Venice in a Day: Hidden Gems & Top Attractions

Hey guys, Sean here from The Roman Guy. We're in Roma Termini station. It is 6.05 a.m. We have the 6.15 train from Roma Termini to Venice, San Lucia train station. We're going to go see Venice and we only have one day today. Venice is an incredible must-see city, but Italy is full of must-see places. We generally suggest you spend at least one night in Venice, but not every vacation has time for that. We understand, so we're going to show you how to see Venice in a day. Venice is made up from 118 islands and is home to over a quarter million people. The historical center itself, and what we call the main island, is home to just around 55,000 residents. It's known as the most magical island in the world with nicknames like Serenissima, City of the Masks, and the Floating City. It's no wonder visitors to Italy flock to this beautiful place each day to experience their own little slice of Venetian culture and history, but with an average of over 30 million visitors per year, it's a great idea to plan your day well. Venice is about 15 times smaller than Rome and all the main attractions are within walking distance from one another. While many people choose to spend a night or two in Venice, hotels and restaurants can be pretty expensive, so you'll save some money by heading there for the day. Venice is in the Veneto region of Italy. It's located on the Adriatic Sea. By train it's about three and a half hours from Rome, two hours from Florence, and two and a half hours from Milan. We recommend booking your tickets on your phone or computer arriving at Venice San Lucia train station. This way there's no lines at the train station and you can just kind of download your train ticket instead of printing it. Don't get off at Venice That is not your stop. Venice San Lucia is the last stop and definitely your stop. Our train arrived in Venice at around 10 a.m and we planned it apart around 6 p.m. From Venice San Lucia train station you either take an expensive water taxi, which is really cool, or the Vaporetto, which is like a boat version of a bus. You can take the number two, which will take you straight to Saint Mark's Square after a few stops. You can buy your tickets right outside the train station. It'll be really easy to find and a single journey will cost you 7 euros and 50 cents as of 2018. Remember to validate the ticket before you get on board. The ticket's good for 75 minutes after you validate it and you can hop on and off as you go. The trip to Saint Mark's Square takes about 30 minutes and we recommend you go all the way to the back of the boat to get the best views and pics. Saint Mark's Square is on the opposite side of the island as the train station. We'll start there and then kind of backtrack our way back to the train station hitting a ton of cool sites to go. Saint Mark's Square is one of the most important and most recognizable squares in all of Italy. It's known for its beauty and architecture. So last time I was here I was talking to our guide and you know that Saint Mark's Square used to be an orchard? An orchard? Like trees with fruit hanging on them and things like that? Yeah it was an orchard. Imagine you're walking around all of a sudden boom you're in like an orchard of fruit trees and then in 828 AD so like the 9th century they paved it over and it started becoming the square that it is today. Interessante. Interessante. If you're planning on going inside Saint Mark's Basilica you can either buy tickets online or book a guided tour. Don't show up without a ticket or you'll spend your day in Venice waiting in line. That sucks so just don't do it. Remember that entering Saint Mark's Basilica you'll be entering a holy place so make sure you have your shoulders covered and your knees covered and you're modestly dressed or you maybe refuse entry at the door. The basilica is open every day from 9 45 a.m until 5 p.m. On Sundays it's open from 2 p.m to 4 p.m. On the right hand side of Saint Mark's Basilica you'll find the Doge's Palace which pretty much means the Duke's Palace. Inside you'll find the giant staircase. The grand staircase leads up to the main floor inside the palace. It's called giant not only for its size but also because on the top of the giant's staircase it's flanked by statues of the gods Mars and Neptune. The special itineraries tour takes you to the once famous cell of Casanova who was the original ladies man and you also go across the bridge of size which is super cool. If you look at the palace from the square you can see that a ninth and tenth column on the first floor are red. According to some the two red columns were the place from which the Doge attended the ceremonies and performances that took place in the square. From here it seems the death sentences were also announced so red was a very appropriate color. You can visit Doge's Palace every day from 8 30 a.m to 7 p.m April through October or 5 30 p.m from November to March. This clock has been keeping time in Venice for over 