) in Venice , for now remember this name: Al mercá.
At Fondamenta Riva Olio, 213, you will find this mini-bar where you can have a glass of wine for €1-2, a spritz for €3 and sandwiches for €1.50.
› La Fenice
With a spark of joy we set off again. Next destination? The Teatro La Fenice . To get there we will follow the Grand Canal (amazing with its great traffic of gondolas, boats and vaporetti) and we will enter the pretty streets of this Venetian district full of palaces, fields (squares) and typical little houses.
⭐ You can buy skip-the-line tickets here. Also, if you want to take a ride on the Gondola … now is a good time 🙂
› St. Mark's Square
We will now go to the most majestic square in Venice: St. Mark's Square . What can we say about it? Between the Basilica, the Bell Tower, the Doge's Palace and the pigeons (watch out for the droppings, they bring luck but they fill you with shit... never better said) you will go crazy (control yourself if you notice symptoms of Stendhal syndrome). If you don't want to become poor, don't sit down to have a drink in any bar in the square!
⭐ If you want to visit all the monuments in the square, we recommend this complete tour in Venice that will allow you, among other things, to save time by skipping the lines. But if you don't want to spend money and just admiring so much beauty from the outside will satisfy you... Another option is to pay the entrance fee to the Doge's Palace , which allows you access to the 4 museums in the square, including the Bridge of Sighs and the prisons.
We continue with the route that we must take advantage of what remains of the day in Venice . Come on: a little effort before a great reward!
Noon
Tired? Cheer up! We still have a few stops left on our Venice in a Day itinerary. Shall we continue?
› Bridge of Sighs
A short distance from Piazza San Marco is the Bridge of Sighs , one of the most beautiful and romantic corners of the city, which in the past was one of the saddest: condemned prisoners used to cross this bridge for the last time before being executed. So the sighs were not of love... ains!
› Eating in Venice on the cheap
Did I say pasta? No, but your subconscious has given you away, so we advise you to stop for lunch at 'Dal Moro's Fresh Pasta to go' . Yes, we know, the name is a cow's turd (not for nothing, it just seems too long to us!) but the pasta is really good and that's what matters. Here you have to choose the type of pasta you prefer (remember: penne has two 'n's, pronounce it correctly if you don't want the chef to look at you wrong) and then your favourite sauce (there's a world beyond bolognese). After a few minutes they will deliver your pasta ready to go and you can eat it peacefully on the banks of a Venetian canal. Who needs a candlelit dinner when you can have delicious fresh pasta on the banks of a Venetian canal?
⭐ By the way: in this post we recommend several restaurants where you can eat cheap in Venice 🙂
› Acqua Alta Bookstore
With our bellies full, we set off again and continue wandering around the streets. The next stop is one of those that will leave no one indifferent: the Acqua Alta bookstore . You already know that in Venice the ' acqua alta ' phenomenon is quite common and of course, there are many businesses that are periodically flooded due to the rising water level. This bookstore found a good solution: to safeguard its books, it decorated the premises with gondolas, bathtubs and stacks of books out of danger. It is undoubtedly one of the most curious and beautiful bookstores in the world. Are you going to miss it?
⭐ If you like original facts about cities, don't miss this post with some interesting facts about Venice !
Late
Get energy from wherever you can, because we still have the last stretch of the day to go. We can already tell you that it will be worth it!
› Venice Jewish Quarter: The Ghetto
Time is running out and we have to make good use of each and every minute we have left in the city. What we suggest for you to spend the afternoon is something that many travelers and tourists don't even know exists: the Venice ghetto .
Its historical importance is enormous: it was the oldest Jewish quarter in Europe and one of the most populated in the world. A walk through its streets that fuse Jewish culture and Venetian art is highly recommended, in addition to being able to come across kosher shops and restaurants, with symbols of the Jewish religion and even the 5 synagogues of the city. Be careful if on the way you pass Calletta Varisco , the narrowest street in Venice at 53 centimeters, and you get stuck!
The ideal thing would be to sit on one of the benches in Campo di Ghetto Nuovo and soak up this atypical corner of an atypical city. If we have time (there is always time for this, hehe) we can make a last wine and food stop at another Venetian bacaro that is located close to the square: the Venetian ciccheteria da Luca and Fred (cicchetti and glasses of wine from 1.5-2€).
From here we will be quite close to the train station, we will just have to reach the beautiful Ponte delle Guglie and continue straight. We may get on the train a little drunk but with a happy soul and stomach 😉
Map of the Venice in a day itinerary
Here we leave you a map with all the stops to make in one day in Venice
Although we would like to reiterate what we told you at the beginning of the article: the ideal thing is to stay in Venice for several days. Discovering Venice with poor lighting, getting lost in its streets when practically no one is walking around, is priceless!
⭐ In this post we have told you about some cheap accommodation options in Venice .
We hope you enjoyed our one-day itinerary in Venice (almost free), it will allow you to discover some of the most touristic and famous corners of this beautiful city and will let you see Venice through the eyes of a local, showing you streets, squares and little corners that don't always appear in the guides.
