World Travel Guide

City Guide  - Venice  - Sightseeing
Sightseeing

Venice is dominated by the Grand Canal and any sightseeing tour should begin with a trip down the city's watery thoroughfare. Two miles' long, it stretches from the nineteenth-century railway station to the Byzantine domes of St Mark's Basilica - a passage in time recording the power and the glory of the Venetian Republic. The canal is lined with the palaces of wealthy maritime merchants, their glittering marble façades a testimony to the changing fashions in architecture - from Moorish palaces, their narrow windows picked out in gold tracery, to Renaissance façades, all curved arches and classical symmetry. The canal divides the city like a huge inverted S, slicing up the six sestieri or quarters of Venice. Despite the homogeny associated with mass tourism, each of these districts has retained its own character, typified by the local parish church, bustling osterie ('hostelry', less formal restaurants serving drinks and snacks) and small paved squares (campo). Visitors emerge from the dark labyrinthine passages into a sudden haven of sunlight and space - a communal oasis where children play football, old ladies gossip and cats bask in the sun. Any visit to Venice should include time to explore these backwaters. Away from the colourful river traffic, out of earshot of the ubiquitous tour guide, flung clear of greedy shopkeepers, travellers can discover the Venice of yesteryear. Over 200 churches and 400 bridges are scattered amid the jigsaw of canals, mudflats and sandbanks. Around each porticoed corner, teetering on the water's edge a gem is waiting to be discovered.

Tourist Information

Azienda di Promozione Turistica (APT)

Calle dell'Ascensione 71C (off Piazza San Marco)
Tel: (041) 529 8711. Fax: (041) 523 0399.
E-mail: aptve@provincia.venezia.it
Web site: www.provincia.venezia.it/aptve
Opening hours: Daily 0900-1730.

Other tourist offices can be found at the train station and on the Lido, at Viale Santa Maria Elisabetta.

Passes: The city coucil offers a special ticket (Biglietto Cumulativo) that gives access to the Doges Palace, the Museo Correr, Ca' Rezzonico, the glass and lace museums on Murano and Burano respectively, and a little-known textile museum - the Palazzo Moncenigo. It costs L18,000 and can be bought at any of the participating museums. The Chorus Pass includes entry to 13 of Venice's churches, including the spectacular Frari church and Palladio's Santa Sede Redentore. The pass lasts for one year and costs L15,000, with proceeds going towards the upkeep of some of Venice's most historic parish churches. It can be purchased at the tourist office, which will also provide a full list of the participating churches and their location.



Copyright © 2001 Columbus Publishing
    
GENERAL
City Overview
City Statistics
Cost of Living
 
GETTING THERE
Air
Water
Road
Rail
 
GETTING AROUND
Getting Around
 
BUSINESS
Business
 
SIGHTSEEING
Sightseeing
Key Attractions
Further Distractions
Tours of the City
Excursions
 
ENTERTAINMENT
Nightlife
Sport
Shopping
Culture
Special Events