Venice  Travel Guide : Food, hotel, Cost, Weather & geography, History, language, culture, things to see and do and how to reach

You can find about travel advice such as public places & services, best restaurants, activities, sightseen and other key facts of the in Venice .

Venice  is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges.The islands are in the shallow Venetian Lagoon, an enclosed bay lying between the mouths of the Po and the Piave rivers (more exactly between the Brenta and the Sile). In 2020, 258,685 people resided in the Comune di Venezia, of whom around 55,000 live in the historical city of Venice (centro storico). Together with Padua and Treviso, the city is included in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area (PATREVE), which is considered a statistical metropolitan area, with a total population of 2.6 million.The name is derived from the ancient Veneti people who inhabited the region by the 10th century BC. The city was historically the capital of the Republic of Venice for over a millennium, from 697 to 1797. It was a major financial and maritime power during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and a staging area for the Crusades and the Battle of Lepanto, as well as an important center of commerce especially silk, grain, and spice, and of art from the 13th century to the end of the 17th. The city-state of Venice is considered to have been the first real international financial center, emerging in the 9th century and reaching its greatest prominence in the 14th century.This made Venice a wealthy city throughout most of its history. After the Napoleonic Wars and the Congress of Vienna, the Republic was annexed by the Austrian Empire, until it became part of the Kingdom of Italy in 1866, following a referendum held as a result of the Third Italian War of Independence.Venice has been known as "La Dominante", "La Serenissima", "Queen of the Adriatic", "City of Water", "City of Masks", "City of Bridges", "The Floating City", and "City of Canals". The lagoon and a part of the city are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Parts of Venice are renowned for the beauty of their settings, their architecture, and artwork.Venice is known for several important artistic movements—especially during the Renaissance period—and has played an important role in the history of instrumental and operatic music, and is the birthplace of Baroque composers Tomaso Albinoni and Antonio Vivaldi.Although the city is facing some challenges (including an excessive number of tourists and problems caused by pollution, tide peaks and cruise ships sailing too close to buildings), Venice remains a very popular tourist destination, a major cultural centre, and has been ranked many times the most beautiful city in the world. It has been described by the Times Online as one of Europe's most romantic cities and by The New York Times as "undoubtedly the most beautiful city built by man".


Foods in  Venice  :

(1) Sarde in saor : 

This delectable agrodolce or sweet-sour dish is definitely our favorite. Consisting of fried sardine fillets marinated in vinegar, onions, raisins and pine nuts, saor was originally conceived in the Middle Ages as a method of preservation by Venetian sailors and fishermen. With modern refrigeration, preserving fish (and other foods) in this way is no longer necessary. However, the simultaneously sweet and tangy flavors characterizing this preservation method were clearly very appealing to the Venetians’ taste buds and, as a result, the dish lives on as a modern-day antipasto or appetizer.

(2)  Baccala mantecato : 

Coming in at a close second is another sublime fish-based antipastoBaccala mantecato or creamed dried cod is prepared by soaking, poaching and blending the fish into a smooth mousse seasoned with olive oil, salt and pepper. You may also come across parsley and garlic in some variations. It is then served spread on slices of fresh bread or grilled white polenta, a typical staple of the Veneto region.

(3) Risotto al nero di seppia : 

Rice is the other commonly grown staple in the Veneto region, and few dishes are more Venetian than this seafood-based risotto. The squid ink in this primo or starter may confer a rather alarming and seemingly unpalatable jet-black color to the rice. This dish, though, wins even the most skeptical visitors over with the distinct briny flavor of its squid, wine, onion, tomato and ink braise.

(4) Risi e bisi : 

Our gastronomic guide to Venice would not be complete without mentioning another rice-based starter, risi e bisi or Venetian-style rice and peas. On April 25, St. Mark’s Day, this primo was traditionally served as an offering to the Doge of Venice from the peasantry from the lagoon islands. Not quite risotto nor quite soup, risi e bisi is made with vialone nano rice, pancetta, onion, butter, parsley and surprisingly enough, pea-shell broth! If you notice fresh peas gracing the stands at the Rialto markets (generally mid-to-late spring), you can be sure that it is the right time to sample this dish at a local trattoria.

(5) Bigoli in salsa : 

Bigoli in salsa is another signature starter dish of Venice. Bigoli, or bigoi as they called in the local dialect, are essentially long, thick, whole-wheat strands of pasta resembling spaghetti. A salsa or sauce consisting of onions and salt-cured fish (sardines or anchovies) is then used to accompany the pasta. Traditionally served on giorni di magro or lean days such as Good Friday and Christmas Eve, this simple but delicious dish is now served all year round in Venice.

(6) Fegato alla veneziana : 

Offal enthusiasts will relish this main course made with calf liver and stewed onions. The earthiness of the liver is complimented perfectly by the sweet, caramelized onions. With its distinct flavor combination, this classic dish has been known to convert many a visitor claiming not to like liver. It is often served on a creamy bed of polenta.

