10 Things to do in Venice on the cheap
Venice, as everybody well knows, is one of the most expensive cities to visit in Europe.
Hotels, restaurants and gondola rides can quickly and adversely affect your budget.
So we decided to list 10 favorite activities that Venice offers for under €15. Who says Venice has to be expensive?
Venice travel tips
• The Best cheap hotels in Venice: 7 picks from our guide
• Italy 10-Day Itinerary: Rome, Florence and Venice
• 5 Budget hotels with canal views
10 Cheap things to do in Venice
Let’s start with some activities for art lovers:
1. Visit the Gallerie Dell’Accademia
The Accademia is the world’s greatest museum for Venetian Renaissance art. It hosts an amazingly rich collection of Venetian paintings from the Byzantine and Gothic 14th century. Feast your eyes on works by Bellini, Carpaccio, Giorgione, Veronese, Tintoretto, and Tiziano, not to mention Tiepolo and Canaletto, Guardi, Bellotto and Longhi.
Admission: €15; €2 for reduced admission or €10 for early morning arrivals before 9 am
Free entry: 1st Sunday of the month (no online tickets) and for visitors under 18.
Hours: Mon 8:15 am – 2 pm, Tues to Sun 8:15 am – 7:15 pm (ticket office closes one hour earlier)
Entrance: Near the Vaporetto Stop: Accademia – Line 1 and 2
2. Tour the Museo Arte Orientale Ca’ Pesaro
The Museo Arte Orientale Ca’ Pesaro offers one of the most important collections of Japanese art from the Edo period in Europe. The collection was acquired by Prince Henry II of Bourbon during his travels to Asia, between 1887 and 1889. You can admire more than 30,000 artifacts, like swords and daggers, Japanese armors and precious porcelains, with wide sections dedicated to Indonesian and Chinese art.
Admission: €14, reduced €11.50
Hours: Nov to March: Tues to Sun, 10 am – 5 pm, April to October: Tues to Sun, 10 am – 6 pm
Entrance: Near the Vaporetto Stop: San Stae, line 1
Now for some religious activities:
Basilica San Marco is a must-see on a Venice vacation. Photo: Ivan
3. Visit the Basilica San Marco
Boasting an incredibly rich ensemble of domes, columns, statues and mosaic-covered interiors, the Basilica San Marco (“St. Mark’s Church”) is the true heart of Venice and the final resting place of Saint Mark. There are always long queues outside, but you can follow our guide on how to avoid crowds.
Admission: Church only €6, Church and St. Mark’s Museum €15, Church and Pala d’Oro €12, Church and Loggia Dei Cavalli €10, Bell Towers €12
Hours: Monday to Saturday, 9:30 am – 5:15 pm; Sunday, 9:30 am – 5:15 for Museum and Loggia Dei Cavalli, 2 p.m. – 5:15 pm for the church
Entrance: Near the Vaporetto Stop San Zaccaria – Lines 2, 51 and 41
4. Take a tour of the Jewish Museum and synagogues
This is the world’s first ghetto and it hasn’t changed since it was created back in the Middle Ages. The Jewish Museum of Venice was opened in 1953 and displays valuable artifacts, sacred furnishings and the nuptial contract of the Jewish community that for centuries has lived in this neighborhood. The tour also includes a visit to the five synagogues of the city, all founded during the 16th century.
Admission: €14, reduced €12, guided tours €15 or €2 in advance
Hours: Sunday to Thursday, 10 am – 5:30 pm; Friday, 9 am – 3 pm
Entrance: Near the Vaporetto stop Ponte delle Guglie, Line 41, 42, 51, 52 or S. Marcuola, Line 1 or 2
5. Visit the Chiesa dei Frari
Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari in Venice, a religious treasure situated in the middle of the Venice, makes up one of the largest groups of buildings in the city. The massive church, commonly called “Frari,” dominates the area of San Polo with its Gothic forms and creative use of bricks. Inside, gaze at amazing masterpieces by Titian, Donatello, and many more local artists.
Admission: €5, €2 reduced
Hours: Monday to Friday 9 am – 7:30 pm; Saturday 9 am – 6 pm; Sunday 1 pm – 6 pm
Entrance: Near the Vaporetto stop San Toma, Line 1
Take a vaporetto ride for a low-cost tour of the Venetian canals. Photo: Mark
How about some outdoor activities, with perfect spots for panoramic photos of Venice?
6. Take a ride to San Giorgio Island
This important Benedictine monastery was built on the small island of the same name by Andrea Palladio. It is designed around the church and two cloisters. Since 1951, it has been run by the Giorgio Cini Foundation. Take the short vaporetto ride to the island and enjoy the view.
