In this post, I’ll tell you my five favorite photo spots in Venice, Italy that I’ve discovered and visited over and over again over the last few years. You can find the previous post about Venice and how to best get around the city here.

Please note:

Venice, despite its urban character, is built in the sea on islands and surrounded by the sea. High humidity and sea air with high salt content can damage your camera. Therefore, be sure to protect your camera and take good care of it.

My five favorite photo spots in Venice

Fondaco dei Tedeschi

The luxury shopping center Fondaco dei Tedeschi on the Grand Canal, in an ancient thirteenth-century palace, offers not only three floors of priceless brand-name goods in the middle of the oldest part of Venice, but also a free visit to the roof terrace with breathtaking views of the canal and the Rialto Bridge. However, this is only possible with prior booking: 15-minute slots are offered from 10:30 to 18:30.

Tip: Book two slots in a row. You can show both bookings at the first control, so that you stay on the roof terrace at the “shift change” and are not sent back to the waiting hall. That way you have the terrace for a minute or two just for you and your photos; tripods have been allowed, by the way.

The name “Fondaco dei Tedeschi” suggests that the building served as a settlement for German-speaking merchants and craftsmen in the late Middle Ages and Renaissance; even the Fuggers had a trading post here. Today, the premises still have signs and coats of arms of various merchants engraved on columns, shelves, windows, walls, facades and plinths to claim the space for themselves.

Bell tower on San Giorgio Maggiore

The beautiful and quite manageable island San Giorgio Maggiore southeast of San Marco already served Renaissance painters as inspiration and motif for their paintings, as the majestic and imposing facade of the basilica on the water of the lagoon is very well visible from the Piazzetta San Marco and the view is really very picturesque.

Until the eleventh century, however, there was only a small church made of wood on the island; it was only in the course of subsequent centuries that first the adjacent monastery was built and later, in the 16th century, the basilica as we know it today.

The current bell tower dates back to 1791, as the original one fell in 1774. It is one of the tallest towers in the city and offers a fantastic view of Venice’s old town, especially St. Mark’s Square and Santa Maria della Salute, as no buildings obstruct the view.

You reach the bell room in a glass elevator, so you can still see the framework of the old wooden staircase inside the bell tower during the ride up, without running the risk of the modernizing steps suddenly collapsing as you go up.

Tip: Small tripods could be set up and used for time-lapse photography or long exposures without any problems so far.

The Bell Tower is open from 9:00 to 19:00 from April to October (last admission at 18:30), from November to March from 8:30 to 18:00 (last admission at 17:30). Admission to the bell tower costs 6 euros – the church can be entered free of charge.

Be careful when the bell rings, it can get really loud!

Ponte di Rialto / Rialto Bridge

The Rialto Bridge is the oldest of the four bridges that cross the Grand Canal today, and until about 1850 it was even the only one to get from one bank of the canal to the other. It is the third bridge that was built in this place, because both previous ones collapsed.

In the 16th century, several tenders were held in which renowned Italian architects participated, and in 1588 the project of Antonio da Ponte won; the decisive factor was his idea to support the bridge on only one arch, instead of several, in order to interfere as little as possible with shipping traffic.

All info about the Rialto Bridge in this article:

On the bridge there are many stores; most of them sell luxury goods such as jewels, watches or Murano glass. Already on the first wooden bridge in 1250 there were stores; at that time the city financed the maintenance of the bridge from the rental income of the premises.

Fun Fact: The rent for about 16m² on the bridge (8m² first floor, 8m² 1st floor) is about 5,000 euros/month.

The location of the bridge allows to photograph the magnificent sunset atmosphere at dusk over the Grand Canal towards the southwest; the reddish sky and the last rays of the sun are reflected on the water and illuminate the bright palaces on the sides of the canal with warm light. At the same time, Venice is certainly not lacking in romantic atmosphere, but at sunset the city is even more beautiful.

A few dozen meters west of the bridge is the Rialto market, which has been located there for over a thousand years and over the centuries has even reached the banks of the canal near the bridge.

