Venice is one of our favourite cities in the world! Venice is a city where you can spend two days or two weeks exploring! For those who only have a short time, we have summarized our top five things you MUST do with this 24 Hours in Venice Itinerary! And trust us, we’ve done this ourselves…
1. Murano (2 Hours)
To start our 24 hours in Venice itinerary, we recommend visiting the surrounding islands, starting in Murano! Some hotels and glass factories will arrange free transportation to the glass factories in Murano. Venice can be an expensive city, especially when it comes to private transportation, so we recommend taking advantage of this if you can! If you are only in Venice for a short time, we recommend reaching out to the hotel before your trip, in case transportation needs to be arranged in advance. Our hotel arranged our water taxi within 10 minutes of our request. This also scored us a private ride through the canals!
Once in Murano, we were dropped off at the Glass Factory – Vetreria Nuova Venier! If transportation isn’t free, the glass factory tour should be! The glass factories really just want to get you in their door (to try and sell all the fancy glass to you)! We had such a great experience at Vetreria Nuova Venier! They let Madison try blowing glass and made a custom purple dolphin for her (which would have cost around €400). The glass factories are the only places to guarantee 100% authentic Murano glass (aka. the prices are higher, but come with a fancy sticker to guarantee your purchase). If you’re purchasing anything big, they’ll also look after shipping and insurance!
That being said, if you are just looking for a cute souvenir, we recommend any of the shops in Venice or Murano – you’ll find things much cheaper; we just can’t guarantee they are 100% Murano glass!
The whole tour at the glass factory took about 1-2 hours, including the demonstration, browsing the showroom, and making any purchases. After we were finished, we strolled along the canal to get the water bus to Burano.
– 40 Minutes Travel Time –
2. Burano (2 Hours)
For anyone active on social media, especially Instagram, you will have seen the notorious Burano coloured buildings. What you may not see are the crowds of people and the trip to get to this island! We took the water bus from Murano to Burano. There was about a 25-minute wait (the line looked WAY longer, and we were told it would be 90 minutes). If you’re planning to see both Murano and Burano, we recommend starting as early as possible – this will shorten the wait times for the water busses.
Once in Burano, you’ll likely want to stop and have something to eat. There are endless options! We were one of the first ones off the water bus, which gave us the advantage of getting ahead of the crowds. You’ll stroll down the main entrance, Viale Marcelo.
Once you get to the canal, you can find the main photo spots to your right; however, we recommend going to the left! We found this hidden Burano photo spot, which had very few crowds! Regardless of the direction you take, you’ll find ample restaurants and colourful homes!
Depending on the length of your photoshoot, you should plan to spend about 2-3 hours in Burano.
– 1 Hour Travel Time –
Read More
Murano, Burano & Torcello Islands | The Complete Guide
3. Piazza San Marco (2 Hours)
We enjoyed just strolling around this entire area. The places to sit, people-watch, and eat are endless. You can actually go into Saint Mark’s (San Marco) Basilica and also go up the Bell Tower/Campanile, which boasts some of the best views of the city. It’s best to get tickets in advance to help skip the line and save time.
NOTE: On Sunday, churches in Venice are only open from 2:00 pm.
– 10 Minutes Walking Time –
4. The Grand Canal and Rialto Bridge (3 Hours)
You can choose to either walk along the Grand Canal or walk through Venice to the Rialto Bridge. Personally, we loved strolling through the city, over all the small canals, and in between all the buildings.
We recommend leaving yourself ample time to walk around the Rialto Bridge and along the Grand Canal. We went to Osteria Bancogiro for drinks. It was a nice private area, away from the hustle and bustle! Don’t be fooled though – there are about four restaurants in a row with massive patios, so it is easy to sit at the wrong one. They’re all very nice, but if you are looking for something specific, please keep this in mind! Alternatively, you could go to one of the shops and grab yourself a bottle of €4 wine and enjoy it on the dock/shore there!
Now, if there is ONE thing you do while along the Grand Canal and Rialto Bridge – you must try Suso Gelato! We set out to find the best gelato while in Italy and never found anything that was close to Suso. It’s a bit challenging to find, but worth the adventure! Try ANY flavour – we always like to ask for what’s popular or the favourite of the person working. The best part about Suso – they also have Vegan options – what?! The dark chocolate tasted like cool, soft fudge!
5. Gondola Ride (30 Minutes – 1 Hour)
Last but not least, a trip to Venice isn’t complete without a gondola ride. There are stops along the entire Grand Canal, so we recommend getting one from the Rialto Bridge. You’ll pay for your gondola in cash on board.
- Before 7PM
- 30-minute ride €80
- After 7PM
- 30-minute ride €120
You can also add a Venetian singer accompanied by a classical guitar or a harmonium for an additional €120 (30-minute ride) or €175 (60-minute ride). After 6:00 pm, these prices increase by €20.
We’ve put together everything you need to know about gondola rides, including how to save on gondola fares in Venice.
Map: 24 Hours in Venice Itinerary
Have any other suggestions for things our 24 hours in Venice itinerary? Let us know in the comments!
