Venice & the Venetian Lagoon guides – honest planning [2026]

Guides & tips

Plan your trip like a local

Honest answers to the questions travellers ask us most.

Choose between reserved entry, a guided palace tour and the limited Secret Itineraries route through Venice’s former government seat.

Compare shared and private gondola rides, the official street tariff and app commentary before choosing the right Venice route.

What the La Fenice self-guided visit includes, when the theatre may close and who should choose a performance instead.

Choose between a shared water taxi, a private boat and Alilaguna from Venice Marco Polo Airport without paying for the wrong route.

A half-day boat trip is efficient; independent ACTV travel gives each island enough time.

Choose a working furnace for the craft, the Glass Museum for history, and distrust any ‘free’ visit built around a showroom.

Separate timed tickets make sense: reserve the basilica first, then add the Campanile only if the view matters.

What a Venice cicchetti tour adds, what to check before booking and when a self-guided bacaro evening is better.

Compare the 75-minute ticket with 24-, 48-, 72-hour and 7-day ACTV passes, including the airport exclusions.

Compare the live Four Seasons concert, San Vidal and the Pietà before booking a Vivaldi concert in Venice.

Other places in the region — same approach, their own tours: