Venice, Travel Guide
In our opinion, Venice and Rome are the two most magnificent cities in Italy and are well worth visiting, whether it be for a weekend break or a longer holiday, and this is why we have written this up to date travel guide of one of our preferred cities.
About Venice
Venice is made up of 119 islands connected to one another by various bridges and overpasses. The Ponte della Libertà connects Mestre to Venice in Piazzale Roma.
The city, also known as La Dominante, has suffered from regular floodings since it was founded. Currently, this phenomenon called Acqua Alta still occurs several times a year and is a serious problem for the city. Between autumn and spring, the level of the Adriatic Sea rises and causes flooding of Venice, especially of Piazza San Marco. The peaks are sometimes so high that the authorities have to place wooden planks to help the pedestrians. If you would like to discover more about Venice, we suggest reading our articles on its six neighbourhoods, its top attractions and its history.
Canals, gondolas, and the Rialto Bridge. You think you know what to expect from Venice, but it turns out that no photo, however digitally enhanced, can hold a candle to the real city. To get to know it, though, requires more than an afternoon. While the day-trippers are stampeding from the Rialto to St Mark’s Square, you should be a block or two away, watching artisans craft items with Renaissance techniques, seeing shimmering reflections dancing on bridge arches, and gawking at marble-clad buildings each more fantastical than the next. The joy of Venice is getting lost, they say – although however far you amble, you’re never more than a couple of churches away from a Titian or Tintoretto.
Don’t stick to the city, though – that getting lost should also be done in the lagoon, taking the vaporetto (ferry) to the beach-filled Lido, island of glass Murano, and, further out, Torcello and Burano, where Venice began 1600 years ago. You could spend a lifetime here and never do Venice justice. But with just a few days, it can touch your soul.
