Attractions

Venice is notorious for changing and extending the opening hours of its museums and, to a lesser degree, its churches. Before you begin your exploration of Venice's sights, ask at the tourist office for the season's list of museum and church hours. During the peak months, you can enjoy extended museum hours -- some places stay open until 7 or even 10pm. Unfortunately, these hours are not released until approximately Easter of every year. Even then, little is done to publicize the information, so you'll have to do your own research.

Church Tours

Check with a tourist office for free tours being offered (erratically and usually during high season) in some of the churches, particularly the Basilica di San Marco and occasionally the Frari.

For Church Fans -- The Associazione Chiese di Venezia (tel. 041-275-0462; www.chorusvenezia.org) now curates most of Venice's top churches. A visit to one of the association's churches costs 2.50€ ($3.25); most are open Monday to Saturday 10am to 5pm and Sunday 1 to 5pm. The churches are closed Sundays in July and August. If you plan to visit more than four churches, buy the 8€ ($10) ticket (valid for 1 year), which allows you to visit all of the following churches: Santa Maria del Giglio, Santo Stefano, Santa Maria Formosa, Santa Maria dei Miracoli, Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari (reviewed here), San Polo, San Giacomo dell'Orio, San Stae, Alvise, Madonna dell'Orto, San Pietro di Castello, Il Redentore (reviewed here), San Sebastiano (reviewed here), and San Marco cathedral's treasury. The association also has audio guides available at some of the churches for .50€ (65¢).

Venice Discounts

The newly created Museum Pass grants admission to all the city-run museums. That is, all the museums of St. Mark's Square: Palazzo Ducale, Museo Correr, Museo Archeologico Nazionale, and the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana -- as well as to the Museo di Palazzo Mocenigo (Costume Museum), the recently restored Ca' Rezzonico, the Museo del Vetro (Glass Museum) on Murano, and the Museo di Merletto (Lace Museum) on Burano. It's available at any of the participating museums. From November to March it costs 12€ ($16) for adults, 6€ ($7.80) for children 6 to 14; from April to October, it's 13€ ($17) for adults, 7.50€ ($10) for children; both are valid for one entry into each attraction, while the summer version includes entrance to a civic museum of your choice outside of St. Mark's Square.

Venice, so delicate it cannot handle the hordes of visitors it receives every year, has been toying with the idea of charging admission to get into the very city itself. Slightly calmer heads seem to have prevailed, though, and instead we have the Venice Card (tel. 899-909-090 in Italy or 041-271-4747 outside Italy; www.venicecard.it). The blu version will get you free passage on buses and vaporetti, usage of public toilets (you are allowed two visits per day, so use them wisely!), 20% to 30% discounts on parking, and a price of 5€ ($6.50), rather than 8€ ($10), for the churches pass. The orange version adds to these services admission to all the sights covered under the expanded version of the Museum Pass plus the Ca' Rezzonico; additionally, the card lets you bypass the often long lines. There are versions that include a ride into town from the airport, but that doesn't save you any money in the long run, so skip it. (They're working on arranging reserved, timed entries -- the logic being that so many people will have this card, the main sights will be effectively booked up, thus discouraging visitors who arrive without the card.) They're also encouraging various merchants to jump on the bandwagon in some way.

Also, for tourists between the ages of 14 and 29 there is the Rolling Venice card, which is something akin to the Venice Card for students. It costs just 4€ ($5.20) and entitles the bearer to significant (20%-30%) discounts at participating restaurants, and a similar discount on traghetto tickets.

For adults (and in student-friendly Venice, this means 30 and over), the blu card costs 19€ ($25) for 12 hours, 34€ ($44) for 48 hours, or 56€ ($73) for 7 days; for ages 4 to 29, the blu card costs 17€ ($22) for 12 hours, 31€ ($40) for 48 hours, or 53€ ($69) for 7 days. For adults, the orange card costs 30€ ($39) for 12 hours, 55€ ($72) for 48 hours, or 82€ ($107) for 7 days; for ages 4 to 29, the orange card costs 23€ ($30) for 12 hours, 47€ ($61) for 48 hours, or 73€ ($95) for 7 days. You can order it in advance by phone or online, for a 1€ ($1.30) discount on each card, and they'll tell you where to pick it up.

Anyone age 16 to 29 is eligible for the terrific Rolling Venice pass, which gives discounts in museums, restaurants, stores, language courses, hotels, and bars across the city (it comes with a thick booklet listing everywhere that you're entitled to get discounts). It's valid for 1 year and costs 2.60€ ($3.40). Year-round, you can pick one up at the Informagiovani Assessorato alla Gioventù, Corte Contarina 1529, off the Frezzeria west of St. Mark's Square (tel. 041-274-7645 or 041-274-7650), which is open Monday to Friday 9:30am to 1pm, plus Tuesday and Thursday 3 to 5pm. July to September you can stop by the special Rolling Venice office set up in the train station daily 8am to 8pm; in winter you can get the pass at the Transalpino travel agency just outside the station's front doors and to the right, at the top of the steps; it's open Monday to Friday 8:30am to 12:30pm and 3 to 7pm and Saturday 8:30am to 12:30pm.

Another Cumulative Ticket -- One ticket covers entrance to both the Ca' d'Oro and the Ca Pesaro for 5.50€ ($7.15); a cumulative ticket including the Accademia costs 11€ ($14).