Venice Things To Do

Although Venice is busy and crowded with tourists year-round, and the city’s high season stretches far beyond the typical borders of summer, the summer months are still when most people visit Venice. It tends to be the time when most people can travel – especially because the kids are out of school – and, of course, the weather is reliably good. But going to Venice in the summer means dealing with some of the difficulties of high season travel.

Around every corner in Venice you’ll find another wonderful church. They’ve managed to build some pretty huge and magnificent edifices given the small amount of land their city is perched on.

Venice is such a famous city, you probably know everything there is to know about it – right? Wrong. It’s a city of seemingly endless mysteries, many of which are just waiting to be discovered by new visitors. Here are some of the things you probably didn’t know about Venice.

Venice is practically a year-round tourist destination – even in the cold and damp winter the city can seem overrun with day trippers. But at no time does Venice seem more lively than when the city is in the midst of celebrating something. There are holidays and festivals throughout the year, some of which can dramatically impact your ability to get a hotel room at a decent price, so be sure to consult a calendar of Venice events during your trip planning process. On the other hand, each of these festivals is the kind of spectacle you’ll never forget.

Jews have lived in the city of Venice since medieval times, but in 1516 the Venetian Ghetto was established in the Cannaregio district and all Venetian Jews were forced to live there. The word “gheto” is a Venetian word referring to the iron stored near the foundry in the Cannaregio, so it’s from this Venetian Ghetto that the word “ghetto” is derived. The Venetian Ghetto was abolished in 1797 by Napoleon.

Most tourist destinations have what are thought of as high and low tourist seasons, but Venice seems to be popular pretty much year-round. Still, there are a few benefits to visiting in the slower seasons – which, in Venice, includes part of the spring. The calendar generally says spring runs from March-May, but those few months vary widely in Venice. If you’re headed to Venice in Spring, here’s what you can expect.

For many travelers, Venice itself is a day trip from elsewhere – but if you’re spending several days in Venice itself, you may be looking for day trip options in the area. Here are some of the best day trip options from Venice.

Venice, La Serenissima, city of more than 150 canals, narrow streets, and wrought-iron bridges connecting over 117 islands. City of masks and gondolas, beauty and romance, wonderful artwork, elegant mansions, exquisite glassware and lace. Maritime capital of the medieval world, home to famous merchants and clandestine meetings in alleyways. This crumbling city on water is like nowhere else on earth, and is one of the world’s most visited tourist destinations. It has to be seen to be truly appreciated, so here are some tips for making the most out of your trip to enchanting Venice.

If you think today’s political scene is dirty and tangled you should have lived in Venice back in its heyday. For centuries Venice was controlled by the Council of Ten who were led by the Doge – a leader who was elected by an incredibly complex system of secret ballots from the Grand Council of over one thousand men, a system even more convoluted then electing a Pope.

Life and theater, all in a mask. This is the theme of the 2012 Venice Carnival and what better stage setting could you find for acting out your daily life than Venice. Carnival marks the beginning of Lent; it is the extravagant celebration of food and fun that leads up to the forty days and nights of abstinence before Easter.