Things To Do in Venice

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.

Strategies for St. Mark's Square

Lines can be long at the Basilica di San Marco (average 45 min), but you can avoid waiting by reserving access in advance online (www.venetoinside.com; 3€), up to 10 minutes before your chosen entry time. This service is only available April through October; at other times try to arrive 30 minutes before opening time to avoid the worst of the crush (and skip holidays altogether). You can also use the same website to skip the line at the Campanile di San Marco.

It is possible (and not too exhausting) to see the Basilica di San Marco and the Palazzo Ducale in one day. Start at the church, arriving 30 minutes before opening (ideally get an online reservation in advance). Take a break before heading across to the Doge’s Palace, where you can spend the rest of the day. You can buy palace tickets in advance online (www.vivaticket.it); there’s no express entry option, unless you book a third-party tour, but there’s not usually a wait to get inside here. Your palace ticket also includes entry to the Museo Correr and Museo Archeologico Nazionale, but it’s safe to save these for another day—tickets are valid for up to 3 months.

Note: The guards at St. Mark’s entrance are serious about forbidding entry to anyone in inappropriate attire—shorts, sleeveless shirts, cropped tops, and skirts above the knee. Note also that you cannot enter the basilica with luggage, and that photos and filming inside are forbidden. Although the basilica is open Sunday morning for anyone wishing to attend Mass, non-worshippers cannot enter merely to tour the site.

The Art of the Gondola

Putting together one of the sleek black boats is a fascinatingly exact science that is still done in the revered traditional manner at boatyards such as the Squero di San Trovaso . The boats have been painted black since a 16th-century sumptuary law -- one of many passed by the local legislators as excess and extravagance spiraled out of control. Whether regarding boats or baubles, laws were passed to restrict the gaudy outlandishness that, at the time, was commonly used to "outdo the Joneses."

Propelled by the strength of a single gondoliere, these boats, unique to Venice, have no modern equipment. They move with no great speed but with unrivaled grace. The right side of the gondola is lower because the gondoliere always stands in the back of the boat on the left. Although the San Trovaso squero, or boatyard, is the city's oldest and one of only three remaining (the other two are immeasurably more difficult to find), its predominant focus is on maintenance and repair. They will occasionally build a new gondola (which takes some 40-45 working days), carefully crafting it from the seven types of wood -- mahogany, cherry, fir, walnut, oak, elm, and lime -- necessary to give the shallow and asymmetrical boat its various characteristics. After all the pieces are put together, the painting, the ferro (the iron symbol of the city affixed to the bow), and the wood-carving that secures the oar are commissioned out to various local artisans.

Although some 10,000 of these elegant boats floated on the canals of Venice in the 16th century, today there are only around 425, .almost all catering to the tourist trade. Tthe job of gondoliere remains a coveted profession, passed down from father to son over the centuries, but nowadays it’s open to anyone who can pass 400 hours of rigorous training—Giorgia Boscolo passed the exam in 2010, becoming the first ever gondoliera; her father was also in the profession.

In a city that for centuries has thrived almost exclusively on tourism, remember this: Where you buy cheap, you get cheap. Venetians, centuries-old merchants, aren’t known for bargaining. You’ll stand a better chance of getting a good deal if you pay in cash or buy more than one item.

There are two rules of thumb for shopping in Venice: If you have the good fortune of continuing on to Florence or Rome, shop for clothing, leather goods, and accessories with prudence in Venice, because most items are more expensive here. If, however, you happen on something that strikes you, consider it twice on the spot (not back at your hotel), and then buy it. In this web of alleys, you may never find that shop again.

Shopping Streets & Markets

A mix of low-end trinket stores and middle-market-to-upscale boutiques line the narrow zigzagging Mercerie running north between Piazza San Marco and the Rialto Bridge. More expensive boutiques make for great window-shopping on Calle Larga XXII Marzo, the wide street that begins west of Piazza San Marco and wends its way to the expansive Campo Santo Stefano near the Accademia. The narrow Frezzaria, just west of Piazza San Marco and running north-south, offers bars, souvenir shops, and tony clothing stores like Louis Vuitton and Versace. The non-produce part of the Rialto Market is as good as it gets for basic souvenirs, where you’ll find cheap T-shirts, glow-in-the-dark plastic gondolas, and tawdry glass trinkets.

The Mercatino dei Miracoli (tel. 041/2710022), held only six times a year in Campo Santa Maria Nova (Cannaregio), is a fabulous flea market with all sorts of bric-a-brac and antiques sold by ordinary Venetians—haggling, for once, is acceptable. It usually takes place on the second Saturday or Sunday of March, April, May, September, October, and December, from 8:30am to 8pm. The Mercatino dell’Antiquariato (www.mercatinocamposanmaurizio.it) is a professional antiques market in Campo San Maurizio, San Marco; it takes place 4 to 5 times a year (usually Mar–Apr, May, Sept, Oct, and Dec; check the website for dates). More than 100 vendors sell everything from the sublime piece of Murano glass to quirky dust collectors. Early birds might find reasonably priced finds such as Murano candy dishes from the 1950s, Venetian-pearl glass beads older still, vintage Italian posters advertising Campari-sponsored regattas, or antique postcards of Venice that could be from the 1930s or the 1830s -- things change so little here. Those for whom price is less an issue might pick up antique lace by the yard or a singular museum-quality piece of hand-blown glass from a local master.

