Venice

3 days will be sufficient to see all the most important sights and also take a trip to Murano and Burano. Piazza San Marco with the basilica and campanile, Doges' Palace, Accademia (gallery), Rialto Bridge, the Grand Canal, the Frari's basilica, la Fenice theater, are some of the most famous sights. But don't take my word for it. Just Google Venice top attractions and you'll get several hits.

The Canale Grande at dawn. Getting lost in the little calles and campos. The architecture from the small rios. Popping out from a sottoportego and seeing the house of Marco Polo. I can think of hundreds of things, but every person's adventure is different. There is no one size fits all travel. Explore! Discover!!

I agree with Roberto! We were in Venice for only 2 days. Our favorite things were 1) walking without caring if we were lost. You can always find St. Mark's Square (signs all all over the place). 2) having dessert and after-dinner drinks at any one of the restaurants in St. Mark's Square after dark and listening to the battle of the orchestras/bands! So fun!! 3) Visiting Murano and seeing the glass making demos. We had a chandelier shipped home! 4) taking a gondola ride (150 Euros for 45 minutes, I think). One with an accordion player was quite a bit more! We went after dinner when it was quite dark. Wish we had gone just after sunset while there was still light enough to see the buildings better.

While everyone else touts Venice after dark, I wasn't as taken with it. But Venice in the early morning, before the tourists are up, was great. Take an early morning vaporetto while the sun is rising. San Michele (the cemetery island) was another highlight for me that is not featured on most "Venice best 10" lists. Other than that, take a look at a few guidebooks and websites, and choose based on your interests. But do allow plenty of time for wandering and making discoveries; even more than most other cities, this is the glory of Venice.

We really love Venice at night. In case you're interested, here are some photos I've taken of the subject over the years: Nighttime Venice

Michael, those night photos are stunning. Thank you! There are different ways to approach a visit to Venice. If you want to "do" Venice, copy the list of "must-see" sites from a good guidebook and make it your checklist. But if you want to "be" in Venice, just get up early, go outside and start walking, armed with nothing but a few Euro, an Italian phrasebook, a small camera, and a poor sense of direction. Just avoid the San Marco-Rialto corridor between 10:00 and 18:00. At 8 AM we had Piazza San Marco all to ourselves, except for the pigeons and a young couple having their wedding photos taken. https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/tpksheltSMfHV5RvniKQadMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=directlink As we left Venice a few days ago, we could see four cruise ships from our train on the causeway. Apparently there were several more, as later that day local protesters blocked the harbor because of the glut of cruise ships. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/10326417/Protesters-dive-into-Venice-canal-to-block-cruise-ships.html Quote from the article: "On Saturday an estimated 35,000 cruise ship tourists arrived, equal to over half the city's population."

Hi... We just got back from three days in Venice. Other than a side trip to Murano, we did no museums, churches, etc. We wandered the city. We went from wide streets to narrow streets to tiny alleys. Then turned around when they dead ended. We went to St. Mark's Square at 10 pm and listened to the dueling bands across the square. We bought a 3 day vaporetto pass and rode the boat to see sites and be with the people. We rode the Grand Canal, we walked the big bridges and the tiny bridges. We stopped to eat when we were hungry or our feet hurt. We stopped to drink when a cappuccino or a spritz would pick us up! Don't have an itinerary. you can't get lost on an island. Explore, wander, enjoy. Craig

Craig's experience just goes to show that there are lots of different ways to experience a place. Personally, I've seen some absolutely beautiful things inside churches and museums in Venice and I wouldn't trade those memories for anything.