500 years and built in the late 15th century. This special clock displays the time the phase of the moon and the dominant sign of the zodiac. The clock tower is topped by two bronze figures who strike the bell hourly. Venetian legends hold that when the clock was revealed it was so beautiful that the Doge had the clockmaker blinded so he could never create anything to rival it. If you're a lover of great views definitely check out the Campanile or bell tower in English. You can climb up it. It's 99 meters tall it's like 300 feet and you can also see across all of Venice and the lagoon. It's a great place for a photo. The tower is open only from April to October so we obviously recommend buying your ticket online in advance. We just left St. Mark's Square. We went into St. Mark's Basilica. We didn't get to go inside of Doge's Palace today. We didn't have a lot of time but we got there at 10 45. It's 12 30 now. We're making really good time. We're going to head to Liberia d'Acqua Alta. The bookstore of high water. Okay and when we finish there we're going to head out to get a typical Venetian snack. So it's 12 30 now. We want to be at the place to get a snack by 1 30. Making really good time though. This bookstore is pretty cool. Most people just think it's a quirky store with gondolas on the side but there's actually a method to the madness. The name translates to the library of high water. Most of the books are protected inside bathtubs or even a gondola. This is because the canals flood and it's the best way to keep the books protected. There's even an escape staircase in the back leading up to the canal. Now we'll head for a casual lunch at Ostria al Portego. Venetian bars they sell something called cicchetti. You can see here there's all types of like different mixed food. They have fish, they have meat, all kinds of fried items. Basically anything you can fit in a toothpick. I've also got myself here an ombra. So in Venice you say vieni per un ombra, un ombretto, un ombretto di vino. It means a shadow because in Venice everyone's fishermen so they finish work around like 10 and the shadow from the bell tower in St. Mark's Square, the campanile, everyone will go under there and drink and have their their shadow. So I'm gonna have my glass of wine, my shadow and you could have one with me too. So we got a lot accomplished today. Trying to get Venice done in one day takes a toll on your body. I'm gonna take a snack break right now and try to recharge the batteries. While I'm doing that if you could be so kind if you like the video just go ahead and click the like button. If you love the video go ahead and subscribe. We just finished our typical Venetian snack cicchetti. Okay it's two o'clock right now and we're gonna start heading over to Rialto Bridge is one of the most recognized attractions in Europe, let alone Venice. It was actually first built as a pontoon bridge in the 12th century. Later they rebuilt it out of wood but it burnt down a few times and collapsed on even a few more occasions. Finally they completed what you see today in 1591. Nino and Friends was a cool little shop that we happened upon. They had the best cookie I've ever eaten in my life, a cappuccino cookie. If you're walking by and you smell something great just stop by. It was cool because they gave us lots of free samples and we ended up buying coffee. Definitely somewhere you should check out. I always love passing through the markets of Venice. This city is a fishing village so definitely walk through the fish market which is a great picture of the local culture. I doubt you'll buy anything but you'll definitely see the real locals at work. 3.30 now. We've already covered the Rialto obviously St. Mark's Square in the very beginning. Starting to lose a little bit of energy so I'll probably stop for a coffee soon but we're making really good time. We're gonna go through Cannaregio and the Jewish Ghetto next and then we'll head towards the train station. The Jewish Ghetto is the oldest ghetto in the world and was created here in 1516. The word ghetto literally derives from this area. The new ghetto or Ghetto Novo is the oldest part of it and actually is a small island within Venice connected by draw bridges on all sides. These bridges used to be lifted up every night at midnight to keep the area safe and prevent women to come home late. In this neighborhood you can find many cichetteria and restaurants such as Mezzo Pien, Baccarati Morosi, Birria Zanon. At this point you should check your watch, see what time it is and start making your way back to the train station. I hope this video is really helpful. If you guys like it, definitely like the video. Click the button. If you guys love it, subscribe to our channel. We have a ton of cool content. We're gonna come out with even more. If you have a question, comment it below and one of our reps will answer your question pretty quickly. Otherwise, thank you. I'm Sean from The Roman Guy and welcome to our Rome, how to, Rome, how to series, okay.