Ultimate Venice Travel Guide for a 3-Day Stay

Day 1

Ahh to arrive in Venice again for the first time.

If arriving from the train station, you'll be instantly greeted by an impressive canal. I'll speak more on this at the end of the article under "Public Transportation" but if you're flying into the Venice airport, you can take a boat straight to the island and bypass buses and trains altogether.

Regardless of how you get here, I recommend you start off by dropping your bags.

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Check-In to Your Hotel

Head straight to your hotel for check-in or at the very least to drop your bags. If you're unable to drop your bags where you're staying, look for a Radical Storage drop-off point. These are places that'll keep your bags secure for a small fee. It's definitely easier than keeping your bags on you all day - trust me, the alleyways here get narrow and in other places quite crowded.

If you haven't yet decided where to stay in Venice, I can recommend a few spots:

• Budget Option: Cà Beatrice: Located near the university, this area is a lot of fun and one of the more affordable zones in Venice. You'll have a good selection of local places to eat and drink in this area.
• Mid-Tier Option: Charming House Iqs: This trendy apartment has a lot of style and is close to the tourist area, without putting you in the center of it. It's a good choice for those that don't want to walk too much each day.
• Luxury Option: San Vio Palace Luxury Apartments: This is where I stayed when my mom came to visit me in Italy. It was perfectly located within walking distance to the sights but tucked away in a more local area.

For those on a tight budget, you might prefer to stay off the island instead. I'll go into detail on your different options below under "Areas to Stay."

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Avoid the Tourist Areas

Since I promised to show you a different side of Venice than most day trippers see, we're going to start by avoiding the tourist areas. I want you to first fall into the romance of Venice before getting herded around like cattle. There's plenty of time for that tomorrow.

Now, instead of telling you where to walk around, I'm going to tell you where not to walk around. I've traversed the entire main island of Venice multiple times and can confirm: there's no "bad areas" once you avoid the tourist areas.

So, for today, unless completely necessary, try and avoid the areas right around and connecting:

• Santa Lucia Train Station
• Rialto Bridge
• Piazza San Marco

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Indulge in Cicchetti

Cicchetti, pronounced "chee-keh-ti," are small bites of bread topped with just about anything you can imagine. They're a local delicacy and a great introduction to Venetian cuisine.

You can find cicchetti throughout Northern Italy and beyond but they have their roots in Venice. I highly recommend you head to a local bar or restaurant and try a big variety of them. Top it with a glass of wine and you have a great aperitivo (before dinner snack) or a light dinner.

For the most traditional cicchetti experience, try one with baccalà mantecato. It's essentially just super creamy cod that gets its texture not from mayonnaise as you might expect but from the slow, tedious whipping process.

You'll have so many cicchetti places to choose from but my favorite for their variety of options and local feel is Enoteca Schiavi. Just know this bar is pretty much just standing room only and you'll need to order directly from the counter. In general this is a great area to walk around either before or after your meal.

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See a Vivaldi Concert

Antonio Vivaldi is a composer, violinist, and all-around musical genius from Venice. Although I can't say I often listen to classical music in my spare time, Raf and I went to a Vivaldi concert on one of our trips to Venice and thoroughly enjoyed it. You can move this concert to tomorrow night but in my opinion, it's a great way to gear you up for an unforgettable trip to Venice. You just might be humming the Quattro Stagioni you're entire time.

We booked our tickets on GetYourGuide. I'm sure there are other venues with concerts but I can vouch for this one at Church of San Vidal.

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Day 2

Since yesterday you got a feel for the quieter and more authentic Venice, today you can check out the main sights and visit a few of the other islands.

For a traditional Italian breakfast, start your day with a cappuccino and a croissant and get ready to walk.

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See the Main "City" Center

Since you're staying in Venice, the morning is a great time to head into the main "city" center and explore the touristic areas before most day trippers arrive. This will give you a great chance to see the sights with less crowds.

Remember the list of places I suggested you avoid yesterday? Today, I want you to visit all of those spots, although there's really no reason to go back to the train station.

North of Rialto Bridge, near Campo di San Silvestro, are a lot of cool bars if you fancy a snack or a drink. Cross over Rialto Bridge towards Piazza San Marco and you'll enter into the main shopping district of Venice. Right at the Rialto Bridge and Piazza San Marco are cheaper shops with tourist stuff but in between, you'll find a number of luxury brands, both international and local.

If you want a great view of Rialto Bridge with less people, head around to the backside of it around Palazzo dei Camerlenghi.

