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Visit Piazza San Marco after dark, explore the outer islands like Giudecca and San Giorgio, and support the city’s glassmakers, lace makers, and other artisans.

The Venice City Council just released a 2024 schedule of dates during which day-trippers will need to pay to enter the city. Here’s the full list of dates and what it will cost.

You know this Italian city is magic. Here’s how to convince your kids of that, too.

After falling into disrepair in recent years, the Royal Gardens of Venice are now ready to welcome guests once again.

The massive art event happens every two years and draws visitors from all over the world. Here’s how to navigate the show—and what to know while you’re in town.

8 Family-Travel Experiences in Venice

On a trip with a young traveler in tow, a writer reflects on her first Venice adventure—and how it changed her life.

In the City of Canals, even cynics can fall in love.

The Grand Canal is the no-brainer must-do Venice experience, and the best way to explore the city’s main thoroughfare is on a vaporetto, or water bus. For a great introduction to the area, ride the vaporetto from the railway station, at the edge of the lagoon on one end of the canal, all the way to its other end at San Marco’s basin. Along the two-mile trip the waterway makes a big reverse S-shape through Venice’s central districts and gives you a true feel for what makes this romantic, historically rich city tick. The banks of the canal are lined with Venice’s most expensive real estate. Here, you’ll find some 170 palazzi originally built for nobility between the 13th and 19th centuries. Today they house luxury hotels, private residences, and even art museums.

Let the wind blow through your hair as you take a 30-minute vaporetto ride to Burano, an island in the lagoons of Venice. Known for its brightly-colored fishermen’s homes, the island is largely free of the tourist crush of the rest of Venice. Spend the afternoon shopping for exquisite handmade lace and sampling gelato, then do as the locals do - gather in the town square at sunset to enjoy drinks and people-watching in one of the many cafes.

We settled in at Trattoria Da Primo, where the bartender recommended a typical Venetian drink, the “Spritz” (Prosecco, Aperol or Campari liqueur, and soda). Then get ready to feast at Trattoria da Romano, regular host to locals, tourists, and visiting artists. The restaurant is famous for Venetian specialities such as creamy Goh fish risotto and fresh seafood. Burano is definitely the place to go for a quiet, small-town feeling night out in Italy.

Famous for its long history of handblown glassmaking, Murano sits just a few minutes’ ferry ride offshore in the Venetian Lagoon. The main attraction is the Glass Museum (Museo del Vetro), which recounts the history of glass through the centuries, with the largest focus on important pieces of Murano glass produced between the 15th and 20th centuries. You can also join a guided tour and catch a glassmaking demonstration here. When finished, do a bit of shopping for locally produced glass at some of the boutique shops. Also check out the Romanesque-style Church of Santa Maria and San Donato, which may or may not house the bones of a slain dragon under its boldly hued mosaic floor.

An address won’t help you much on Burano. If you’re looking for a specific spot on this tiny archipelago off the Venetian coast, let color be your guide. According to legend, island homes were painted in vivid hues to help fishermen find their way in the fog as far back as the 6th century. While neon shades of blue, green, orange, and lavender may seem random, they’ve been determined by a regulated system for centuries. Even today, property owners must request permission and a selection of permissible colors from the Italian government before slapping a new coat of paint on their aging buildings. Visitors who make the 45-minute vaporetto ride from Venice to Burano are rewarded with a kaleidoscope of tropical hues and a serene island ambience that seems worlds away from the madding crowds in Piazza San Marco. While edible vestiges of its roots as a small fishing village remain in waterfront restaurants serving up heaping plates of frittura mista, seafood risotto, and spaghetti vongole, Burano is better known today for its hand-hewn lace and colorful homes. In the 15th century, its artistic prominence surged when island women began making the famed lace. Demand peaked after Leonardo da Vinci visited to shop for the Burano lace that covers the main altar of the Duomo in Milan. If you’re lucky enough to visit Burano during the pre-Lent Venice Carnevale, you may find new dimensions of color on its four canal-laced islands and picturesque footbridges. A multicolored palette of some 3,000 islanders provides a rainbow of backdrops for costumed revelers. Primping and posing, the fantasy personae inspire storms of clicks from photographers eager to capture the visual feast.

Near the base of the landmark Rialto Bridge, the historic Rialto Market is well worth a wander. Seek it out in the early morning when it provides an authentic local experience (and awesome social-media ops), with fishmongers hawking their fresh seafood catches and local produce merchants setting out seasonal fruits and vegetables. When you’ve finished exploring, go grab breakfast and a strong coffee at one of the nearby trattorias. If you’re a real foodie, consider exploring Rialto Market with a local guide who can delve into the history and also introduce you to Venice street food.