Arts & Crafts

Venice is uniquely famous for local crafts that have been produced here for centuries and are hard to get elsewhere: the glassware from Murano, the delicate lace from Burano, and the cartapesta (papier-mâché) Carnevale masks you’ll find in endless botteghe (shops), where you can watch artisans paint amid their wares.

Now here’s the bad news: There’s such an overwhelming sea of cheap glass that buying Venetian glass can become something of a turnoff (shipping and insurance costs make most things unaffordable; the alternative is to hand-carry anything fragile). Plus, there are so few women left on Burano willing to spend countless tedious hours keeping alive the art of lace-making that the few pieces you’ll see not produced by machine in China are sold at stratospheric prices; ditto the truly high-quality glass (although trinkets can be cheap and fun). The best place to buy glass is Murano itself—the “Vetro Artistico Murano” trademark guarantees its origin, but expect to pay as much as 60€ for just a wine glass.

Books

Libreria Studium, San Marco 337 (tel. 041-522-2382), carries lots of travel guides and maps as well as books in English. For art books and other colorful hardbacks on history and Italian sights to hold down your coffee table at 40% to 50% off, head to Libreria Bertoni Mario, San Marco 3637B (Rio Terrà dei Assassini; tel. 041-522-9583), or Libreria Beronti Alberto, San Marco 4718 (Calle dei Fabbri; tel. 041-522-4615).

Foodstuffs

Food lovers will find charmingly packaged food products for themselves or friends at the well-known pasta manufacturer Giacomo Rizzo, near the major Coin department store, northeast of the Rialto Bridge at Cannaregio 5778 at Calle San Giovanni Grisostomo (tel. 041-522-2824). You'll find pasta made in the shape of gondolas, colorful carnival hats, and dozens of other imaginatively shaped possibilities (colored and flavored with squash, beet, and spinach).

Those with a sweet tooth should head in the opposite direction, to Giancarlo Vio's Pasticceria Marchini, just before Campo Santo Stefano (San Marco 2769 at Ponte San Maurizio; tel. 041-522-9109), where the selection of traditional cookies are beautifully prepackaged for traveling -- delicate baicoli, cornmeal raisin zaleti, and the S-shaped buranelli.

If you’re looking for serious nocturnal action, you’re in the wrong town—Verona and Padua are far livelier. Your best bet is to sit in the moonlit Piazza San Marco and listen to the cafes’ outdoor orchestras, with the illuminated basilica before you—the perfect opera set—though this pleasure comes with a hefty price tag. Other popular spots to hang out include Campo San Bartolomeo, at the foot of the Rialto Bridge (although it is a zoo here in high season), and nearby Campo San Luca. In late-night hours, for low prices and low pretension, the absolute best place to go is Campo Santa Margherita, a huge open campo about halfway between the train station and the Accademia Bridge. Although Venice boasts an old and prominent university, clubs and discos barely enjoy their 15 minutes of popularity before changing hands or closing down (some are open only in the summer months). Young Venetians tend to go to the Lido or mainland Mestre. Note: Most bars are open Monday to Saturday from 8pm to midnight.

The Performing Arts

Venice has a long and rich tradition of classical music; this was, after all, the home of Vivaldi. Several churches regularly host classical music concerts (with an emphasis on the baroque) by local and international artists. People dressed in period costumes stand around in heavily trafficked spots near San Marco and Rialto passing out brochures advertising the classical music concerts, so you'll have no trouble finding up-to-date information.

The Casino

From May to October, Casino Municipale di Venezia, located at Palazzo Vendramin Calergi, Cannaregio 2040 (Fondamenta Vendramin; tel. 041-529-7111; www.casinovenezia.it; vaporetto: San Marcuola), moves to its nondescript summer location on the Lido, where a visit is not as strongly recommended as during the winter months, when it is housed in this handsome 15th-century palazzo on the Grand Canal. Venice's tradition of gambling goes back to the glory days of the republic and lives on in this august Renaissance palace built by Mauro Codussi. Though not of the caliber of Monte Carlo and, on a midweek winter's night, occasionally slow, this is one of only four casinos on Italian territory -- and what a remarkable stage setting it is! Richard Wagner lived and died in a wing of this palazzo in 1883.

Check with your hotel before setting forth; some offer free passes for their guests. Otherwise, if you're not a gambler or a curiosity seeker, it may not be worth the admission cost of 5€ to get in. Tip: If you pay a higher 10€ admission fee, the casino will provide you with a 10€ credit for gambling, so your admission could actually be free -- and perhaps, if you're lucky, better than free. Note: A passport and jacket are required for entrance (you can rent the jacket there, the passport you have to bring yourself), and the casino is open daily from 3:30pm (11am for the slots) to 2:45am (3:45am Fri and Sat).