Our top pick3,913 reviews
3 hVenice: St. Mark's Basilica & Doge's Palace Tour with Ticket
★ 4.7 · 3,913 reviews
- Three hours
- Guided tour
- Likely to sell out
- Free cancellation
$79$26.33 / hour
Check availability→ How long
How many days do you need in Venice?
Venice is small, and that misleads people in both directions: you can see the famous things in a day, and the city itself takes considerably longer to reach. This page is what one, two and three days each buy you, and the single hour that changes how the place feels.
Quick answer
Two days is the honest answer for a first visit, three if you want the islands. One day covers the Basilica, the Doge’s Palace, the Rialto and an evening in the bàcari, which is a good day. The second day is when Venice stops being a list. Guided tours from $50 compress the first day; nothing compresses the second.
How long to stay, at a glance
- One day
- The famous thingsboth monuments, the Rialto, an evening food tour
- Two days
- The honest minimumadd the back sestieri and an unhurried morning
- Three days
- With the islandsMurano, Burano and Torcello are half a day
- The monuments
- About 3 hoursfrom $79, both tickets included
- A food tour
- 2.5–4 hoursfrom $50
- The islands
- Half a daywith the boat each way
- The hour that matters
- After sixwhen the day-trippers have gone
- Getting about
- On footnothing in the city is more than an hour’s walk
- Where to stay
- In the citynot on the mainland, if the budget allows it
- Cancellation
- Freeon every tour here
What each day buys
One day, two days, three
Day one is the list. Day two is the city. Day three is the lagoon.
One day. The Basilica and the Doge’s Palace in the morning on one tour, the Rialto and the lanes in the afternoon, a food tour after six. You will have seen the things that are on the postcards and eaten well, and you will leave with the impression that Venice is crowded, because between ten and five on the main routes it is.
Two days. The second day is the one that changes people’s minds. With the famous things done, you can spend it in Cannaregio, Dorsoduro and Castello — the residential sestieri, where there are children going to school, a butcher, a hardware shop, and almost nobody with a rolling suitcase. This is the Venice that people who love the city are talking about, and it is twenty minutes from the Piazza.
Three days. Adds the lagoon: Murano for glass, Burano for the coloured houses, and Torcello, which is nearly empty and has a cathedral with an eleventh-century mosaic in it. With the boat each way this is half a day at least, and it is genuinely worth it once you are not sacrificing the city for it.
Beyond three days you are into the smaller churches, the Accademia, the Peggy Guggenheim and the pleasure of having no list at all, which is the best reason of the lot but a hard one to justify on a first trip.
Whatever you do, be here after six. The day-trip crowds leave, the bàcari fill, and the Piazza empties out — and it is a different city entirely.
Evening food tours from $50→If you only have one day
Six decisions that make it work
A day here can be very good, and the failure modes are predictable.
- Book the monuments as one tour
Both tickets in one booking from $79. Buying and queueing separately for the Basilica and the palace is the fastest way to lose a morning.
- Do them early
The Piazza fills by eleven. A morning slot is worth more than any other single decision on a one-day visit.
- Leave the middle of the day unbooked
Wandering is the activity here, not the gap between activities. It is also when the main routes are worst, so being off them is the point.
- Eat away from San Marco
Ten minutes of walking changes both the price and the food. The bàcari in Cannaregio and San Polo are where to go.
- Stay for the evening
The single biggest difference between a good day and a disappointing one. Day-trippers leave around five and the city becomes itself.
- Skip the islands
They are half a day and they will eat the part of your day that actually matters.
Book direct
Four bookings by length of stay
The monuments for a first morning, a food tour for the evening, the sunset walk, and the day trip from Milan.
Cheapest here2,954 reviews
2.5 hVenice: Street Food Tour with a Local Guide and Tastings
★ 4.8 · 2,954 reviews
- 2.5 hours
- Local Guide and Tastings
- Cheapest here
- Free cancellation
$50$20.00 / hour
Check availability→ 
1,607 reviewsAt sunset
3 hVenice: Sunset Walking Tour with Food and Wine Tastings
★ 4.9 · 1,607 reviews
- Three hours, Food and Wine Tastings
- Guided tour
- Mobile voucher accepted
- Free cancellation
$93$31.00 / hour
Check availability→ 
From Milan12.5 h
12.5–13 hFrom Milan: Venice Full-Day Guided Tour With Boat Ride
★ 4.7 · 315 reviews
- 12.5 to 13 hours
- Day trip
- Longest tour here
- Free cancellation
$164$12.86 / hour
Check availability→ Common questions
How long to spend in Venice, answered
How many days in Venice is enough?
Two for a first visit, three if you want the islands. One day covers the famous things comfortably but leaves you with the crowded version of the city.
Is one day in Venice enough?
For the Basilica, the Doge’s Palace, the Rialto and an evening in the bàcari, yes. What you miss is the quiet residential sestieri and the hour after the day-trippers leave.
Is Venice worth staying overnight?
More than almost anywhere else in Italy, because the difference between the day city and the evening city is enormous. If the budget stretches to one night in Venice rather than two on the mainland, take the one night.
How long do you need for Murano and Burano?
Half a day at minimum with the boat each way, and a full day if you add Torcello and do not want to rush. Worth it on a third day, not on a first.
What is the best time of day in Venice?
After six in the evening and before nine in the morning. Both are quiet, the light is good, and the difference from the middle of the day is not subtle.
Should I stay on the mainland to save money?
It saves money and it costs you the evening and the early morning, which are the two best parts of Venice. If you do, at least stay in the city for dinner.
Go deeper
More on visiting Venice
Food tours
Venice food tours
Nineteen tours compared, and what a food tour in Venice actually walks you into.
VerdictThe best tours in Venice
Nineteen ranked for one decision, with a straight answer for each kind of visitor.
Doge’s PalaceThe Doge’s Palace
What the ticket covers, the route through it, and the bridge everyone photographs.
The BasilicaSt Mark’s Basilica
The gold, the horses, the Pala d’Oro — and which of them your ticket opens.
CicchettiCicchetti and the bàcari
What cicchetti are, how a bàcaro works, and how to order without hesitating.
Street foodVenice street food tours
The cheapest way to eat well in Venice, and what the guide is actually for.
