8 ways to see Venice like a local

Each year millions of tourists descend upon Venice, Italy, a city not much larger than New York’s Central Park. Cruise ships spend a half day. Others stay one night. They jam the main sights. We will show you 8 ways to see Venice like a local, escape the crowds, and enjoy the quiet neighborhoods of this magnificent city.

Most people are surprised to learn that the population of Venice is less than 60,000. It doesn’t feel that way, thanks to roughly 30 million mostly hit-and-run annual visitors. And it is easy to feel run over if you follow the hordes. But it is also easy to experience a saner Venice if you follow our advice.

1. Stay at least 3 days, preferably weekdays

Yes, we know Americans have limited vacation days and still want to see everything. That leads to guidebooks suggesting a day for Venice. Cruise ships barely disembark there before heading on. Even Rick Steves, whose guidebooks we admire, recommends just 1½ days in Venice as part of a 22-day Italy itinerary. That’s a shame.

Our mantra is: visit fewer places and stay longer. Even a 2-week trip to Italy could look something like: 3 days Venice, 3 days Florence, 4 days Tuscany, 4 days Rome.

If you can schedule those 3 days, make them weekdays, as Venice is a popular weekend destination for Italians and other Europeans. Three days (or more!) gives you a chance to slow down, soak up the culture, and experience the hidden corners of Venice.

2. Visit in the fall or spring

Winter can be cold and rainy, with less daylight and shorter hours at sights and attractions.

Summer can be hot, humid, and even more crowded with summer vacationers. In this city with standing water everywhere, mosquitoes can be particularly annoying in the warmer months.

That leaves May and October as the most ideal times to visit. April and September would be a second choice.

3. Stay in the Cannaregio district

Venice is divided into 6 historical districts. The image reminds us of a fish swallowing its prey. The district with the heaviest concentration of attractions is San Marco. That also makes it the most touristy, crowded, and expensive.

We stay in the much quieter, yet convenient Cannaregio district just to the north. It makes up sort of the head to dorsal fin of the fish.

Lovely little restaurants and bars dot the quiet canals that cross the area in primarily an east-west direction. It is simple to navigate, and everything is within a 10-minute walk. Primarily inhabited by local Venetians, you can find everything except crowds!

4. Choose these hotels in Cannaregio

It’s hard to spot the hotels that operate in the northern part of this district. Simple plaques adorn the entrances of 500-year-old buildings. We choose to stay in two luxury hotels ideally located near the Madonna dell’Orto church. Our first accommodation is the Grand Hotel Dei Dogi, The Dedica Anthology.

Housed in a 16th century building, this 5-star hotel previously housed a monastery and the embassies of France and Savoy. It features a tranquil garden of more the 2,000 sq.m., the largest of any hotel in Venice.

If that setting weren’t enough, the garden leads to the canal on the north of Venice, where the hotel’s complimentary water taxi takes guests directly to St. Mark’s Square in just 20 minutes. Another shuttle visits the island of Murano.

Splendid rooms and a sumptuous breakfast round out the luxury amenities that make us want to stay here longer.

Our second accommodation is close by, the Heureka Hotel. It is a 5-star boutique hotel housed in a 16th century building and opened in 2019. Ten uniquely designed rooms blend with a sort of modern opulent vibe.

Heureka also features a large, peaceful garden. And the smaller size of this hotel creates a more personal atmosphere where the staff always remembers your name.

5. Walk around and don’t worry about getting lost

We start walking south from the Cannaregio district and find a lack of street signs and canal after canal. Cross the Grand Canal into San Polo and the streets wind and dead end. Even armed with a map, eventually we are lost. And that’s a good thing.

Venice can reveal its most magical elements by serendipity. We spot a lone gondola in a remote canal. We stumble upon Campo San Polo and into its church, one of several in this area. We find a bakery nearly sold out of its fragrant fresh bread by midday. We meet a nun on a tiny bridge heading back to the Madonna dell’Orto church.

This is the Venice of locals. It is a photographer’s paradise, with few tourists ruining the atmosphere creating their Instagram moments.

So, we are lost, but only for a while, as we just keep walking until we eventually spot a landmark on our map. Nowhere near where we wanted to be (Rialto Bridge), but delighted. This is about the journey, not the destination.

6. Take the Grand Canal vaporetto

Sometimes even the locals actually have to get somewhere quickly. We want to see Santa Maria della Salute Basilica and some other sights in the Dorsoduro district, but that would be about an hour’s walk from our hotel.

Fortunately, the Grand Canal forms a winding aqua boulevard, with the vaporetto boats acting as local buses. We arrive at our destination in 20 minutes and then hop on and off a vaporetto to visit more sights on the return trip. It’s a reminder again that there is no need to stay in the crowded, touristy part of the city. Get there and back with ease.

7. Visit St. Marks at night or early morning

An artisan carves wood in the window of his shop. He won’t be there when the hordes from the cruise ships arrive later in the morning. We have all seen pictures of wall-to-wall tourists flooding Piazza San Marco (not to mention water flooding it). They arrive mid-morning. They eat lunch at over-priced restaurants nearby. They over-pay for a mediocre gelato, and then it is back to the ship or hotel.

You can have St. Marks nearly tourist-free early in the morning. It is also magical at night. Just avoid the main part of the day.

8. Eat like a local

Strolling through the Cannaregio district we stumble upon a canal street lined with eateries featuring handfuls of outdoor tables to compliment indoor seating. All the patrons at lunch at least look like locals.

We try Oficina Ormesini, with a small bar and seating in the back. The food is delectable, from the homemade pasta to fresh seafood. Add in salads and several glasses of wine and the bill for two is still only 100 Euro. It is typical of the places that dot this area, and they are busy from lunch until the wee hours of the morning.

In Venice, not unlike many other cities, look for the hidden corners frequented by locals. Get out of the tourist areas. In general, the better the view, the more mundane the cuisine.

We meet a friendly group of Italian high school students on the train to Venice. A day later, we encounter them again. Of course, they are strolling around the Cannaregio district! Follow these eight simple suggestions above and you, too, will meet friendly people and see Venice like a local.

Do you have any recommendations of your own? Feel free to comment at the bottom of this post.