Morning
Land at Venice Marco Polo (VCE)
The airport sits on the mainland edge of the lagoon. No car goes past the causeway; from here it is boat and foot only.
Alilaguna Blue Line to San Marco
The airport boat dock is a covered walk from arrivals. The Blue Line crosses the lagoon to San Marco (Giardinetti).
Check the tide forecast
Acqua alta gets likelier from October. The MOSE barriers hold back the worst of it, but Piazza San Marco is the lowest ground in the city and still floods first.
Afternoon / Day
Check in: Hotel Flora
San Marco 2283/A, a few minutes from the piazza. Run by the Romanelli family since 1965; the walled garden is the quietest corner nearby.
Access fee and city tax
Venice charges visitors in two separate ways: a city tourist tax the hotel collects, and a day-visitor access fee whose dates, price and exemptions are reset each year. Check the comune's current rules before you book.
Basilica di San Marco
San Marco 328. Book a slot online; the Pala d'Oro and the Museum with the Loggia dei Cavalli are ticketed separately from the church.
Evening
Dinner at Al Covo
Castello 3968. The Benelli family have run it since 1987: lagoon fish, small island producers, natural wines. Closed Tuesday and Wednesday, so book.
Vaporetto 1 along the Grand Canal
Board at San Zaccaria after dark and take the slow line past every palazzo. Wait for an outside seat at the bow if one frees up.
Morning
Rialto Market
Campo de la Pescaria, San Polo. The fish stalls under the loggia trade in the morning only and are packed away by lunchtime.
Basilica dei Frari
San Polo 3072. Titian's Assunta burns over the high altar and his tomb is in the nave; Donatello's gaunt wooden Saint John is the other reason to come.
Scuola Grande di San Rocco
Campo San Rocco 3052, San Polo. Open daily 9:30-17:30, last tickets 17:00. Over sixty paintings, most of them Tintoretto, still hanging where he put them.
Afternoon / Day
Gilberto Penzo, boat models
Calle 2a dei Saoneri, San Polo 2681, around the corner from the Frari. Gondola models, build-it-yourself kits and boat plans, made here since 1979. Closed Sundays.
Lunch at Osteria Bancogiro
Campo San Giacometto, San Polo 122. Tables directly on the Grand Canal beside the market; seasonal cooking. Book if you want one outside.
Palazzo Ducale
Piazza San Marco 1. Book through Vivaticket; entry is no longer tied to a fixed time slot. The Secret Itineraries tour is a separate reservation.
Evening
Dinner at Antiche Carampane
San Polo 1911. Closed Sunday and Monday, and a 7:30 table has to be given back at 9:30 - reserve. Fish carpaccio off the Rialto stalls, cassopipa.
Morning
Vaporetto 12 from Fondamente Nove
The island line leaves the north shore for Murano, Mazzorbo and Burano. Buy a multi-day ACTV pass; single rides add up fast.
Museo del Vetro, Murano
Fondamenta Marco Giustinian, in Palazzo Giustinian - the Torcello bishops' old residence, moved here when the island emptied. The widest survey of Murano glass anywhere.
Santa Maria e San Donato
Campo San Donato, Murano. The inlaid mosaic floor is dated 1141 and covers the whole nave; the four great ribs hung behind the altar are shown as a dragon's bones.
Afternoon / Day
Lunch at Trattoria al Gatto Nero
Via Giudecca 88, Burano. Bovo family since 1965 and no meat on the menu at all. Closed Mondays; last lunch booking is around 2:45.
Burano: Piazza Galuppi
The house colours are granted by permit, not chosen. The lace museum and the alarmingly leaning campanile of San Martino share the island's only square.
Torcello: Santa Maria Assunta
Five minutes from Burano on line 9. Founded in 639; an eleventh-century Virgin stands alone in the gold apse, with a full Last Judgement facing her.
Evening
Vaporetto back to Fondamente Nove
Boats off the outer islands thin out early in the evening. Read the return time off the pontoon before you settle in on Torcello.
Dinner at Osteria Anice Stellato
Fondamenta de la Sensa, Cannaregio, a canalside walk from Fondamente Nove. Closed Mondays; the kitchen runs Tuesday to Sunday until late.
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Morning
Train to Padova
Venezia Santa Lucia to Padova runs well under an hour on a regional train and faster still on a Frecciarossa. Stamp a paper ticket before boarding.
Cappella degli Scrovegni
Piazza Eremitani, Padova. Giotto's fresco cycle. Booking is compulsory and same-day tickets are not sold, so reserve before you leave home.
Coffee at Caffe Pedrocchi
Via VIII Febbraio 15, Padova. Nearly two centuries of trading. Order the Pedrocchi coffee, then obey the house rule: no sugar, and do not stir it.
Afternoon / Day
Basilica di Sant'Antonio
Piazza del Santo 11, Padova. Entry to the basilica is free; dress as you would for any working church and allow an hour with the cloisters.
Orto Botanico di Padova
Via Orto Botanico, a short walk from the basilica. Planted in 1545 as a physic garden for medical students, UNESCO-listed since 1997.
Prato della Valle
Padova. An enormous elliptical square with a statue-lined ring canal and an island in the middle, right between the garden and the basilica.
Evening
Train back to Venezia Santa Lucia
Trains run late into the evening. Santa Lucia opens straight onto the Grand Canal, so the last leg home is a vaporetto.
Dinner at Cantina Do Spade
Calle Do Spade 859, San Polo, in the lanes behind the Rialto. Trading since 1448 and open every day: cicchetti standing, or a full sit-down meal.
Dorsoduro and Departure
Morning
Gallerie dell'Accademia
Campo della Carità, Dorsoduro 1050. Giorgione's Tempest and Veronese's Feast in the House of Levi; vaporetto lines 1 and 2 stop at the door.
Squero di San Trovaso
Fondamenta Nani, Dorsoduro. A working gondola yard under an Alpine-looking timber loft. It is a workshop, not a museum, so watch from across the rio.
Cicchetti at Cantine già Schiavi
Dorsoduro 992, Fondamenta Nani. Monday to Saturday 8:30-20:30, shut Sunday. Over 500 wines; eat standing outside, facing the boatyard.
Afternoon / Day
Peggy Guggenheim Collection
Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, Dorsoduro 701. Daily 10-18 and closed Tuesdays; the ticket desk shuts at 17:00. The sculpture garden is included.
Santa Maria della Salute
Dorsoduro 1, at the mouth of the Grand Canal. Built in thanks for the end of the 1630 plague. The sacristy is a separate paid visit and shuts Mondays.
Alilaguna back to Marco Polo
Allow well over two hours door to gate. The water bus is slow by design and the walk from the airport dock adds more.
Evening
Fly out of VCE
Venice Marco Polo. The boat timetable, not the check-in desk, decides what time you actually have to leave the city.
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