In my opinion, there's no touristy places, they're just bad travelers. And if you come to Venice, I think you owe it to yourself and to this magical place to get up early in the morning and see Venice in its true state. In this magical light, as the fishermen are going out, in absolute peace and quiet. This incredibly historic place is one of the most magical experiences you can have in all of Italy. Today, I'm going to give you the formula of how to have the next best trip of your life right here in Venice. Venice is in the region known as the Veneto, east of Lombardia and north of Tuscany and Rome. As a whole, Venice is made up of 118 islands scattered throughout Lagoon and the Venice of our travel dreams is the main fiss-shaped island. Most visitors don't explore outside of this island, but Murano and Burano are two of the most popular islands and make for a really great day trip.

I don't have time to cover that on this episode, but check out our tours of Murano and Burano and stay tuned for an upcoming separate video. In 2023, the city of Venice will start to impose a special three-year-old tax for travelers arriving by car, bus, train, or cruise ship. For those travelers staying the night, they will be exempt from this tax as it will be covered by accommodation. How and when this tax will be imposed still yet remains to be seen. Stay tuned to our blog and YouTube channel for more information. The main airport for Venice is Marco Polo International Airport. It's actually on the mainland so you have to take a water bus or a taxi to reach Venice's main island. The easiest way to get to Venice is by train. It's on the main high-speed train line that connects Milan, Venice, and Rome.

From Rome, it's about a four-hour train ride. Tickets can easily be purchased online via the Tenitalia or Italo apps. If you're taking the train to Venice, you need to be aware that there are two main train stations. The first is called Venetia Messere. It's on the mainland, but do not get off here. Venetia Santa Luccia is the last stop for Venice and where you should get off the train. As soon as you walk out of the train station, you have canals right in front of you. You have this incredible Venetian architecture. But you're probably wondering how exactly you get around this city. I'm going to show you how to do that just now. If you're arriving to Venice from the train station, you're going to want to know how to manage the different water taxis, Paporetto, Tragetti, Gandolas. It can all be sort of confusing.

Paporetto is a water bus. Those are the biggest sort of boats that you see going up and down the canal. The smaller boats are called Tragetti. They typically dart across the canals. Those stops are a little harder to find out. The most expensive option is going to be taking a water taxi. From the train station, a water taxi to St. Mark's Square will typically cost you around 100 euro. This is the ticket office behind me. It's on the left hand side as soon as you exit the train station. If you're using public transportation, this will be your first stop. A single ticket is a 7 euro 50. You have to validate that ticket before you get on. My advice is if you're here for a day, it's to get a day pass. It costs 21 euros. If you're here for two days, that's 30 euros. You can see that there are some really great savings in buying the actual pass.

Because then you're pretty much foot loose and fancy free and have your run of the city hopping on and off the boats by simply tapping your card as soon as you walk in. We created the perfect route for Venice and planned to get you from A to Z. Check out the blog for great information on maximizing your time and increasing your fun. Before we start our day, hook me up with a like and subscribe so we can keep bringing you great content. I'm starting the day early this morning by having a chill breakfast in the iconic St. Mark's Square. I'll be having a cappuccino so expensive it'll probably get me fired. Then I'll see the doge's palace and St. Mark's Basilica. From there I'll head to lunch. Cafe Florian is one of the most historic cafes in all of Venice dating back from 1720. You're going to pay a whopping 10 to 15 euros for a cappuccino.

But what you get for it is incredible views of St. Mark's Square and St. Mark's Basilica and a pull on orchestra. That's about to play right behind me. Here's the most expensive cappuccino on her. The tale is old as time I tell you. At least this cappuccino is pretty good but my very frugal mother is probably waking up in a cold sweat in America right now. Wondering if there's a disturbance in the force. St. Mark's Square is the largest square in Venice and one of the most famous piatas in all of Italy. We know it today as a city's epicenter so it's hard to believe that there was an orchard growing right here and a small canal running right through it. It wasn't until the 12th century that the square we know today began to take shape. The large bell tower or Campanila is 323 feet tall making it the tallest structure in all of Venice.

The original bell tower collapsed in 902 just around its 100 year birthday. As a result the form you see today is a copy of the original built over 10 years from 1902 to 1912. You can take an elevator to the top for epic views for 8 euros. I don't have time to do that today because I'm off to meet my guide. I'm about to meet my local friend Piata who is going to be my tour guide today. She's an official licensed guide and typically she starts her thing or right here at the mouth of St. Mark's Square and be here. So there are two sorts of travelers, those who stand in line and those who don't. If you book your tickets online ahead of time or book a tour you can skip this long queue and go right on in with your tour guide. The Doge's Palace was built to show the power and wealth of the Republic of Venice that went on for a thousand years.

