Venice Information

Venice is built on 117 small islands and has some 150 canals and 409 bridges (only 3 of which cross the Grand Canal). The historic centre is divided into six quarters or sestieri: San Marco, Dorsoduro, San Polo, Santa Croce, Cannaregio and Castello. It covers a deceptively small area which should take around just 30 minutes to walk from Cannaregio in the northwest to Dorsoduro in the south. The city's 'main street' is the Grand Canal, was passes each of the districts as it twists along the length of Venice from the railway station to San Marco.

Although many of the buildings treasures remain in the buildings for which they were created, a sizeable number have been removed from one or other of Venice's museums. The one that should not be missed is the Accademia, an assembly of Venetian painting that consists of almost only masterpieces. Other prominent collections include the museum of eighteenth-century art in the Ca' Rezzonico and the civic museum of Venice, the Museo Corre.

Of course there's the spectacle of the streets themselves, of the majestic and sometimes decrepit places, of the hemmed-in squares where much of the city's social life occurs, or the sunlit courtyards that suddenly open up at the end of dubious passageways. The cultural heritage displayed in the museums and churches is a source of endless fascination, but you should also take the time to just wander the streets as the anonymous parts of Venice reveal as much of the city's character as the highlighted attractions.

The Gondola is one of Venice's chief form of transport and has become an adjunct of the tourist industry and the city's biggest cliche. That said the gondola is an astonishingly graceful craft, perfectly designed for the tortuous canals. An hours voyage through the city can give you an entirely new perspective on the city. To hire one costs from €62 per fifty minutes for up to 6 people.