As a heads up, if it's raining, Piazza San Marco might be flooded. This is the main area for those that want to enter into a museum or two. While you'll have plenty to choose from, if you're more interested in views than history, I recommend...

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Get a Bird's Eye View

Right next to Piazza San Marco is the St Mark's Campanile, or Bell Tower. On our last trip to Venice, since we visited in December and there were hardly any crowds, we decided to wait in the short line and head up to the top of the Bell Tower.

The tower itself is small with nothing at the top other than the views. If the weather isn't good, I wouldn't recommend this, but on a clear day it's cool seeing Venice from a different angle.

The most interesting part of this view to me is when you look out over the city, you won't see any canals. Instead you'll see a densely packed island. Looking in the other direction, you'll get great sea views and see some of the other islands of Venice.

Which brings me to your next activity...

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Visit the Islands of Venice

What most people think of as Venice is just the main island, but in reality there are a number of others.

When my mom came to Italy to visit we spent 5 days in the area, basing ourselves half the time in Murano and the other half of the time near the Ponte dell'Accademia on the main island. If you want to stay on one of the islands, I'll talk about that below on "Areas to Stay" but for now, I'll assume you're staying on the main island and just visiting the other islands as a day trip.

Getting to the other islands isn't so complicated. You can take a vaporetto, Venice's water bus to most of the islands. The closest is either Murano or Lido di Venezia (Venice Beach), based on where you're starting from.

You can also take a tour boat that'll take you to many of the islands, giving you some time at each. It's up to you and how much time you want to spend if you want to take a vaporetto on your own schedule or book a tour.

In quick summary, some of the best islands around Venice to visit are:

• Murano: Famous for their hand-blown glass
• Burano: Famous for their brightly painted homes
• Mazzorbo: Famous for their wine vineyards
• Lido di Venezia: Famous for their long, sandy beach

If you want more information about the islands of Venice, I wrote an entire article that goes into detail of each one. You can read it here.

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Enjoy a Great Meal

No doubt today you've worked up an appetite. And while I hope you already stopped for lunch, I wanted to use today's dinner as another excuse to try some of Venice's specialty dishes.

You might already know this but in case you don't, Italian cuisine is far more than just pizza and pasta with ragù sauce. Every region, and oftentimes even every city, has their own specialties that you might not be able to find in other parts.

Because of this, I highly recommend you eat the local cuisine in each city of Italy that you visit.

That means, in Venice, look for a restaurant that offers:

• Sarde in saor: These are sweet and savory sardines served as an antipasto, or appetizer. They're really unique and personally, I enjoyed them but both my mom and Raf said no more after just one bite.
• Scampi alla Veneziana: These are boiled scampi, dressed lightly in olive oil and lemon. For the best version of this dish, try it in the summer when shrimp are in season.
• Nero di seppia: This is a black ink pasta made with cuttlefish that I really love. From all the dishes in Venice, other than gorging on cicchetti, this is my favorite.
• Risi e bisi: Simply put, rice and peas. It's a bit of a combination between risotto and soup and is known as a comfort food, ideal for cold winter days.

In addition to Venetian foods, drink like your from Venice and enjoy an Aperol Spritz or a Bellini, both from Venice.

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Day 3

I'm sure you slept well after such a long day exploring Venice. Based on exactly what time you need to leave today, you may or may not have more time for one more walk around the city but if you do...

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Roam Around the Quiet Canals

Mornings are so nice in Venice since the city is at its most quiet. Most tourists either haven't yet arrived in town or are still sleeping. Even if you visit in the heart of the summer, mornings in Venice will give you a glimpse into what the city used to be like and what it's still like in off-season.

Unless you have all day in town, I recommend you don't venture too far from your hotel but you allow yourself to get a little lost in the maze of alleyways and simply enjoy the sights and sounds of Venice before you head off.

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Check-Out of Your Hotel

Now that you've already had your morning walk, head back to your hotel for check-out. If you have more time in the city, ask if they can hold onto your bags for the day. If they're unable to, use Radical Storage to hold onto your bags for the day.

If you have more time, I recommend you take a quick look at a map and explore the area of Venice you didn't get a chance to on day 1 or 2. The island is bigger than you may think and takes longer to traverse since there aren't too many bridges, especially to cross the Grand Canal, so you likely left parts uncovered.

Now is your chance to explore without destination.

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Venice Travel Tips

Venice is such a quirky place that you'll likely have some questions. Let me cover the most common ones I get asked about.