Kiera is about to show me what once was the most powerful half acre of Europe. We start outside with the impressive giant stone tower. We start outside with the impressive giant staircase flanked by two giant marble statues of Mars and Neptune. The architectural propaganda gets more intense as you head inside, beginning with a golden staircase and then moving on to various painted and frescoed rooms of the Doge's private apartments. We then get to the impressive Collegiate. So Kiera was just telling me that this room is the full college and it's where the Doge and the rest of his counselors would meet foreign dignitaries. So this is the most important room in the whole Doge's Palace, right? A great council chamber. The great council chamber. And you were saying earlier that this is an original Tinto de Tóretó behind us, right? Yes, sounds wow.

Venice was known as the Most Serene Republic and this was the most important room in the whole country. The Doge would sit underneath this impressive Tinto de Tóretó painting and preside over the nobles that were gathered here. Almost 3,000 people could fit in this room. This gilded hall was also the place where the Doge was elected. Who would have thought that you would get excellent views of Venice from a prison bridge? Venice's main church, or Cathedral, is next to the Doge's Palace and it is so unique and extraordinary that it is called a Basilica by the Catholic Church. In 1958, the Patriarch of Venice was elected Pope John XXIII, who became a saint in 2014. Saint Mark's Basilica is an incredibly important site that you can't miss when you're here in Venice. It was built in the 11th century and is a testament to the Byzantine architecture of the time, but also the relationship that Venice had to the east.

The remains of Saint Mark are right behind me and there's incredible art all throughout the church. It's a very, very popular site that thousands of people see each day. So normally when you're on a tour, you would stand here, you get an excellent view of the tomb of Saint Mark's. Whose relics this church was built around and who's the patron saint of Venice. But Chia da is going to show me something special and if you book a private tour, you can actually go around and see the Paladero and see the Golden Altarpiece and get a little bit closer to the actual relics. Remember, admission to the church is free. It's all the extra things that you need tickets for. My tour allows me to skip the line, comes with a passionate guide, and allows me to get up close to cool things like the altar and includes admission to the museum, which is upstairs.

So these are the Cavali of Saint Marko. Chia da was kind enough to bring me up here on a private tour to show me them because they were constructed 300 years before price. And they were meant to be on top of the hippodrome in Constantinople and they were brought back to Venice in 1204. And they stood outside of Saint Mark's Basilica as a symbol of what Venice had done in the Middle East. After those mesmerizing views, I'm headed back on the Vaporeto to the Rialto Bridge neighborhood for some food. There's over 400 bridges here in Venice, but only four across the Grand Canal. And the first one is the Rialto Bridge. It marks the geographical center of Venice and also the shortest point of the Grand Canal. You know, there's been a bridge here since the 11th century, but very famously, in the 16th century, there was a competition to redesign the Rialto Bridge and what we see today is the result of that competition.

The Rialto Bridge takes you to the Rialto neighborhood where there's a fish market and lots of really cool lively things to see. And I just kind of love this particular viewpoint of the Rialto Bridge. I made it to the historic fish market here in the Rialto neighborhood. I'm going to step inside because these guys are working class guys. Just like me, it's a lively atmosphere, but more importantly, they know where to get the local Chiquetti around this neighborhood. Super though this stuff. See you soon. We go out these. See you. Don't spa, don't spa. Okay, good luck. See you guys know what's up. So there isn't just only fish at this market. There's also fruit too. So if you can't stand the smell of fish and come next door to the fruit market, pick up a snack and now you have a really great snack or picnic right along the Grand Canal.

So I made it to Contina de Espada and this is where Alessandro recommended I get some Chiquetti and it's not surprising to me because this is one of the historic Chiquetti as in the area. Chiquetti are small bite sized morsels of goodness typically made of seafood served all over Venice. Overall, these small plates are inexpensive and a great way to try a variety of foods. So I have a traditional ombra and you know this isn't a real heavy wine but it was meant for the fishermen who were coming back at the end of the morning and they would stand under the Campanile of St. Mark's Square let's say under the shadow and that's exactly what ombra means the shadow and this is still the tradition here in Venice now. Chiquetti can be either fried or grilled like this. Traditionally you'll see a lot of the fried.