Admission: Free for church, €6 for Bell Towers
Hours: April to October 9 am – 7 pm, November to March 8:30 am – 6 pm, Sundays closed for mass from 10:40 am – 12 pm
Getting there: Vaporetti Line 2, Isola di San Giorgio stop
7. Walk the beaches of Lido
Take a boat out to the sandy beaches of Lido, where the city’s aristocrats used to stroll during the summer. If you head over during the Venice Film Festival, you might chance upon some movie stars. The beach is free and there are some very nice restaurants in the area.
Getting there: Lido Line 1, Lido stop
8. Park it
Immerse yourself in one of the few green spots in Venice: the Giardini, created by Napoleon (after knocking down many old churches and convents) when he conquered the city in 1807. The rubble was used to create a small hill, which now hosts the Padiglione della Biennale.
And last, but not least, two of my own favorites:
9. See how gondolas are built at Squero San Trovaso
This boatyard is located along the Rio San Trovaso and dates back to the 17th century. This squero (“boatyard”) is one of the few still operating in Venice and you can watch for free from the outside.
Also, note the unique boathouse, the building shaped like a mountain house. The reason for its sloping shape is twofold: Both the carpenters and the timber came from Cadore (a mountain area of the Dolomites); and secondly, the slope was useful in case of rain, and serves as storage for tools.
If you want to take a tour and see gondolas being built and repaired, you need a group of at least 25 people. The tour usually lasts 30 minutes. Email ahead to [email protected] for more information.
10. Take a Cheapo Vaporetto tour
Take Vaporetto Line 51, relax and take in the view of the lagoon. The vaporetto circles around the city and connects the Lido to Fondamenta Nove, on the northern lagoon side of Venice’s historic center. From there, it continues through the Cannaregio Canal to the train station and Piazzale Roma before heading up the Giudecca Canal with stops at San Zaccaria, Giardini, and S. Elena on its way back to the Lido. The tour only costs the price of a normal Vaporetto ticket (€9.50, valid for 75 minutes), and offers some of the most breathtaking views of the city!
Your favorite cheap activities in Venice
Have anything to add to our list of great things to do in Venice on the cheap? Tell us about it in the comments section.
About the author
Night Lights!
At about dusk take No.1 vaporetto from Rialto down to San Marco. All the hotels and great houses are lit up and you can see many of the ornamental ceilings within. At night St Marks square, the basilica, the Doge’s palace, and the tower are also beautifully lit up, and you have the place virtually to yourselves!
Try tracing the movements of Inspector Guido Brunetti in one of Donna Leon’s fine mystery stories set in Venice. These paperbacks have little maps which make navigation seem easy. Granted, I’ve never tried it myself, and I’d probably still get lost. No matter. Even the locals get lost in Venice. At least I’d stumble across one of those intriguing neighborhood cafes Leon describes. A glass of wine is a great way to fortify the soul. And the Peggy Guggenheim Museum can’t be that far away………..
Great suggestion. Those are fantastic books and a fun way to learn about Venice and Italian culture.
The beach in Lido is great, quiet (we went in winter), the color of the water is beautiful. We “accidentally” chose a hotel in Lido instead of central Venice, and it was great, I don’t think we would have visited Lido otherwise, and it was definitely worth it.
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Venice is a place for quiet reflection, for contemplation, and even in the rush of modernity, these are commodities that still come for free. Our favourite Venice day is to go out to the Armenian monastery at San Lazzaro degli Armeni. But if the buzz of the city cannot be resisted, then a few hours each day in La basilica di San Marco is hard to beat. And it is completely free. No need to pay a cent. The celebrations of Holy Masses in the basilica are free of charge. The entrance is from the Porta dei Fiori (north façade) in the Piazzetta dei Leoncini. Mass is celebrated six times each day, and there is no finer start to a Venetian spring morning than the quiet 7.00 Mass at San Marco. If that inspires you, then stay for Lauds at 8.30 (followed by another Mass at 9.00 for the truly devout). One of the finest pieces of ecclesiastical theatre starts just after 18.00 with Vespers, the Rosary and then Mass at 18.45. On Sundays evenings, be in San Marco by about 17.25 for Vespers and the Madonna Nicopeia procession with the chant of the litanies, which leads nicely into Mass at 18.45. Venice demands time. And 30 mins shuffling through San Marco in a crowd of photographers (after having stood in line to get in) is just NOT the way to do it.
Nicky and Susanne
Have lunch at “Fritto e Frutta” (Fondamenta dei Tolentini, near Piazzale Roma): fried fish and other delicacies for 8 €! 😉
Great tips, Monica.
We’ll check them out when we go to Venice next month.