Hiking - To roam the narrow streets and piazzas. and other Venice, Italy Sports Travel Tips

Theme: Hiking

We can honestly state that the best way to explore the city of Venice is by foot and the second best way is also by foot! Besides giving you the opportunity to roam the narrow streets and piazzas, it is the quickest way too. If you really want to, you can cross the city in approximately one hour. Remember that sometimes it might be quicker to take a short-cut across the water instead of following the bends of bridges and alleys.

Before we visited Venice we already had a look at the internet. As we are from The Netherlands we are used to doing a lot by foot and we were pleasantly surprised that Venice is a city in which everybody walks and you're trully able to explore all the sights by foot. Our two feet were our best friends and therefore we were able to enjoy all the fascinating scenery Venice had to offer. While most tour guides don't recommend getting lost in the majority of cities, Venice is the place to get hopelessly lost for a day. We wondered off through mysterious alleyways leading us away from the crowds. We ended up in endless mazes of backstreets and deserted squares, the 'real' Venice!

Equipment: Have a look at Venice Packing List.

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Theme: Hiking

For Venice, the canals have always been the natural means of getting around. We learned from our host Christina that in the past centuries, there were fewer streets and boats were the only means for reaching some parts of the town. Over the past few centuries more and more canals have been filled in and today Venice is really a pedestrian city. Venetian life may be on the water, but that doesn't necessarily mean you have to move around by boat. In fact some of the most picturesque corners in the labyrinthine streets of the city can only be reached on foot.

Take time to meander - losing yourself in the maze of canals and lanes is one of Venice's principal pleasures. The cluster of sights around the Piazza San Marco are heart-clutchingly beautiful, but the more secret pleasures of the hushed backstreets are just entrancing. Maybe this is easy for us to say as we stayed for a longer period of time and not like most of the tourists only for one day. But even when your stay is rather short, do try to get away from the crowds and just have a 'look around'. All this may seem very though as finding your way in Venice might be difficult, but in really distances are short and the signs to the main areas (San Marco and Rialto) will help you in getting around in Venice.

Equipment: Have a look at Venice Packing List.

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Theme: Hiking

Most people try to rush Venice on a budget so they end up missing some of the highlights in a whirlwind. The key to seeing Venice properly is a game plan, you must know what you want to see before setting out. For example: we wanted to see the Squeoro di San Trovaso(the most picturesque gondola workshop of Venice) and planned our hike in the sestiere of Dorsoduro around it. Starting at the eastern part at the Santa Maria della Salute, hiking our way via the Peggy Guggenheim Museum and the Ponte dell' Accademia towards it. Once we passed the gondola shop we simply wondered off via Fondamenta Zattere al Ponte Lungo (where we had lunch), Calle Avogaria (visited Chiesa San Sebastiano) and met the locals at Campo Santa Margherita.

By this 'game plan' structure we walked through the sestiere of Castello where we saw the famous Arsenale and hiked all the way up to the small island of S. Helena for the amazing San Pietro di Castello. For every sestiere we had our 'wanted to see' highlights and had lots of fun in planning the hikes in advance. Venice is simply a perfect place to walk for hours and pretending to know where you are.

Equipment: Have a look at Venice Packing List.

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