If You Had One Day In Venice
Let’s get back to our “If you had one day in…” series where readers help each other with the best tips for a destination. Recommend only the top things you would do if you had just one day. We’re not looking for run-of-the-mill. We’ve already covered:
Venice is one of my all-time favorite cities. Sure, I haven’t been everywhere yet. But, Venice keeps calling me back. I recall the first time my wife and I scheduled a visit there. Folks told us we wouldn’t like it, that the city smelled because of the canals and was overrun with tourists. We scheduled a fairly short stop there during our first Italy trip and immediately regretted it. We ended up changing our schedule to spend one less day in Florence so we could spend more time in Italy. Not a perfect compromise, because Florence is a beautiful city as well.Gel
We’ve since been back on multiple occasions and can’t wait to go again. For us, a perfect day in Venice if we only had one would start and end at the Hotel Danieli. Located not far from San Marco Square it remains our favorite SPG hotel. It may be the reason I keep a stash of Marriott Rewards points now that the merger is complete. We love the hotel, from the skeleton keys used to open the hotel rooms to breakfast on the roof.
I relied on my family to come up with suggestions for this post. Our kids love Venice as much as my wife and I do. Some of their suggestions:
- Breakfast in San Marco Square with the pigeons. A favorite for our kids. My wife wants to enjoy a cup of coffee while they chase the pigeons.
- Getting lost in the alleys of Venice.
- Riding a gondola.
- Eating plenty of gelato.
- Heading to Murano to look at stained glass.
- Dinner at Antico Pignolo, our special restaurant.
My daughter specifically noted “getting pooped on by a pigeon”. That’s exactly what happened to her in Venice. Clearly, she wasn’t thrilled when it happened. But, she loved Venice so much, she even has fond memories of the pigeons!
At the end of the day, whether we were staying at the Danieli or not, we’d enjoy a cocktail in the lobby of the Hotel Danieli. Such a fabulous venue to wrap up a great day in Venice.
We love, love, love Venice. We can’t get enough of it.
What would you do with one day in Venice?
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Your list is a good one. We took our three young children there in 1982, and by the end of this summer will have taken a total of five grandchildren there on their 12th birthday special “grand tour” of Europe. We’ve also visited a number of times on our own, most commonly when boarding a cruise. Rather than a costly gondola, we ride the vaporettos. Are we missing that much? Our general practice is simply to walk around and let ourselves get lost. If we see anything that looks like a crowd, we walk in the opposite direction. As a Hilton Diamond household, we stay at the Hilton Stucky on Giudecca, which has its own pluses and minuses. There are some cute little restaurants within a five-minute walk on the island. This summer our entourage totals three 12-year-old granddaughters, twins and their cousin, so I will be following this thread with interest for any new tips.
Fredd, I’m so glad to hear of your love of Venice! We ride the vaporettos virtually all the time. We do one gondola ride as a special excursion. Getting lost in Venice is a treat!
Visit the nearby colorful village of Burano!
MissVacation, great suggestion! We did that a couple of trips ago.
I stayed at that hotel on your recommendation and loved it!
Clint, so glad to hear it. That hotel is such a special place for us.
I did much of this and got some great photos in only a few hours in Venice, worth seeing but awful crowded. Would do it again.
Leonard, the main sites can get awful crowded. It’s why we like getting off the beaten path.
Forgetting the main “required” sites and masses of camera toting tourists….I love taking the vaporetto line 4.1/4.2 to cemetary Island aka San Michele Cimitero. Wandering the island and viewing the gravesites which tells an interesting story of venice. Continuing on the vaporetto to the island of Burano and Torcello and the stunning Basilica di Santa Maria Assunta.
Also enjoy the quieter canals of the Dorsoduro. Stopping by for a glass of wine or a spritz (to go) and assorted cicchetti at Cantine del Vino già Schiavi on the Rio san Trovaso …and sitting along the canal with my food and drink watching venice go by on the Rio San Trovaso…..
Love venice bianale Park
I almost thought I was reading my own post when I read this. Same-same on almost everything except our kids were older when we took them (our younger son and his girlfriend fell in love with Venice too and ended up choosing it for their honeymoon years later). The Danieli has always been our favorite hotel in the world— and we have stayed there 5 times. Our first stay there in 2004 coincided with the 900th Anniversary of the Arsenale and we watched spectacular fireworks from our Lagoon view room. In 2007 on our 30th wedding anniversary the Danieli gave us the best upgrade we have ever had for 7 nights on an Award stay- to the (then) 6000 euro a night royal suite. But when we went back in October 2017 for our 40th we had our first ever disappointing stay there. They upgraded us to a Lagoon View suite but the room was old and tired and everyone at the hotel felt sad. The rest of Venice was as magical as ever but the Danieli just didn’t feel the same. I second the recommendation to visit Burano- have moeche at al Gatto Nero. And you should also have lunch at Locanda Cipriani on Torcello.
Wendy, I was so glad to read your thoughts on Venice! I can understand how disappointing it would be to walk into a tired Danieli. It still holds a special place in our hearts and I’m sure we’ll end up there again sometime soon. Thanks for the lunch recommendation!