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Areas to Stay

There are a handful of areas on and off the main island you can choose between when booking your stay. As I mentioned on Day 1, if you can afford it, you'll be happy to stay on the main island because that'll give you the best chance to explore Venice before and after the crowds leave for the day.

Regardless, I recommend staying away from the tourist hub and wouldn't recommend staying near the train station, Rialto Bridge, or Piazza San Marco. Instead, I would stay either south or southwest of Ponte dell'Accademia or on the other side of the island near Basilica dei Santi Giovanni e Paolo.

If staying on the main island of Venice isn't within your budget, you still have a handful of great options. I suggest looking into:

• Around Venezia Mestre train station: This is the other Venice train station on mainland. I don't recommend you stay here because the area is necessarily great but more because it'll save you a lot of money. You can take the train from Mestre to Santa Lucia in just 15 minutes, making it a quick and easy commute.
• Murano: Murano is most visited as a day trip for those looking for colorful glassware as souvenirs. From experience, not many people stay the night making it a really charming place for those looking for something quiet. The cost of hotels is also much more affordable than staying in Venice.
• Burano: This island is one of the farthest away from the main island so I would only recommend staying in Burano if you're more interested in exploring the surrounding islands than the main one.

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Best Time to Visit

Venice is rainy yet beautiful pretty much all year. Although in Northern Italy, you shouldn't expect any snow on a winter trip but the wind can get pretty chilly. Summers here are really hot and can get stuffy in the small alleyways.

More important than the weather are the crowds.

Summer is peak season for tourism all throughout Italy and Venice is no exception. Unless you can't change your travel dates, I wouldn't recommend visiting Venice in the summer. The tourist areas will be overrun and the heat will likely have you craving a beach more than strolling around a city.

I've been able to visit in all seasons and actually think winter is my favorite time to visit Venice. The weather isn't too cold and it's the quietest you'll ever see the city, giving you a more authentic look at what Venice is capable of. The city also hosts a Santa Regatta a week or two before Christmas each year that's sure to get you in the holiday spirit (pictured above).

Winter is also when one of the biggest events in Italy hits Venice by storm: Carnival. This is when people dress in classic Renaissance wear and wear paper-mâché masks. I went to Venice for Carnival last year and it was a unique experience I'm glad I got to have.

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Getting Around Venice

Venice is unique in all senses and that means getting around town is different, too. Other than right at the start of the island where the bus station and parking lot is, you'll see there are no cars on Venice.

That means, to get around you either need to walk or take a boat or gondola. You'll have the choice between either a public bus, un vaporetto, or a private boat.

If you have the budget for a private water taxi, I imagine that's a pretty incredible way to get around. I've never been able to do this but my mom did schedule one to get her straight from the center of the island to the airport when she visited. She said it was the icing on top of an already incredible trip.

I didn't mention taking a gondola ride during your 3-day trip and that's mainly because other than the first time I visited, I haven't been back on one. I've been more than happy to explore on foot without spending the pretty hefty price tag on one. That said, if that's high on your bucket list, know that there are gondoliers all around the city, waiting to offer you a scenic ride.

Public Transportation

Most people will rely on public transportation to get around. The water buses in Venice are called vaporetti (plural form) and work exactly like buses do. They have a set route with a number of spots and you get on and get off where you please.

You'll need to buy a ticket in advance but can save yourself the later hassle and some money by buying a ticket valid for the duration of your trip.

You can also use a vaporetto to get you to the other islands of Venice. That's how we got around and it was easy and fun to navigate.

Google Maps

For public transportation, you can rely on Google Maps. In my experience, it's pretty reliable to show the boat lines.

There are two big caveats with using Google Maps in Venice:

1. At times it'll confuse a vaporetto line with a bridge. If you put in a walking route and see that it's taking you over a canal, zoom in to ensure there is actually a bridge there. A dotted line over water is a vaporetto line, not a bridge.
2. Don't use it while walking unless you have a specific destination in mind. Given the complexity of Venice, if you rely on the map to get everywhere, you'll spend all of your time looking down at your phone instead of enjoying your surroundings. Sometimes, like getting to your hotel, it's pretty important to follow a route but on a day you're simply strolling around, I highly recommend you wander. Since Venice is an island, you really can't get too lost.

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How Will You Spend Your 3-Days in Venice?

Now you're ready for your Venice vacation! Full of picturesque canals, unique islands, and architecture you can't find elsewhere, I really hope you love Venice as much as I do. Even if you have less than 3 days, I still recommend you get off-the-beaten-path and get to know the real Venice.

Trust me, it really is a once in a lifetime trip.