Sights Not to Miss and Some Day Trips | Travel + Leisure
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Sights Not to Miss and Some Day Trips

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SIGHTS NOT TO MISS
Piazza San Marco I can't tell you how many bags of corn I've bought for Gianmarco and Anna to feed the healthiest pigeons I've ever seen. As they do this, live music drifts out of cafés, and it's nearly impossible not to take hundreds of pictures. For an overview, climb (or take the elevator) up the Campanile, the 16th-century lookout tower.
Basilica di San Marco Piazza San Marco's other highlight can be exhausting for children. Don't try to tour all of this incredible cathedral. Instead, walk through and point out the gold mosaics. Then go to the top floor to visit the four bronze horses of St. Mark.
Palazzo Ducale (San Marco 1; 39-041/522-4951) This extraordinary Gothic structure has housed Venetian offices of state for more than 1,000 years. Your kids may be inclined to move through quickly, but they'll stop when they get to the Sala del Maggior Consiglio with Tintoretto's Paradiso, one of the largest paintings in the world. They'll also love the armory room and crossing the Bridge of Sighs to the 17th-century prisons.
Outdoor Markets (Rialto Bridge and vicinity; mornings, Tuesday-Saturday) The streets leading to the Rialto Bridge are lined with vendors selling wooden toys, shoes, bags, and hats—a lot of it junk, but worth taking in for the exciting bustle. Just beyond the bridge is the Pescheria, the fish market.
Museo Storico Navale (Castello 2148; 39-041/520-0276) After seeing Venice by gondola, learn about its seafaring history—and check out the Doge's gilded barge.
Scuola Grande di San Rocco (Campo San Rocco 30125; 523-4864) Home to more than 50 works by Tintoretto. Fun factor: Use the museum-issued mirrors to look at ceiling details.
Gallerie Dell'Accademia (Campo della Carità; 39-041/522-2247) After you've taken in the amazing view from the Accademia Bridge, explore this art school, famous for its collection of Renaissance paintings. Kids love the dramatic scenes: People ascending to the heavens! Grinning camels! Executions!

TWO GREAT DAY TRIPS
Murano—a 10-minute boat ride from Venice—has been Italy's main glass-making center since 1291. That was the year all the furnaces were restricted to this island to prevent Venice from going up in a blaze. It's an ideal place to spend a day on foot, touring glass factories. A few worth checking out: Domus Vetri d'Arte (82 Fondamenta dei Vetrai; 39-041/739-215), Sent Guglielmo (8A Fondamenta dei Vetrai; 39-041/739-100), Carlo Moretti (3 Fondamenta D. Manin; 39-041/739-217), and Barovier e Toso (28 Fondamenta dei Vetrai; 39-041/527-4385).

To get to Murano, catch the vaporetto that departs from Venice's Fondamenta Nuove, quays on the north side of Cannaregio, every 10 minutes. For lunch, try Busa alla Torre (3 Campo San Stefano; 39-041/739-662; lunch for four $60), Murano's best seafood restaurant. Order the fritto misto of calamari, shrimp, soft-shell crabs, and turbot.

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