Port guide: Venice, Italy

This floating city is packed with churches, palaces and art. Although overcrowded and maddening, it’s impossible not to fall under Venice’s spell.

Who goes there

Venice has long been a key port for cruises in the Adriatic and wider eastern Mediterranean, so you’ll have no shortage of cruise lines to choose from, as just about all sail there – or technically speaking, to ports nearby. CroisiEurope, European Waterways and Uniworld operate river ships from Venice itself around the Venetian Lagoon.

Part of Venice’s pleasures is to wander and find your own favourite corner.Credit: Uniworld

Sail on in

Large ocean ships have been relocated from Venice centre, so you’ll only get a distant view of the floating city and, on a clear day, the Italian Alps behind. On a river-cruise ship, though, you’ll be dazzled as you sail past St Mark’s Square, the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore and buildings encrusted with gargoyles, angels, balconies and belfries.

Berth rites

A ban on larger cruise ships has seen other, quite distant ports such as Chioggia, Ravenna and Trieste slowly take over, so check what “Venice” on your schedule really means. The closest docks are now at Fusina and Marghera on the mainland. Some cruise lines may still check you in at the old Marittima cruise terminal at the edge of the historic centre and transfer you by shuttle. River ships continue to dock at Marittima or on San Basilio and Santa Marta piers in Venice.

Going ashore

Part of Venice’s pleasures is to wander and find your own favourite corner, canal or view. Key sights however include the gold-laden Doge’s Palace and St Mark’s Basilica with its fabulous Byzantine-style mosaics, both of which overlook St Mark’s Square. You’ll also want to see the Grand Canal, Rialto Bridge, 16th-century San Giorgio Church and the Church Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, which has a Titian altarpiece and splendid tombs. Admire more Titians and Tintorettos at the Galleria dell’Accademia, and modern art at the nearby Peggy Guggenheim Collection.

Don’t miss

Venice is divided into six districts or sestieri, each with their own distinctive characteristics. A third of the city’s dwindling population lives in Cannaregio, where you’ll find the most local atmosphere and some of the city’s most pleasant canals, lined not by impressive palaces but yellow and pink residential buildings. Misericordia is the best canal in the evening, when young families come out for a perambulation and students congregate in waterside bars.

Only smaller ships are allowed so near the floating city.Credit: Uniworld

Get active

With its crowded, narrow streets, Venice isn’t the town to break out into a jog, and certainly not to ride a bicycle. Best stick to walking around its 118 islands linked by 400 bridges, which is enough to wear out your shoe soles, and a great way to discover hidden churches, quiet piazzas and alleyways still unconquered by the tourist hordes.

Best bites

Dining in Venice can be expensive and dispiriting, so do some careful research beforehand. Typical Venetian dishes include liver with onions, soft-shelled crab, spaghetti with clams, sea bass, and fish or seafood risotto. Tramezzi sandwiches and tapas-like cicchetti (anything from slices of pizza to fried fish or marinated olives) are local snacks often enjoyed with a glass of white wine while standing at a bar counter.

Further afield

If you’ve been to Venice before, pick an excursion that focuses on a particular aspect of the city, such as lacemaking on the island of Burano, or glassmaking on Murano, whose houses are painted in vivid, clashing colours. Excursions will otherwise take you further afield to any of several very worthy cities such as gastronomic capital Bologna, wonderfully preserved Renaissance town Ferrara, pilgrim and university town Padua, or Ravenna for its magnificent Byzantine church mosaics.