What to do during free time in Venice

What is included in your tour and what are your interests?

Are you referring to the Rick Steves' Venice-Florence-Rome tour? Not everyone on this forum does tours or is familiar with the RS tours.

Hi, Our itinerary says we are doing a walking tour ending in St. Mark's Square and tour the Accademia and take a cruise into Venice's lagoon to one of the islands. So not much formally planned (we only have a few days there).
The itinerary does say we will have free time to visit St. Mark's Basilica, explore Doge's Palace, so those aren't included in our tour.

We are interested in exploring things off the beaten path, exploring local eateries and things like that. Doge's palace does look interesting though so that might be a possibility. Thank you for your help!

Oh, sorry (I'm new here). Yes it's the Venice-Florence-Rome tour. 3 days in each location.

That's an easy question to answer: WANDER!!!! Turn left, or right, at any alley and you'll discover a layer of Venice that most tourists never know about. You can't get lost - you're on an island! May 2024? I'll be the happy return visitor (15?) you'll see wandering away from the crowds for the 14th time.

Is this one day a jet lagged day? IOW is it the day you land?

If so stay outside in the sunshine, just wander but do visit St Mark’s Basilica

If not you might look at the Secret Itineraries tour of Doges Palace
https://palazzoducale.visitmuve.it/en/pianifica-la-tua-visita/special-itineraries/secret-itineraries-tour/

If you're up for it on your first day, consider visiting the islands of Murano and Burano. And, as another poster said--wander.

Definitely buy a ticket in advance for the Doge's Palace and St. Mark's Basilica. If you don't get one in advance, you will waste precious time standing in line. Also, I bought an advance ticket for a walking tour of Venice. The tour was great, it lasted about 90 minutes and it includes a boat ride later on in the day and it does include going down the Grand Canal.

Here is what I would suggest, as a frequent visitor to Venice. It is what we traditionally do on our arrival day, and often repeat during our stay if it is more than a few days.

After dropping your bags at your hotel, make you way to the Accademia Bridge (I can suggest routes if you name your hotel or location. If it is the oft-recommended Pensioner Gueratto, you would start with a walk over the Rialto Bridge to the San Marco side, stopping at the top to enjoy the view over the Grand Canal and the boat traffic). Then follow the signs “per Accademia” or use a paper map or Google maps walking instructions. Again, stop on the bridge (avoiding bumping into the selfie-takers) to enjoy the view.

Once across the bridge you will be in Dorsosuro.Take a dogleg to the left around the side of the Accademia itself, and continue walking south until you reach the other side of the Dorsoduro peninsula, where you meet the Giudecca Canal, busy with large ferries and other boats. The wide Zattere sidewalk makes for easy walking and great views here. If it is time for gelato, turn right along the Zattere a short distance to Gelateria Nico.

https://www.gelaterianico.com/

You can buy a cone at the window for a “takeaway”, or pay more and sit at a table on the floating terrace. Not a bad idea if you need a break or just want to enjoy the scene.

If it is not time for a gelato, our you have finished, head east along the Zattere (turning left if you are coming from the bridge) and continue all the way to the tip of Dorsoduro, a spot named Punta della Dogana for the customs house there. From this spot, you have a very nice view across the water to San Marco, and in the other direction to the small island of San GiorgioMaggiore and the church there). Here is a photo of the place and surrounding area:

https://arquitecturaviva.com/works/punta-della-dogana-1

Aside: (If you are looking for a tower to ascend, this might be a good one, although we have not done that we we prefer stairs to elevators for our tower climbs.). The isle of San Giorgio can only be reached by vaporetto. This blog has instructions:

https://www.visit-venice-italy.com/bell-tower-venice-italy/bell-tower-san-giorgio-maggiore-island-venice.html

When you are finished soaking in the views from Punta della Dogana, wrap around the tip and continue along the water to the Santa Maria della Salute Church. The waterside path ends here. Now you get to have some fun “wandering”, finding your way through the narrow calls and canal-side paths back to the Accademia bridge (or to the Zattere for Nico if you didn’t have your gelato previously). The main path, taken by most people) goes along Calle Bastione past artisans’ shops (nice jewelry and other glass objects, as well as artwork, leather woods, etc.), and makes a dogleg around the Peggy Guggenheim museum.

If you want to see the gondola workshop (squero di San Trovaso) keep going past the Accademia to Rio San Trovaso canal, and take the sidewalk on the near side down past the workshop. It isn’t much but makes for a nice walk.

