My Favorite Places in Magical Venice

Venice is a family favorite, out of all the places we visited. We were there both before and after a wonderful Greek Island Cruise with Royal Caribbean. I will share more about that another time.  This was the first European location we showed our children, and it did not disappoint!   The lack of cars, the canals, the history, the beauty and mmmm that food!  What is not to love?

These were our favorite spots of all:

1. St. Mark’s Square was the focal point of almost all our explorations of the city.  Beauty everywhere, and there was always so much going on.  Here you find many of the most popular sights.
2. St. Mark’s Basilica, located in St. Mark’s Square is a “must see” stop on any tourist’s list.  This is the resting place of THE Saint Mark, after his remains were stolen from Alexandria by Venetian merchants. For 1000 years, it served as the private chapel of the doges.  It can be very crowded in summer, but it is worth the wait.  They do enforce the dress code, so shorts are not allowed and women must cover shoulders and upper arms.  If you are not covered enough, they will give (or sell, I forget) you a piece of paper tablecloth which you can wrap around yourself.  The inside is full of treasures obtained by the Venetian merchants, and you can go upstairs for a great view of St. Mark’s square.  Photos are not allowed inside, so I can only show you the outside.

3. The Doge’s Palace, or Palazzo Ducale is located adjacent to St. Mark’s Basilica.  This was the palace of the former rulers of Venice and is open for you to tour on your own or with a group .

4. A Gondola ride is mandatory when visiting Venice, isn’t it? It should be!

5. The Clock Tower, Campanile,  in St. Mark’s Square is a landmark.  You can climb to the top for a great view of the city. 

6. The Grand Canal is a beautiful place to stroll along or to photograph.  This is mandatory too:)

7.  The food in Venice was spectacular.  The setting wasn’t so bad, either!

8.  We didn’t actually visit these places, because the art museums were of little interest to some of our group. This was our children’s first tast of Europe and since they aren’t big fans of art museum, we kept those to a minimum. However,  the Accademia and the Peggy Gugenheim are both in Venice and worth visiting. I may need to return one of these days…

9.  This is the perfect city in which to enjoy walking and getting lost a little bit.  You are on islands!  You can never really get that lost!

10.  You will find bits of beauty all around you in Venice.  I loved taking my time to really look around.   Even the lamp posts were special. This city makes you want o be an artist or photographer.