The romance and decaying beauty of Venice, Italy, have inspired art, books, and film over the centuries. Maybe your parents have a photo of themselves feeding pigeons in the Piazza San Marco (something you can’t do now), or your grandparents told you fond stories of when they took a gondola ride through the city’s canals. However, the touristy parts of Venice aren’t the whole story, according to travel pro Rick Steves. On his website, Steves tells us that we should be looking beyond the more famous part of Venice — a city that is slowly sinking — if we want to get the best experience. He explains that on his last visit, he spent two days staying away from Piazza San Marco and instead looked off the beaten path. “It’s the back lanes where this enchanting city is most intriguing,” he says. During his trip, he said that he found an “unusually wide street” that was a filled-in canal, and even a blocked-off “inverted corner at a lovely church” where the gate was to stop people from, well, relieving themselves there.
Of course, there is much more to the hidden side of Venice, and all you have to do is a bit of exploring, whether you do some walking in areas where other tourists aren’t flocking, or take the vaporetto, or water taxi, the cheapest way to get around Venice. You can either wander the area yourself, or splurge on something Steves often suggests, a local, professional tour guide. If you do that at the beginning of your vacation, you can get some tips on places most tourists wouldn’t think to go.
Some ideas on where to visit off the beaten path in Venice
Walking around the city or taking the vaporetto, you can find a treasure trove of fascinating places and things to see. For instance, less than half a mile away from Piazza San Marco is the Libreria Acqua Alta, a bookstore that stores many of their books on gondolas, canoes, boats, and other things to keep the water away from them. Be forewarned, though, because the store and much of the city can flood when it experiences the acqua alta, or very high tides. It’s also full of bookstore cats to visit, has an escape route directly to the canal, and a staircase of old books that were destined for recycling that you can climb. There is no parking in the area, so this is a place that it’s best to get to on foot. Nearby is the Chiesa di San Zaccaria, which is a beautiful church with a crypt that has been flooded for centuries. It’s a spooky and atmospheric spot that’s worth checking out.
Another area to explore is the Ghetto Ebraico in Cannaregio, where you can simply wander or take a Cannaregio and Jewish Ghetto food tour to experience the culinary delights of the area. As you traipse through the Venice streets, you might run into something like the Sotoportego de la Corte Nova, which is a passage from the Calle Zorzi to Corte Nova. This 17th-century spot has beautiful art inside, a marvelously decorated ceiling, and a votive chapel to the Virgin Mary that legend says was first put up by a resident who was afraid of the plague. If you do walk through, don’t step on the orange tile because it’s bad luck.
