Easy navigation in Venice
Summer is close, or is it here already? If you are first-time Venice's guest visitor, please remember these key points.
You might use them as your arrival or departure points. Then, forget them, go far from crowds and enjoy Venice. If you wish to see main tourist spots, well try it earlier in the morning or come. back in colder months, you will not regret it. Feel free to download or share this map🌹 #structuresofvenice
Piazalle Roma
Car parking spaces, garages, bus arrivals, tram stops from Meatre etc. You can take vaporetto from here and head to your accomodation or Venice Central islands. There is Red Cross, Venezia Unica, Vaporetto ticket office You can also cross from Piazalle Roma towards Santa Lucia on stylish but not comvenient bridge- if you have a heavy luggage, wheelchair, baby stroll, this would be pain. In my life I have experienced somebody helping me on steps with luggage - 1x! It was some foreign soldier.
This is how it works easily.
If your arrival by bus/ taxi or whatever is during daylight, you can head straight to vaporetto box office, to check map of vaporetto, see where do you need to head to. You can consider one way ticket, day pass, or more day passes. Also sometimes they sell combo ticket in the combination of museums and galleries!
If you wish to have a paper map, you need to buy it in tabacchi, right at the sea side, just next to vaporetto ticket office.
Make sure you have always some coins in your pocket, if you need to purchase these small items. You don´t want to show to the world your purse, right?
Please remember it is forbidden to bring to Venice´s centre bike, and transport of heavy and big luggage has to have a "ticket" too. Santa Lucia
Train station. End station, your arrival to Venice by train from Paris, Vienna, Rome and more. You can go out, and in front of train station take vaporetto - there is ticket office. Make sure you have always some small cash with you, for small purchases, while waiting for vaporetto you can get a coffee nearby. Be careful this is busy area, also busy working area for thieves. Recently in front of station started to operate guys who can help to bring your luggage from station to vaporetto stop. They would ask you for 20 m of transport in carriage maybe 20 € ( :) ) so do not hesitate to give them some € coins and be grateful.
Today´s train station Santa Lucia was started to be built in rational style designed in 1924 by Angiolo Mazzoni, but the process of building station and area for trains began earlier. Therefore, already in 1861 the Church of Santa Lucia, that was formerly standing here, was demolished, so that new buildings could have been built here. Right opposite of todays station, there is the church San Simeone Piccolo, with its unusual circular plan. If you happen to arrive to Venice early in the morning, to see sunrise here is truly spectacular welcoming gesture.
Piazza San Marco
Simply called Piazza. Yes this is the place where is Campanile ( clock tower) and Basilica di San Marco.
To get closer to it, vaporetto stop is called San Zaccaria. You can get there comfy by vaporetto. If you wish, there is always the option of ordering water taxi, which is of course more expensive. If you are staying at the hotel, ask them about best way how to get there or about transport options.
Piazza: the most favourite spot of visit, overly crowded in summer months. Come early in the morning and then head to more calmer areas (summer). Colder months are amazing to visit its museums, galleries and to escape from rain. Right in the heart of Piazza there are beautiful historical coffeeshops Cafe Quadri and Cafe Florian. If you want to fit into these interior, bring yourself nice clothes and enjoy good coffee or desserts in company of spirits of the past.
Piazza is built just at the water level, and some of its parts are below sea level. This is the reason, why if there is an aqua alta, this location is flooded usually very quickly. You don´t have to worry about it, because Venetians are trained to built temporary bridges, so you can cross these areas. What you can consider, is to check potentional flooded areas during aqua alta. In vaporetto station there are sometimes informative maps, so take a look at them. Another thing you can do is to do little search on the net about Aqua Alta Venice, to get more info and to be calm. If you are arriving in winter months, bring with you good rainproof shoes.
In front of Piazza, actually on the water side of it, you can see spot were gondoliers are waiting for their customers. This is also favourite spot to take photos of "parked" gondolas. Gondolier /should have/ fixed price for gondola ride and this price is per gondola, which can take usually up to 6 persons, if you want.
Fondamente Nove
You can take vapo from here and head to Murano /Burano if you are around. This area is easily being overlooked, but it is good to remember its existance. From here you can see Island of Spirits, the place where souls are sleeping. Usually you can have here great sunset views, as laguna is colored orange / pink and you can observe from here lazy passing boats, or people training on traditional boats.
Fondamente Nove is also one of the stops of Alilaguna service, the boat that comes from the airport and heads to the most "hotel" spots.
Head here, if you wish to visit islands of Murano, Burano. This location is good for getting lost, it will make happy photographers, as you can see here empty and not crowded calle. You can find here few places to get snack or drink. Murano
Island famous for its glass factories. Venetians were vitty, they gave every island separate function. As their industry of glass making was a big one, they moved all the factories of glassmakers to the island Murano. This happened in 13th century, and since then, they also started to export their goods more and more, and were becoming ruling power of glass making.
That is for the security reasons - in case of fire, it would be separated from state´s buildings and from civil houses. It is possible to see glass making process, and also to visit Murano Glass Museum.
You might like to observe goods and to choose perhaps something to bring with you as a souvenir or gift. Make sure it is really produced there, as sadly, even Venetian people started to import their goods from China and to be selling it under mark Made In Venice. Disappointing, but it is true.
Map, text by Karolinska 2019
@structuresofvenice