Stress-Free Venice Guide

This article is a guide on how to visit Venice safely, mainly aimed at travelers but obviously with useful tips for everyone.

Venice is one of the most unique cities in Europe, located in northeastern Italy, built across 117 islands connected by bridges and canals. Famous for its architecture, art, and waterways. In 2024, it had around 250,000 inhabitants, about 54,000 of whom live in the historic area. It was once the capital of the powerful Republic of Venice, a maritime power between the 13th and 17th centuries. Throughout history, it stood out as a hub of trade and art. After Austrian rule, it became part of the Kingdom of Italy in 1866.

Venetian gondola

If you’re thinking of visiting Venice, based on our experience, the best option is to arrive the day before and stay outside the city center. We stayed [here] and it was a pleasant spot. It’s free, has a park around it, and a water point (which, if you travel by camper, you know is important).

Of course, you could leave your camper parked there, hop on a bus, and visit the city but I don’t recommend it. There are plenty of cases where campers get broken into during the day, so my advice is to leave the camper [here].

It’s a paid parking area (€7 for a full day), but you can buy the parking spot and the boat ticket to Venice online, it’s just a 3-minute walk from the parking lot to the ferry. It’s definitely the safest and most comfortable way to do it, and in the end, you only pay €7 for the parking and get to visit Venice stress-free.

Once you’ve booked your parking + boat ticket online, all you need to do when you arrive is show the purchase email and the staff will open the gate. For the ferry, go to the ticket office, it’s inside a big black gate, show your email and they’ll give you the tickets (keep them because they’re for the return trip).

Ferry Schedule

In 20 minutes, you’ll be in Venice and can explore the city with peace of mind. Be prepared for a super touristy area. One tip: outside the famous spots like monuments, squares, or bridges, everything tends to be a lot cheaper.

I think it makes sense to visit monuments that were important to our civilization, but I also recommend heading into quieter areas to get a real feel for daily life in Venice from the people who live there, who deserve more respect and should not have to deal with the overwhelming number of visitors invading their city every day.

No doubt it’s a one-of-a-kind city, I really enjoyed going and totally recommend the visit.

As always, if you’ve got questions or just feel like exchanging ideas, feel free to send me a message.

Don´t forget:

If you go there,

go barefoot.

Carlos