Free or Cheap Things to Do in Venice

Italy’s City on Water Can Be a Bargain for Budget Travelers

Jul 26, 2009 Barbara Rogers

For the price of a Vaporetto ticket or bike rental, Venice offers history, local color and the pleasure of exploring hidden corners and seeing sights few tourists find.

Italy’s reputation as expensive for travelers may be true, but even Venice has a lot of free or inexpensive experiences. And Venice is all about the experience, and less about the museums and “attractions” – the city itself is the attraction. Stroll through Medieval and Renaissance streets or along a canal lined by Crayola-colored houses to see tower leaning at an angle far greater than Pisa’s. Visit mask-makers in a craftsmen’s neighborhood or bicycle along a canal lined by palaces.

Begin at St. Mark's

Entrance to the magnificent Basilica San Marco is free, and it's a sight no visitor should miss, filled with glorious mosaics and other works of art.

Take a Vaporetto to Burano

Bright painted houses crowd along the canals, and the church tower, Campanile di San Martin, leans at a more alarming angle than Pisa’s. Take the Vaporetto to the glass-blowing island of Murano, but stay on the boat after the tourists get off to run the gauntlet of glass-shop touts there. So few tourists travel on to Burano that it’s hard to find a place to eat except at lunch, so be sure to leave before dinner-time, and before the last ferry. Service to the outer islands is not as frequent.

Torcello is Where Venice Began

Visit the first settlements of Venice, even though it does cost a few Euros to go inside the early Christian basilica of Santa Maria Assunta, parts of which date from 638, and to climb its tower for views across the lagoon. The church has exquisite 9th--12th century floor and wall mosaics, including a Madonna surrounded in gold, and the walk from the boat landing is through grassy meadows.

Mask Makers in San Polo

This neighborhood on the other side of Rialto Bridge is filled with tiny shops and studios of Venetian craftsmen. Just wander around and get lost to make your own discoveries or try to find Franco Furlanetto, at the corner of Calle dei Nombol and Rio Terra Nomboli, a wood carver who makes forcola, the oar supports for gondolas, and gondola details. On the same street are mask-makers at Tragi e Comica, and nearby is Il Pavone, on Campiello dei Meoni, between Rialto and Campo San Polo, where you’ll see some of the finest paper crafts in Venice.

Bike the Brenta Canal

Go by bus to nearby Mira to bicycle alongside the canal, past the palatial villas where patrician Venetians escaped the summer heat. Villa Pisani and Villa Foscari (La Malcontenta) are open to tour, and although both charge admission to see the villas and gardens, entrance to Villa Pisani’s gardens is available separately from the villa tour. A sign at the ticket office tells whether the famous hedge maze is open, and if it is, it’s worth buying the garden-only ticket. Rental Bike Service is handily located in Mira, at the Venetian end of the Brenta Canal, but will deliver the bike to you at any bus station or even your hotel.

The copyright of the article Free or Cheap Things to Do in Venice in S Europe Travel is owned by Barbara Rogers. Permission to republish Free or Cheap Things to Do in Venice in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

The spectacle of St Marks is free	A classic Venetian view	A mask shop in San Polo
A wall of architectural treasures in Torcello	Colorful buildings and lace shops of Burano