Tour of Venice, Italy with no maps but your five senses

So, your bags are packed, you bought the maps, the travel books and the guides and you are off to Venice, Italy – the most picturesque city in the world. If you are planning to be a regular tourist go on…continue your packing and read other boring websites and blogs about Venice. BUT if you want a different experience STOP right now! Throw away your maps and guides and learn how to visit the city using only your five senses. Venice is like a poem on the water. It is a jewel-city made from art, embellished with elegant domes and palaces flooding on damp and silent water canals. Visiting Venice is like entering the imprinted images from Canaletto’s canvases. The first tip I have for travelers is to get lost in city’s narrow streets, bridges and savor the dark corners like a real Venetian. Do not buy maps but just follow your five senses. Venice is only a few km long and getting lost in the city is the best thing you can do, you will be always a few steps from a piazza or a water vista that will leave you breathless. Then eventually you will end up at San Marco Piazza and from there I guarantee you will find your way around. It is OK if you feel a little claustrophobic at first when walking in a narrow cale, but one side probably will end up by the water or the other may lead you to an incredible finding – like the Staircase Contarini del Bovolo.

When you arrive in Venice, by air, bus or train the first think you’ll notice is how different the energy of the city is - cars are nowhere to be seen and the water is the main rhythm of life. The best time to visit is in March when the city is just warming up from the spring sun and the huge crowds of tourists haven’t arrived yet. Avoid the hotels closer to the main piazza or around the tourist attractions. If you really want to feel the heart of the city or experience life as a true Venetian, stay at the hotels in Canarregio. Hotel Arcadia is my favorite place to stay – right in the heart of “true”Venice. The hotels in Venice are usually housed in a 16th – 17th century palazzos, once a place for lavish Venetians parties and balls. In fact, new buildings in Venice are not permitted and the renovation of the old structures must follow strict rules to keep the city’s original façade. The noise from the local fruit and vegetable vendors will wake you up before the sun rises when they are getting ready for the day, but don’t complain. Instead relish in the local traditions and the real sound of the city waking up for another marvelous day. Wake up and go early to the coffee shop around the corner where you can taste the fresh pastries, warm out of the oven, filling the air with the smells of cinnamon and chocolate, complimented by a strong roasted espresso. With a pastry in one hand and a strong coffee in the other, see and enjoy the incredible sunrise overVenice. (see the beginning of my video) Do you hear this? Yes, it’s nothing else but the sound of the city – people going to work, gondoliers getting the gondolas ready for the day, water splashing around – that’s all – no car pollution or noise of the freeways. Spend the rest of the day with no agenda, no maps or tourist crowds. Just get lost in the city.

So let’s recap: SMELL the city (hopefully it didn't rain, otherwise the smell is not that good). TASTE the incredible food in the local pubs – seafood is the Venetian specialty.

TOUCH the glass beads and jewelry on vendors’ cars – reflecting the colors of Venice.

HEAR the splash of the water.

SEE the most incredible churches, art collections and places, but the most important part – get lost in the most incredible city of the world.

Here are some of my suggestions for great places to smell, taste, touch, hear and see in VENICE:

In the heart of the city is San Marko Basilica with its beautiful domes embroidered with colored marbles, rebuild many times due to fire destruction. You can climb the bell towerof San Marco, more than 98 meters tall or visit the clock tower on the side of the Basilica for a truly remarkable sight. But for the visitors who prefer the silence and beauty of the museum art, here are my suggestions: Museo Civico Correr and Gallerie dell’Academia are a must see in Venice. Both museums house some of the most important Venetian artists like Giovanni Bellini, Giorgione, Francesco Guardi and Paolo Veronese. Other art museums in Venice, not to be missed are: Ca 'Rezzonico, one of the most beautiful areas of Venice, with dance halls, stairways, and impressive cool decor: the eighteenth-century Venice Museum houses some of the masterpieces by Canaletto. Peggy Guggenheim Museum houses the works from the personal collection of Peggy Guggenheim featuring the works by Picasso, Mondrian, Duchamp, Braque, Magritte, Kandinsky. For those who love modern and contemporary art I also recommend the new rooms of the Punta della Dogana in Palazzo Grassi: the former port city is now home to monumental works from the permanent collection of Francois Pinault. Ca’d’Oro features St.Sebastian by Andrea Mantegna, paintings by Jan van Eyck, Anthony van Dyck and Guardi. Ca Pesaro, beautiful seventeenth-century palazzo on the Grand Canal, which now houses the Museum of Oriental Art and the International Gallery of Modern Art with famous paintings by Klimt, Chagall, Kandinsky, Klee and Matisse.

Some of the most beautiful art works by the Venetian masters are found in the many churches around Venice. Besides San Marco Basilica, you must visit San Zaccaria, Campo dei Fiari and the most beautiful of all Santa Maria della Salute.

If you prefer the maneuver the city by water use the comfortable vaporetto ACTV, which connects all points of the city. It is much cheaper and authentic then the classic gondola ride which may be romantic, but it can be quite expensive (rates from 80 to 150 € for 30 to 60 minutes). A great idea for a day trip with destination Murano or the colorful island of Burano.

Don’t forget that the beauty of Venice extends beyond the city’s limits. The wealthy Venetians build their summer palaces called terraferma on the mainland and withdrew there during the humid months. Today many of the Venetian villas are turned into museums that also become alternation to the ancient castles famous for remarkable wealth of their decorations. Falconetto, Palladio and Sansovino were only a few of the architects’ commissioned to create beautiful estates on the hills, surrounded by nature, fertile greens and peaceful river banks. Two of the most splendid villas of the 16th centuries still featuring the original frescoes by Veronese are Villa Barbaro in Maser and Villa Emo at Fanzolo.