This here is a zucchini flower stuffed with cod and cheese and this is anchovy and mozzarella. Oh yeah, wash it down with a little ombra. It's a money. This is a Venetian experience man. Love in this. If you love art as much as I do don't miss the Church of the Fradi and the Scuola Grande di San Roco. They're both next to each other and just 10 minutes from Cantina de Espada. I don't know that I'm feeling it but I'm definitely too ombra deep you know into this little walk making this walk very manageable. I'm standing outside of Santa Maria Gloriosa de Fradi otherwise known as the Fradi Church which is the Franciscan Church right here in Venice and it is full of world class art. So in this church you get to see art in the way it was meant to be seen in C2. There's masterpieces by Donatello, Tician, Tinto Reto and right around the corner is the Sistine Chapel of Venice.

So you have 50 paintings by Tinto Reto in one place. So let's check this out. So this is one of the masterpieces of this church. It's the assumption of the Virgin by Tician and when it was unveiled in 1518 it gave the Franciscan friars quite a shock because they weren't used to this use of color, the full-bodied nature of the Virgin and sort of the motion in this painting. They were used to austere art but this piece would foreshadow the mannerist movement that would come on a little bit later. There is a small admission charge of three euros and be sure to cover up and dress modestly since this is a place of worship. Don't forget to check out the Statue of Saint John de Baptiste by F朝rentine Great, Donatello and the masterpiece by the father of the Venetian Renaissance, Baleini. If you squint hard enough you might confuse Saint Benedict with Sean Connery.

Practically next door to the Fradi Church is the Scuola Grande di San Rocco which many consider to be the Sistine Chapel of Venice. The Scuola Costs, 10 euros which is a small price to pay to see over 50 paintings. They're all creations by Venetian master Tintoretto who is one of the most prolific painters of all time. The jaw-dropping collection starts on the ground floor and ends in the grand hall which contains giant canvases. Next up is a ride on the most famous water highway in the world on a classic Venetian gondola. Gondola rides are included in our Venetian de Dator. Check out those tours in the description below. So I've never done a private gondola ride. They are a little on the pricey side. Definitely recommend it that you try to book it well in advance. That way you have your time locked down.

You pay the price that you think is fair and then it's just easy to show them your vouchers. So we're getting excellent views right now of St. Mark's Bell Tower and the year was just telling me that there's very few canals where you actually get a good line of sight to the Bell Tower. That's a romance baby. The gondola that I'm on costs about 40,000 euros. It's about five years old and you can see a lot of the detail of the craftsmanship and that iconic blackpink. The iconic blackpink with the sort of the gold touches everywhere. You know the only thing worse than being alone on a gondola is being a third wheel on a gondola. At least I have Josh, you know, but for a third wheel I don't know. If you're feeling hungry for a snack, there are Chiquetti bars all over Venice serving small plates and something to drink.

Sometimes they're called bakaros or even come in the form of a small kiosk like this. Just like most cities in Italy, Venice is full of touristy restaurants. But also restaurants that serve incredible food every single day. One place I recommend is Antico Goleto in the Kanaregio district. You would never believe by the lack of crowds that I'm actually having clams and spaghetti in this beautiful square sippin Prosecco in Venice. Cheers. If you're looking for a good place to eat in the Castello or San Marco neighborhood, check out Anoteca Osteria San Marco, which is one of my go-tos. So, but warm. This is like Venetian comfort food when you have like a seafood, you know, like raggale. Pretty much just what this is. Serve with a pasta. It's absolutely. Watch it down with one of their recommended whites.

You know, you're a business out. Now we're cooking with gas. So my phone is about to die. So I'm going to go old school and follow the famous Venetian yellow signs back to the San Marco Castello neighborhood. The nightlife in Venice is pretty low key and the struggle is real to find proper nightlife here. The place that fires on all cylinders is the bra bar. The decor is pretty unique. The handcrafted drinks are made by expert mixologists and the service is super friendly, which in the end makes this a pretty fun place to hang out. You know, all good things must come to an end and unfortunately I've come to the end of my time here in Venice. It can be challenging to sightseeing here because thousands of people visit this magical place every single day. But I made life easier for myself by booking a couple of skip the line tours for St.

Mark's Basilica and for the Doge's Palace, which are the top things that you definitely need to see when you're here. It's been a memorable and magical time here in Venice, definitely a once in a lifetime experience. I'm Angel Castellanos for the tour guide. Don't forget to comment, like and subscribe and ring that bell so you can find our next video. Happy Travels!