First Trip to Venice: 4 Easy Days
Four days in Venice, first-timer pace
Four days lets a first visit breathe: two on the core sights, one on the lagoon islands, one just being in a quiet local sestiere. Budget roughly EUR 40 a day plus your bed. A 72-hour vaporetto pass (about EUR 45) covers most of the boat travel below.
Day 1: San Marco and the Rialto
Piazza San Marco early, the free Basilica nave with a booked slot, the Rialto Bridge and market, and a cicchetti dinner at a bacaro for EUR 12 to 18. Cross the Grand Canal on a EUR 2 traghetto.
Tip: go before 9am; the same square is a crush by midday.
Day 2: the Doge’s Palace and the Grand Canal
The Doge’s Palace, EUR 30 to 35 booked ahead, including the Bridge of Sighs, then vaporetto Line 1 the length of the Grand Canal and a free Zattere sunset.
Tip: book the palace 30-plus days out for the lower rate.
Day 3: the lagoon islands
From Fondamente Nove, ride out to Murano for glass, Burano for its coloured houses, and Torcello for its old mosaics. All three are exempt from the access fee, so the day costs only the pass and lunch.
Tip: go to Burano first thing, before the day boats fill it.
Day 4: Cannaregio, the Ghetto and Castello
Slow down in Cannaregio, home to the 1516 Ghetto, and walk east into quiet Castello with its cheaper local bacari. This is the day Venice feels like a town, not a sight.
Tip: eat lunch off the Strada Nova, where locals do, for the best value in the city.
Read more: cost the whole trip on the Venice on a budget page, and plan meals with our Venice cicchetti guide .
Pack wet-weather shoes from late October to early March for acqua alta in the low-lying squares.