Second trip to Venice-what must we see

Torcello

These walking tours are well worth your time. They're free, but please tip.

http://www.venicefreetours.com/venice-free-tour-english/

For St Marks Basilica, you can reserve a time slot here.

https://www.venetoinside.com/attraction-tickets-in-veneto/tickets/skip-the-line-saint-marks-basilica/

If you didn't visit the Museum, do so this time.

Scuola Dalmata di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni has my favorite Carpaccio paintings including St. George & the dragon. Take binoculars, the huge paintings are high on the walls in kind of a dark room. On Calle dei Furlani in Castello.

We took the secret itinerary tour and really enjoyed it. When you get into the attic and see how the doors were constructed and see the beams, it was amazing. What sticks with me most was how the timbers were made "fireproof" We want to go back to just sit in the square in the evening and have no agenda! Someday!!

We enjoyed the Secret itinerary tour, but if you've already been on the other tour I don't know if it's worth it.

Maybe go to the Peggy Guggenheim museum?

Atlas Obscura has some fun things to see in Venice.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/venice-italy

I second the Torcello recommendation and suggest eating at Trono di Attila for excellent local food. No English menu, wait staff will help, but it is not a tourist focused restaurant.
The mosaics in the basilica are striking and the audio guide provides very helpful information.

I'll second Torcello.

Also the chicetti bar tour with Alessandro Schezzini was a lot of fun. Enough food along the way to not need dinner.

Torcello. Amazing church.

Scuola grande di San Marco if you like medical history.

Secret itinerary tour was great.

We liked the lido mostly bc our kids love the beach.

Walk along the Canareggio Canal, find a bar, and sit outside and have a delicious spritz while watching life on the water.
Al Parlamento is a good one.

Thank you for all the input! I am off to research some more.

There are some really nice restaurants on Torchello. We had a very relaxing afternoon there.

We went for our second round of Venice last fall. We had a great time and really had no agenda, just wandered around, ate good food and drank good wine!

Someone posted recently about one of the restaurants on Torchello that has private water taxis to pick you up and then return you to Venice. Look here for the surprise or anniversary thread it was in the last week, if that’s something you’re interested in.

We enjoyed the Clock Tower tour - small group, nice history and views from the top.

Definitely leave time to wander and get lost for the fun of it. We crossed the Accademia bridge to wander through the Dorsoduoro neighborhood to get away from the San Marco mid-day crowd - had a wonderful time. When we stopped for a late lunch, we were almost to the train station!

I really enjoyed attending an opera at La Fenice, too. An early morning ride up the Grand Canal as the city awakens is great.

When we were in Venice we took the boat to Murano and Burano. We got off at the cemetery island (forgot the actual name), but it was really nice and fascinating.
Several famous people buried there and we even saw a nice shiny boat approach the dock with a very pretty (also shiny) casket. They were doing a burial....we didn't follow to try to see, but it was an interesting experience.
I would recommend a stop there and a walk through the cemetery.
( Side note: we also visited the cemetery in Milan and it was amazing. We spent a few hours there visiting the elegant and famous sites.)

If you like art, the Peggy Guggenheim museum is wonderful..