Venice Italy, A Virtual Travel Guide

Begin your virtual visit to Venice here.  Learn a few Italian expressions. No matter how many times you have seen Venice in the movies, and TV, seeing Venice live is unreal.  View these walking tour maps. Listen to and view the sights and sounds of Venice.

Look at these great photos and watch these movie tour clips. It is sometimes referred to as the most romantic city in world. Its a city that literally floats on water. Even with its many shortcomings i.e. its expensive, the canals are odeferous in the August heat, and some of the buildings are decaying, the beauty of the city can not be rivalled. Read this recent article from CNN and take this pictorial virtual tour. See this page to learn the history of Venice.  Virtually visit the museums and art galleries. See a panoramic photo of the Rialto Bridge taken in 1909.

Venice lies 2 1/2 miles (4km) from the Italian mainland (connected to Mestre by the Ponte della Libert) and 1 1/4 miles (2km) from the open Adriatic.  Visit this official site of Venice. It's an archipelago of 118 islands. Most visitors, however, concern themselves only with Piazza San Marco and its vicinity. In fact, the entire city has only one piazza, which is San Marco (all the other squares are campos). Venice is divided into six quarters (sestieri): San Marco, Santa Croce, San Polo, Castello, Cannaregio, and Dorsoduro.

Military travelers from Aviano can rent an auto and drive to Venice or take a train from Pordonne. Its about 50 miles. There are trains to Trieste, Genoa, Milan, and Turin, as well as Rome and Florence. Other trains are available to Switzland and Austria. Ferries from Venice go to Athens and the Greek Islands.

Many of Venice's so-called streets are actually 150 canals (rios) spanned by a total of 400 bridges. The main street is the Grand Canal (Canal Grande),snakes through the city like an inverted S and is spanned by three bridges: the white marble Ponte Rialto(see web cam), the wooden Ponte Accademia,and the stone Ponte degli Scalzi.  View this live web cam picture of the Grand Canal. The Grand Canal splits Venice into two unequal parts. 

South of Dorsoduro, which is south of the Grand Canal, is the Canele della Guidecca, a major channel separating Dorsoduro from the large island of La Guidecca. At the point where Canale della Guidecca meets the Canale di San Marco, you'll spot the little Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore, with a church by Palladio. The most visited islands in the lagoon, aside from the Lido, are Murano, Burano, and Torcello.

A broad street running along a canal is a fondamenta, a narrower street running along a canal is a calle, and a paved road is a salizzada, ruga, or calle larga. A rio terra is a filled canal channel now used as a walkway, and a sottoportego a passage beneath buildings. When you come to an open-air area, you'll often encounter the word campo--that's a reference to the fact that such a place was once grassy, and in days of yore cattle grazed there. See this page for a complete list of Venice Hotels and Attractions. Read these 156 reviews of Venice from visitors.