Up Up Up and other Venice, Italy Things to Do Tips

In front of St Mark's Basilica is the Campanile . Built in the 9th century, it once served as a watchtower and lighthouse protecting the city from enemy fleets.The camanile is 97m high and on top is a golden statue of the Archangel Gabriel. The statue is 3 metres high and has big wings that work like a weather vane and when pushed by the wind, make it rotate. When the angel is facing the Basilica, it is a sign that there will be high water.

We went in March and the queue for the lift was about 5 minutes and cost Euro 8. Opening hours: October-March 9:45am-4pm; April-June 9:30am-5pm; July-September 9:45am-8pm.

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Directions: Piazza San Marco

This Ghost Walk was booked with Avventure Bellissime before I went. We met at 8pm on the top of the Rialto Bridge where our tour guide Cristina led us into some of the remote alleys of San Marco for the first ghost story. The following 90 minutes consisted of a five minute walk populated by a short historical story or a tale of a grizzly murder or a ghost story usually told to the group (of about 20 people) in a small courtyard or campo. Our guide was Venetian and had a good grasp of English. The stories were entertaining and interesting but could have been a little more spooky. Value for money? Thats up to you but definately something different and a good evenings entertainment.

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Address: Rialto Bridge
Directions: San Marco area
Website: http://www.tours-italy.com/venice-city_tours-ghost_walk.htm

Piazza San Marco is the main tourist destination of Venice. If you want to queue go in the summer tourist season and soak up some sun for a tan whilst you wait. I went in March, the weather was cold and wet but I never waited any more than 5 minutes for the Campanile and the Doge's Palace and St Mark's Basillica had no queues at all and I just walked straight inside. Wow, any of these places would be worth a visit but to find them all in the same place makes Piazza San Marco unique. Truly one of the most special of places and well deserving of its reputation.

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Address: South end of the Grand Canal
Directions: All Venice's roads lead here

Millions of tourists enter and leave Venice via the bus parking area on the opposite side of the river from the Rail Station. If you arrive at the Piazzale Roma and aren't part of a guided tour, head for the tile-roofed ACTV information office and request a free map of the vaporetto routes. You may also want to buy a tourist ticket for one, two or three days; the ticket allows unlimited travel on the city's transportation system.

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Many times of the year Venice is shrouded in a sea fog that sometimes only surrounds parts of the sity. Im March when we visited for example, the Piazzale Roma end of the Grand Canal was warm and sunny, and the St Mark's Square end of the canal was bitter cold and shrouded in mist.

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The Accademia Gallery is one of greatest museums and it contains art treasures of inestimable value created from 14th to 18th century. This huge gallery is an art lovers wet dream. The cost of entry is 10 Euros and the galleries within are vast storehouses of paintings from every era with a high concentration on Venitian and local artists throughout history. I am not a great art lover but liked it here immensely as their collection is so vast. I spent a good two hours here and am still not sure I saw all the galleries or rooms as its like a maze inside.

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Phone: +39 041 5222247
Address: Campo della Carita, Dorsoduro
Directions: South end of Grand Canal, south side

Ca' Rezzonico was acquired by City Council of Venice to display the vast collections of 18th century Venetian art, which lack of space prevented its display in the Correr Museum. The beautiful Palazzo is now the museum of 18th century Venice and is located on the Grand Canal in the Dorsodura District. Access to this museum is via its named Waterbus stop but you have to wander a few alleyways to find the entrance. The Palazzo contains not only paintings but also frescoes, furniture, statuary, and many other artifacts from opulent 18th-century Venice. It also gives us access to some great views of the Grand Canal and the neighborhood. The most impressive room inside Ca' Rezzonico is the ballroom, the largest existing room in a private Venetian residence, measuring 14m by 25m.

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Address: Dorsoduro 3136
Directions: The nearest vaporetto station is "Ca' Rezzonico" but palace can be reached just via Campo San Barnaba and is about a three minute walk.

In the 19th century a causeway to the mainland brought a railway station to Venice, and an automobile causeway and parking lot was added in the 20th century. Taking a few minutes to cross it provides an unforgettable view of Venice as you approach. Not quite the same as a bost trip from Marco Polo airport, but still exciting just the same.

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Known as the Torre dell'Orologio or the Moors' Clocktower, St Mark's Clocktower is a large clock tower situated on the north side St Mark's Square, adjoining the Procuratie Vecchie. It houses the most important clock in the city, St Mark's Clock

It was constructed as a display of Venice's wealth, and as an aid to sailors on the Grand Canal about to depart on a voyage. The building was designed by Mauro Codussi and constructed between 1496 and 1499. The largest bay incorporates a two-storey gateway, with the large clock face above, topped by a single storey tower with a depiction of a Lion of St Mark against the night sky, while two blackened bronze figures intended as giants but known as the "Moors" stand on top and ring a bell on the hour.

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The Bridge of Sighs (Ponte dei Sospiri) is one of many bridges in Venice. The enclosed bridge is made of white limestone and has windows with stone bars. It passes over the Rio di Palazzo and connects the old prisons to the interrogation rooms in the Doge's Palace.

The view from the Bridge of Sighs was the last view of Venice that convicts saw before their imprisonment. The bridge name, given by Lord Byron in the 19th century, comes from the suggestion that prisoners would sigh at their final view of beautiful Venice out the window before being taken down to their cells. In reality, the days of inquisitions and summary executions were over by the time the bridge was built, and the cells under the palace roof were occupied mostly by small-time criminals.

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