(7) Baicoli : 

When the Republic of Venice was a great seafaring power, sailors needed food that would last during their often long and precarious voyages. Among their most important rations were the dry, oval-shaped and most importantly, long-lasting baicoli or ship biscuits. Of deceptively simple appearance, preparing them is actually a very long process as they require two rises and double baking. Many a Venetian aristocrat was fond of dipping baicoli in creams and dessert wines. These days, you’ll generally find them served with coffee and zabaglione.

Weather & geography in  Venice  :

Situated at the northwestern end of the Adriatic Sea, Venice lies on an archipelago in the crescent-shaped Laguna Veneta (Venice Lagoon), which stretches some 32 miles (51 km) from the reclaimed marshes of Jesolo in the north to the drained lands beyond Chioggia at the southern end.The climate of Venice, the capital of the Veneto region, is moderately continental, similar to that of the Po Valley, with cold, moist winters and hot, muggy summers, but it's slightly tempered by the Adriatic Sea.

Per day Cost in  Venice  :

For budget-minded travelers, it costs around €55-€85/day to visit Venice. These prices are based on what you'll need to visit the city comfortably as a budget traveler. If you want to upgrade your accommodations, add another €50-€150/night depending on your stay.

History of  Venice  :

Uniquely among Italy’s chief cities, Venice came into being after the fall of the Roman Empire in the West. The Lombard hordes, whose incursions into northern Italy began in AD 568, drove great numbers of mainlanders onto the islands of the lagoon, previously the homes of itinerant fishermen and salt workers. The isolated communities, literally islands of Veneto-Byzantine civilization, became part of the exarchate of Ravenna when it was created in 584. When the mainland Byzantine city of Oderzo fell to the Lombards in 641, political authority was shifted to one of the islands in the Venetian lagoon.The first elected doge, or duke, was Orso, chosen in an anti-Byzantine military declaration in 727, but he was succeeded by Byzantine officials until about 751, when the exarchate of Ravenna came to an end. There followed decades of internal political strife among various settlements vying for supremacy and between pro- and anti-Byzantine factions; also involved were attempts by church authorities to acquire temporal influence. Finally the doge Obelerio and his brother Beato formed an alliance with the Franks of Italy and placed Venice under the authority of the Italian king Pippin (died 810) in order to free themselves from Byzantine control.Pro-Byzantine reaction to this event under the doges of the Parteciaco family led to the transfer of the seat of government to the Rialto group of islands, by then the centre for exiles in the factional fighting. Though a Franco-Byzantine treaty of 814 guaranteed to Venice political and juridical independence from the rule of the Western Empire, it did not confirm any effective dependence on the Byzantine Empire, and by 840–841 the doge was negotiating international agreements in his own name. The unusual legal and political position of the small independent duchy, situated in territorial isolation between two great empires, contributed greatly to its function as a trading intermediary.

 

Language in  Venice  :

Venetian is a Romance language spoken as a native language by Venetians, almost four million people in the northeast of Italy, mostly in the Veneto region of Italy, where most of the five million inhabitants can understand it, centered in and around Venice, which carries the prestige dialect. It is sometimes spoken and often well understood outside Veneto, in Trentino, Friuli, the Julian March, Istria, and some towns of Slovenia and Dalmatia (Croatia) by a surviving autochthonous Venetian population, and Brazil, Argentina, Australia, and Mexico by Venetians in the diaspora.Although referred to as an Italian dialecteven by some of its speakers, Venetian is a separate language with many local varieties. Its precise place within the Romance language family remains controversial. However, both Ethnologue and Glottolog group it into the Gallo-Italic branch.

Culture of  Venice  :

Venice is unique environmentally, architecturally, and historically, and in its days as a republic the city was styled la serenissima (“the most serene” or “sublime”). It remains a major Italian port in the northern Adriatic Sea and is one of the world's oldest tourist and cultural centres.

Place to visit in  Venice  :

(1) St. Mark's Basilica

(2) Piazza San Marco (St. Mark's Square)

(3) Palazzo Ducale (Doge's Palace) and Bridge of Sighs

(4) Canale Grande (Grand Canal)

(5)  Ponte di Rialto (Rialto Bridge) and San Polo

(6) Scuola Grande di San Rocco

(7) Ca' d'Oro

(8) Murano and Burano 

(9) Peggy Guggenheim Collection

(10) Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari

Hotel in  Venice   :

(1) Hilton Molino Stucky Venice

(2) Antico Panada

(3) Bauer Palazzo

(4) Palazzo Veneziano - Venice Collection

(5) Hotel Saturnia & International 

How to reach in  Venice  :
 

The cheapest way to get from India to Venice is to fly and train which costs 19,000 - 43,000 and takes 14h 7m. What is the fastest way to get from India to Venice? The quickest way to get from India to Venice is to fly which costs 25,000 - 60,000 and takes 11h 37m.

Travel Guide for  Venice  : Food, Cost, Weather & geography, History, language, culture, things to see and do and how to reach. – Published by The Beyond News (Travelling).