Visiting Venice Italy - Is Venice Worth It?

Last updated on 14 March 2025

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One of the things I was really looking forward to when we were on our Contiki trip gallivanting around Europe was visiting Venice in Italy. I feel like for the majority of my life I’ve thought (and let’s be honest, said out loud on numerous occasions), “I want to visit Venice before it sinks”. Anyone else say that? ✋🏻

Well I’m glad that, while Venice isn’t sinking any time soon, I got to visit this very cool Italian city.

You can probably tell already, but if you’re wondering ‘is Vencie worth it?’ then my answer is yes. For sure. But I dont’ just want to say that and not follow up, you know. So I’m going to share a little bit about my trip there, even if it was short, and some of the things I liked and didn’t like about Venice.

Getting to Venice

We were travelling by coach but our hotel that were staying at was on the mainland (probably not where you would think when you think ‘Venice’) and so to get across to the canals and cute buildings and the ‘classic Venice’ part, we had to walk to the train station, jump on a train, then get off the train onto a motoscafo (motorised boat) that took us from the train station into the heart of Venice.

While it was a bit of a mission to get in there, we did spend the entire day wandering around the streets and over the canals of Venice, so it was well worth the walk-train-boat to get there.

What we did in Venice

As Contiki organises some of the activities you do while you’re travelling with them, so we had three things organised throughout our one full day there, and then we were let loose on the city and could do what we wanted to.

Murano Glass

The first thing we did when we arrived was visit Murano Glass. Contiki had organised a tour, so we got to see a gentleman blowing glass (and turn it into a very cool horse!), and then we were told about the Murano Glass in the showrooms.

They taught us about how to tell the difference between the real deal and the fake stuff that you can find at every shop around Venice. I ended up buying a small glass vase (like small, small) for my friend. It was a great purchase, and she really liked it, but it did mean that I was carefully carrying it around Europe with me for the next 4 weeks.

Gondola Ride

I don’t think I ever thought that riding a gondola with our Italian gondolier Mario (true story) while drinking peach bellinis was ever going to happen in my life, but there we were, doing just that.

We lined up at one of the many gondola places, and got into small groups of 4 – 5, and hoped on a gondela with our peach belinis on hand and Mario at the ready.

It was a short trip around some of the canals, but it was a lot of fun seeing some of the beautiful buildings along the water (read: in the water) and I definitely felt like I was in a movie, or that a high speed chase from a movie was going to shoot past at any given moment.

We bumped into many other gondelas as we floated around (literally), and the gondoliers all knew each other, even if they worked for different companies. We also learnt that they all own their own boats, and some of them have had them for decades and decades.

The Bridge of Sighs

We spent many hours in the incredibly stifling heat just wandering around, going into every and any shop that had air conditioning. We ended up having lunch at a restaurant and then later had a drink in another restaurant simply to use the toilet and get out of the heat (don’t go to Italy in the height of summer ha).

But during our wandering hours, we saw the Bridge of Sighs (the Bishop’s Bridge in the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona was inspired by this bridge!) which was stunning. I love the detailing on the buildings here!

The Bridge of Sighs – one of Venice’s most famous bridges, despite the fact that there are so many! – connects the Doge’s Palace to the New Prison. Built in 1600 and designed by Antonio Contin (the nephew of the architect behind the Rialto Bridge, which is the big one), this enclosed white limestone bridge goes over the Rio di Palazzo, with small stone-barred windows peeking out.

Legend has it that prisoners would sigh as they crossed, catching their last glimpse of Venice before being locked away – hence the name. So interesting!

Rialto Bridge

Speaking of those bridges, the Rialto Bridge was another one that we spotted (hard to miss!). It’s probably the most famous, even more so than the Bridge of Sighs, and goes over the Grand Canal in Venice.

Originally a floating pontoon bridge back in 1173, it’s been rebuilt several times over the years, with the stone version we see today completed in 1591.

With two ramps leading up to a central walkway and shops lining both sides, it’s always buzzing with life, and there were lots of people when we were there, too.

Fun fact: some critics thought the design was too risky and predicted it would collapse – spoiler alert, it didn’t. Instead, it became one of Venice’s most iconic landmarks and a must-see for visitors.

Suso Gelato

I don’t think I’ve consumed as much gelato as I did on this trip, especially in Italy. During our day trip to Venice, we went to Suso Gelato, which was recommended to us by our tour guide. And it was delicious, and just what we needed in the sweltering Italian sun.

A Taste of Venice food tour

At the end of the day, we all met back up before being split into 3 groups for a food tour with some local guides. This was a fun way to hear a bit more about Venice from people who actually live there and experience the city as locals.

The food was okay – it was just a drink at one place, then you walk down the road a little bit and get an appetiser, then another something small, and then finally end up at a restaurant for dinner where we had pre-ordered what we were eating. Pesto pasta for me, obviously.

But the best part of the walk really was just hearing stories from our local guide.

Bonus fun fact: My favourite story was at a fountain that she took us to. She said that about 30 years ago there was a pet store that was closing down, and they didn’t know what to do with the turtles and (then little) koi. So they put them in the nearest foundation and now there are SO MANY turtles and the koi are huge.

Great bit of local history!

The not-so-good things

I would be remiss if I didn’t add in a few things that I didn’t like about Venice.

The culture, the architecture, the shops, the food – all stunning. But the hardest thing for us, visiting and wandering, was literally not having anywhere to sit down.

Because it’s all canals, no cars or traffic, the footpaths and alleyways are all narrow and you sort of wind your way around the place. It is stunning and picturesque… but even out in the open bits near the edge of the city, there were so few park benches (and no grass) that we struggled to find places to sit. And we needed to because it was so hot.

At one point, we were so exhausted and hot we found a short wall to sit on, but were quickly moved along by authorities patrolling the streets. And I get it, I get that you don’t want people loitering, but please, Vencie, just a couple more benches would make all the difference. Please and thank you.

But if that was the worst thing about Venice, then that’s pretty darn good, I’d say. The crowds were heavy but I don’t think any heavier than any other populous European city we visited – and we did visit in the height of summer and tourist season, so it made sense and was expected.

So was Venice worth it?

I think so, yes. And I would go back again to explore properly, perhaps stay closer so I didn’t need to train and motorscafo into the city. While it was hot, it was still a beautiful city to wander through, and the things that we did were a lot of fun.

Have you ever thought about visiting Venice? Perhaps you’ve already been?

Let me know your favourite thing about it in the comments!