The wish list my husband Rob and I had for our eight-day trip to Venice was long and mostly included seeing in real life the major works from art history courses, guidebooks, and coffee table tomes on Renaissance painting. How could we see them all? The most well-known museums and churches were on Venice maps, but we had many more locations to scout out. Now it wasn’t that we expected to cross off paintings as we would items on a grocery list. We needed a plan so we wouldn’t go back and forth over the Grand Canal that flows through the city like a giant “S,” for even the public water bus, the vaporetto, is expensive. Like a detective planning strategies, I photocopied the clearest map, and, by referencing a number of sources, began making circles around the museums and churches we wanted to visit. Off we went to Venice to stay on the Dorsoduro with many churches chocked full of major artists and major art museums–the Accademia, the Peggy Guggenheim, and Ca ‘Rezzonico–for three days, in the center for three days, and near the Ca’d’Oro for the last few days. That way we could explore the city a section at a time, and not have to worry about crossing the Grand Canal. Details: buy a VENICE CHORUS PASS that givers entry to 16 churches (even if you are not religious you will love the famous artists). VENICE CONNECTED offeres a wide range of city passes that include entry fees and transportation.
