We’ve visited Venice on several occasions as a couple but Venice with kids, some thought we were crazy to take POD with us. But why not, she loves to travel just as much as we do – and is mostly happy walking (always handy for exploring Venice!). As it was her first time visiting this beautiful Italian city, we pre-booked a couple of activities including a gondola ride and boat trip, to make the most of our trip.

Explore Venice with kids

Get lost to experience the real Venice

The best way to explore this beautiful city is on foot and if you want to explore the “real Venice”, make sure you head off the beaten path. There are plenty of Venetian squares to stop at for a gelato or a drink if it’s hot (as it was when we were there). We’d recommend visiting the Dorsoduro region and the streets around Campo Santa Margherita which is much quieter than the likes of Piazza San Marco. Getting yourself lost in Venice is a given and you’ll be rewarded with sights that will truly take your breath away. You can’t help but fall in love with Venice even if you’ve visited before. While it may sound like a cliche, it just feels magical.

Soak up the atmosphere in Piazza San Marco

In the heart of Venice is Piazza San Marco (St Marks Square), renowned for iconic landmarks such as the magnificent St Mark’s Basilica, St Mark’s Campanile and Doge’s Palace with the Bridge of Sighs. We stayed in Venice in peak season so we expected the piazza to be busy and it was. We’ve visited the sights before however and didn’t feel the need to this time around. I’d recommend getting up early to see Piazza San Marco at sunrise, it’s pretty special seeing Venice wake up and there’s hardly anyone around. Quite remarkable to think that would be the case in August isn’t it?

Even during the day, it was only really the area around the Basilica and St Mark’s Campanile that was busy. You could still grab a table at Caffè Florian if you wanted to and enjoy their orchestra. Caffè Florian is the oldest coffee shop in Italy and the second oldest in the world. If you don’t want to pay the premium prices, a gelato is around €9, you can appreciate the atmosphere as you walk past.

Tour the Grand Canal

If you don’t fancy exploring Venice on foot, a great way to tour the Grand Canal is by taking the Vaporetto (water bus). The number 1 route zigzags between 20 stations from the Piazzale Roma to the Lido. It provides a leisurely tour of the Grand Canal but is busy in peak periods. If you want to avoid the day trippers, take the number 1 towards Piazza San Marco late in the evening. Have a look at this table for more information on the Vaporetto routes which include the city centre, circular and lagoon routes.

Ride in a gondola

We’d not taken a ride in a gondola for years but we figured we really had to take POD on one so she experienced it. The price of these varies enormously so we booked a shared gondola from the UK. This just means you share it with a couple of strangers. We had a lovely couple in our gondola but they moved around a fair bit which made it wobble. While the gondolier didn’t seem concerned, POD spent much of the ride worrying about falling in. You can see from the photo below – she’s not her usual relaxed self! I think next time, we’d pay a bit extra to have a private gondola ride and head off the beaten track.

We didn’t get time to visit a squeri (gondola workshop) which, given the detail on these wonderful boats, would have been incredible. One of the most accessible is the Squero di San Trovaso which is located near Fondamenta Zattere. It’s not normally open to visitors but the Fondamenta Maravegie canal provides good views we hear.

Watch glass blowing in Burano…

Having not visited any of the Venetian islands, we built a tour into our trip. These cruises can be organised when you arrive in Venice but we opted to book in advance. We had a central point to meet, just off Piazza San Marco and visited 3 islands in less than 5 hours. Burano is known for its glass blowing and we all found it fascinating watching a glass blower make a horse seemingly from nothing in a very short period of time. We all found it fascinating, perhaps surprisingly so, and thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the different types of glassware on offer. We managed to leave without breaking anything so that’s always a bonus!

…and admire colourful fishermen’s houses in Murano

Our tour of the islands included Burano, where we saw the glass blowing, Murano and Torcello. All the islands are very different and Murano is without a doubt the brightest. Although Murano known for its lace-making, this pretty village is widely recognised for its colourful fisherman’s houses. It really is a photographer’s dream and I could have spent a lot longer than I did just taking photos! You can see more here.

Have a ride in a private water taxi

When we arrived in Venice we took the water bus from Marco Polo airport. It was really cheap for the 3 of us but we quickly discovered it’s because it’s so slow. I’m sure we went on a magical mystery tour for two hours before arriving at the mainland – this versus a 15-minute ride in a water taxi. We’d not taken the latter as it’s a pricier option but changed our minds when it was time to head home. See our guide to getting to and from the airport. A private water taxi from the mainland costs around €120, vs €45 for the 3 of us on the water bus, which seems steep but was worth every penny. POD had never been in, what is effectively a speed boat before, and she had the time of her life! We laughed and whooped much of the way, trying not to fall over when we taking photos of each other. If only we could have bottled that up – it was the perfect end to a great trip. Perhaps we can nip back for the next Venice Festival – I bet that’s pretty special.