Consider ending your day with a sunset visit to the view terrace at Fondaco di Tedeschi near the Rialto Bridge. Reservations are required and should be made a couple of weeks in advance.

https://www.dfs.com/it/venice/service/rooftop-terrace

I did the Venice/Florence/Rome tour a few years ago and it’s a great tour. It will take you to Burano and possibly Torcello, but not Murano, so when I arrived a day early I got a day pass for the vaporetto and went out to Murano, and visited a lot of glass shops. Then I rode the length of the grand canal and made a stop at San Giorgio Maggiore to go up the tower for an amazing view of the city. The rest of the time I just got lost. This was enough to fill the day. After the tour went out to Burano we ended up back at St. Marks square with some free time so several of us went into the Doges Palace, which is right there, and really enjoyed it.

Anita's plan looks good. As you know, your tour will walk you around the central part of Venice to San Marco Basilica, take you to Burano and the Accademia, and organize a gondola ride if you want. You'll have two free afternoons during the tour, plus your day before the tour. The Doge's Palace is very interesting, a good choice after San Marco. The tower at San Giorgio is very good, less crowded than the Campanile at San Marco but requires a vaporetto to a separate island. I liked the Frari Church, the Correr Museum (with a cafe), the Ghetto, and Santa Maria della Salute. I liked the Naval Museum but not everyone does. I had three days before the tour, you'll need to prioritize. Read about Venice under "Explore Europe" above, and check out a guidebook or two from your library. It's good to have a plan, but said, just wandering is also great and may be easier on your arrival day if you're tired. Almost every church will have fascinating architecture and art. A 24-hour vaporetto pass will extend your wandering options and give you an easy way to get off your feet when needed. This is a great tour, hope you enjoy it.

Very glad I found this post - I have bookmarked it for my trip in spring, 2024.

Lola I especially appreciate all the detail you provided - Thanks!

We love the Dorsoduro area. That’s where we are staying now. Just getaway from the Rialto area and St Mark’s. The Saint Marks Square area is under a lots of construction and it’s not very pleasant to the eye at the moment. We were here six years ago, and it was much more attractive. Wander the small back streets.

Sometimes, what they mean, is that they will take you to a sight, like St Marks for example, but not provide a guided tour of the interior (for multiple reasons) so it is up to you if you want to use some or all of your free time inside, or want to go somewhere else on your own.

Hello, Listen to Robert just WANDER.
Walk everywhere. Get LOST Really.

As has been mentioned, just wander and wander and wander. The very best parts of Venice, in my opinion, are the ones way off the beaten path. Just keep walking down the least crowded side streets until you run out of tourist -- except for yourself of course. One of the places that few people go is the Jewish Ghetto. Read up on it and then go there. Very sobering

When I was there last May the Jewish Ghetto was completely closed for renovations, and it didn’t look like they were starting any time soon.

Hi everyone, I wanted to thank you for all of your insight and ideas! We've already researched some things we would not have known to research because of your replies! I'm looking forward to seeing more!

I second the suggestion re Cannaregio / Jewish ghetto. We had only only a few hours to explore but could have spent a day. Extremely interesting and restaurants reflect the local culture.

We always stay in the Cannaregio area- quiet back canals, no crowds. It's a different view of Venice as opposed to the crowds in St Mark's Square.
I would come in more than one day earlier, with the post- COVID airline chaos. Of our last three post- COVID trips, two had major delays: one 24 hrs, and one 6 hrs. And recently, there have been so many strikes which affect airport workers, which adds another element of unpredictability. Some folks here report their airline completely canceling their flight, and then offering them a flight the next day! It's just getting too common, so it's best to plan for some travel disruption.
Good luck and safe travels!

If you make a reservation at Cip's Club at the Hotel Cipriani, you will be outdoors in a relatively casual setting (the hotel also has a Michelin star restaurant but this isn't it) with views across the water to St. Mark's Square. They will pick you up in one of those cool wood boats from a location near the Bridge of Sighs.

We toured St. Marks. Took the very last tour of the day. They turned off the lights behind us as we moved from area to area. It was beautiful. Highly recommend.

While you wander….and that’s the best thing to do in Venice….remember to look up frequently.
So many interesting architectural details, balcony gardens, people in a window, etc.
Don’t be afraid to turn into the darkest of alleys…..you won’t get lost.