Venice is a city in the northern region of Italy; it is located in the Vento region and is renowned worldwide for its beauty and its canal system. It is also the capital of the region of Vento. The city itself is divided up into six areas: Cannaregio, San Polo, Dorsoduro (including the Giudecca and Isola Sacca Fisola islands) Santa Croce, San Marco (including San Giorgio Maggiore island) and Castello (including San Pietro di Castello and Sant'Elena islands).
The climate here is classified as humid subtropical, which gives it cool winters with very warm to hot and heavy summers. The average temperature in July is around 27 degrees, but with the high humidity this can feel much hotter.
It is estimated that around 50,000 tourists a day visit the city, which is not at all surprising when you take into consideration how popular it is on an international basis. Tourism has been a major part of the city’s identity since the 18th century, when it was part of the Grand Tour, which was undertaken by upper-class European young men.
The Carnival of Venice is an annual festival; it starts 40 days before Easter and concludes on Shrove Tuesday. Masks are worn for the festival and this was initially done to hide the identity of the person and social class or stigma that may be attached to upper or lower classes. The carnival brings in around 30,000 visitors a year to the city. Each year during the final weekend of the carnival there is a contest for the best mask.
The Grand Canal is the largest canal in Venice and in itself is a major tourist attraction; looking down from above the shape of the canal resembles a backward S through the city. There are water taxis, waterbuses and of course gondolas, which can be used to explore the city from a totally new perspective.
Some of the buildings of note here include St Mark’s Basilica, which is a truly stunning building that dates back to 1063 and is a remarkable example of Byzantine architecture. It is also connected to Doge’s Palace and it is located on the eastern side of the Piazza San Marco.
The Lido di Venezia is home to the Venice Film Festival and is a luxury destination, which attracts the rich and famous to its 11km long sandbar. Cruises and tours of this nature are high on the agenda here for obvious reasons.
Looking for self catering holiday accommodation in Venice? Then below is a selection of Apartments in Venice and villas in Venice that can be rented direct from their owners. You can either click on each listing for further details or you can use our search engine on the left if you are looking for something in particular.
