Venice in 1 day – Self-guided walking tour + Google maps route

To visit Venice in 1 day, here is my self-guided walking tour (free) with a map of the route to follow in pedestrian GPS mode. This is a tourist circuit that tours the most beautiful sites of Venice in 1 day.

Venice in 1 day sightseeing tour

My itinerary with the map below will allow you to discover the most beautiful monuments of the Venetian capital on foot and will end with a short romantic gondola ride at dusk.

How to visit Venice in 1 day?

If you want to visit Venice in one day without staying 1 night, consider paying in advance. new access tax to Venice.

That said, to visit Venice in 1 day, you have several choices depending on your desires:

What to visit in Venice in 1 day?

The trap to avoid when you only have 1 day to visit a city like Venice is to go to the heart of the city and go a little randomly without any particular program. Indeed, there is nothing like wasting time, struggling while looking for a site or traveling miles and not seeing half of the things.

To optimize my day and make it pleasant, I established in advance the list of the most interesting sites to visit in 1 day. Then, I organized them to do a nice circuit on foot but not at a run. Indeed, it is possible to visit all the emblematic monuments of Venice in one day, provided you are well organized.

For this day of discovery, I had to eliminate visits to museums and many churches. The majority of the stages of this route are to be visited from the outside because to visit them in depth, it would be necessary to pass at least 2 days in Venice especially because of the endless queues, even with a pass or a skip the line.

Visit Venice in 1 day following my tourist circuit

My self-guided tour allows you to visit Venice in 1 day by following the steps below:

  • Place de Rome (start of the tour);
  • Venice Santa Lucia Station;
  • Church of San Stae;
  • Rialto Bridge;
  • Saint Mark's Clock Tower;
  • St. Mark's Square;
  • St. Mark's Basilica;
  • Bridge of Sighs ;
  • Doge's Palace ;
  • Pont della Paglia;
  • Sant Giorgio Maggiore viewpoint;
  • Danieli Gondola Station for a romantic gondola ride.

Where to park your car, what parking in Venice?

If, like me, you arrive in Venice by car via the liberty bridge, you can park for the day in the car park on the Piazzale Roma, which is a central square from where all the bus and vaporetto lines leave and from where my walking tour.

Venice tour in 1 day - Itinerary map

From the Piazzale Roma, you can follow my itinerary step by step, the interactive map of which you will find below.

Click on "More options" in the map to follow the GPS

If you follow my self-guided tour, you will need to walk between 3 and 4 kilometers during the day. This is quite little because you can do 2 kilometers in the morning and 2 kilometers in the afternoon. It all depends on your pace but it's very easy.

Self-guided walking tour to visit Venice in 1 day

Once you arrive in Venice, either you leave like me from the Piazzale Roma, (departure of my walk), either you start from my 2nd stage (from Venice-Santa-Lucia station).

So from the Piazzale Roma car park, you have to go to the avenue Santa Chiara Foundation and turn left towards the Constitution Bridge that the Italians call Calatrava Bridge named after the architect who designed it.

By taking this bridge, you cross the Grand Canal and continuing straight on, you will come to the Venice Santa Lucia Station.

From the station, you will have to continue to the left to take the Degli Scalzi bridge ou Pont des Déchaussés (2nd bridge which crosses the Grand Canal).

Continue toSan Stae Church where you can take a short break and have a coffee ... From there, it will take you 10 minutes to walk to the Rialto Bridge (the oldest and most famous of the bridges in Venice). You can climb to the top to admire the view of the Grand Canal and take beautiful photos!

Rialto Bridge IN MY VENICE WALKING TOUR

After crossing the rialto bridge, you will walk about 5 minutes to reach the Saint Mark's Clock Tower which is one of the essentials of the St. Mark's Square.

Saint Mark's Clock Tower which is one of the must-see places in Saint Mark's Square.

Since the St. Mark's Square which is one of the most famous squares in the world, you will go straight to the St. Mark's Basilica which is opposite.

St. Mark's Basilica

The famous bridge of Sighs is located just behind the Basilica. It represents the compulsory passage of the Gondola ride (see the end of the article). Legend has it that if two lovers passed in a gondola under the Bridge of Sighs at sunset, their love would be eternal. But in reality, its name comes from the sigh of the prisoners who crossed the bridge before being locked in prison ...

Bridge of Sighs stage of my Venice tour in 1 day

After Saint Mark's Basilica, you will turn left to reach in 2 minutes the Doge's Palace which is an example of simply magnificent Venetian Gothic architecture. It was the residence of the Doges of Venice until the end of the XNUMXth century. The palace also housed a prison which would have once housed a certain Casanova ...

Now, it’s time for romance with the unmissable gondola ride.

 If it is in the district of San Marco that we find the most gondoliers, in particular at the stations Orseolo basin and near the Campo San Moise bridge, I preferred to go through the della Paglia bridge to the gondola station opposite theDanieli hotel. Thus, I was able to enjoy one of the most beautiful views of Venice (Sant Giorgio Maggiore viewpoint).

Note that the prices of gondolas are the same everywhere in Venice regardless of where you board. It's 80 to 85 Euros for 30 minutes during the day and 100 € at night.

Unless you book in advance via the Internet: Gondola ride on the canals

Must-see gondola tour in Venice in 1 day

 Other must-see places in Venice

If you have a little time left and by taking a vaporetto, do not miss:

  • The church Saint Mary of Health which is located in the district of Dorsoduro almost at the tip of the island on the other side of the Grand Canal. With its imposing size and white walls, it thrones in splendor facing the Grand Canal.
  • The palace Ca'd'Oro with its elegant and majestic facade which houses an art museum. It is one of the most beautiful Gothic palaces in Venice!

Which hotel in Venice, where to sleep in Venice?

Obviously, I would have dreamed of spending a night in a real Venetian palace and I know that there are magnificent ones transformed into luxury hotels or Palaces…

But my small budget did not allow it. So I opted for a nice hotel but above all very well located in the historic heart of Venice and at a price that I would qualify as reasonable for Venice!

The rooms are small, but well equipped and clean. In addition to its perfect geographical location in the most beautiful district of Venice.

The biggest advantage of this hotel is its roof top from which you can see the Doge's Palace! For my budget, it was thehotel at the best value for money that I have found and that I allow myself to recommend.

See this hotel on Booking

Fancy another city tour in Europe?

So stay in Italy and visit Rome on foot ou Florence in 1 day

Why not a little weekend in Lisbon?

10 thoughts on “Venice in 1 day – Self-guided walking tour + Google maps route”

  1. Bo dia! Vi que ficou num hotel bem localizado, porém, para quem está com malas, dizem que é ruim a locomoção, correto? Acho que por isso vou preferir ficar num hotel próximo a estação. O que me diz?
    Thank you!

    1. Good morning,
      Tudo depende está to procure de conveniência or prazer. Estar a 50 metros da Ponte dos Suspiros e mesmo ao lado dos mais belos monuments de Veneza é, na minha opinião, mais agradável do que ficar ao lado da estação. Mas esta é apenas a minha opinião.
      But whatever stay or hotel you have, there will be an optimal estadia in Venice! Desfrute your future life!

    1. Hi Melanie,
      For the return, I advise you to walk back to the Rialto station (Riva del Ferro). There you can take vaporetto line 2 (to be checked locally) which will take you directly along the Grand Canal to Piazzale Roma (stop 5031). The journey is done in 15 minutes and will save you a little fatigue.
      Have a nice trip !

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