In the meantime, the market no longer fulfills a supply function, but rather has a folkloristic character; especially the fish market in the halls of the Pescheria di Rialto is a popular tourist destination. By the way, the antique-looking market hall was only built in 1907 according to Gothic-Venetian style, and the layman – that is, me – never noticed this.

Fun Fact: In the Middle Ages, only native Venetians who had already passed the age of 50 and had fished themselves for at least 20 years were allowed to sell fish.

Piazza San Marco / St. Mark’s Square

The square of San Marco offers a lot of sights, some of them are certainly known to you, others possibly not yet. A visit to St. Mark’s Square is a “must” for me every time I visit Venice.

Campanile di San Marco / St. Mark’s Tower

The bell tower of St. Mark’s Square is probably the most famous landmark of Venice. Due to its imposing height (99m), it towers over every building in the lagoon city by several dozen meters and even Goethe was impressed by the view from the tower during his trip to Italy:

From Goethe’s Italian Journey:

When I had studied it [the city map of Venice] to some extent, I climbed the St. Mark’s Tower, where a single spectacle presents itself to the eye. It was around noon and bright sunshine, that I could see without perspective seams and distances exactly. The tide covered the lagoons, and when I turned my gaze to the so-called Lido (it is a narrow strip of earth that closes the lagoons), I saw for the first time the sea and some sails on it. In the lagoons themselves lie galleys and frigates that were to join the knight Emo, who is making war on the Algiers, but which remain moored because of unfavorable winds. The Paduan and Vicentine mountains and the Tyrolean mountains close the picture quite nicely between evening and midnight.

An elevator takes all visitors from the base to the bell floor in less than a minute and without any effort, so you can concentrate on the 360° panoramic view. By the way, even people who suffer from fear of heights should be able to enjoy the view, as it is not possible to look directly down to the base from the top.

The St. Mark’s Tower is open daily from 9:30 am to 9:15 pm (last admission: 8:45 pm. In case of bad weather (fog, strong wind, severe cold) the bell tower is closed.

Prices

• Adults and children from 6 years: 10 Euro
• For children up to 6 years free of charge

A reservation in connection with the Doge’s Palace* or St. Mark’s Basilica* is also possible directly. Both, together with St. Mark’s Basilica, are among the top sights of the lagoon city.

Depending on the time of day, day of the week, weather and season, the queue can sometimes be very long and there have been waiting times of several hours, so I recommend a skip-the-line ticket* to avoid losing precious time.

All info about the history of the St. Mark’s Tower/Campanile di San Marco can be found here:

Piazza san marco

St. Mark’s Square is enclosed on three sides by the buildings of the Procuratie, the medieval building authority that gained more and more importance and influence over the centuries. To the north are the old Procuratie (Procuratie vecchie), to the south are the new ones (Procuratie nuove) and to the east is the Napoleonic Wing (Ala napoleonica), built under Napoleon. On the east side are St. Mark’s Basilica and the bell tower.

Basilica di San Marco / Basilica of St. Mark

The church was commissioned by Doge Giustiniano Partecipazio when two Venetian merchants smuggled the relics of St. Mark from Alexandria in Egypt in 828. Several new buildings followed, with the last major renovation taking place in 1231 after a devastating fire. Learn more about Saint Mark, famous patron saint of Venice.

The basilica is unique in many respects, because on the one hand there are many architectural peculiarities – inside all the walls and ceilings are decorated exclusively by mosaics, you will look in vain for frescoes; the church has a rare Romanesque style with Byzantine influences.

On the other hand the church was the center of the social and political life of the Venetian Republic and all the important events, from the many religious events to the election of the Doge, took place in or around the church. This function is reflected not only in the many pieces of art, but also in the architecture.

In addition, the museum of the church houses many treasures: the original horses of San Marco (also called: Quadriga marciana, Quadriga of St. Mark’s Basilica) – on the loggia there are only copies of them – and the old covering of the golden altarpiece on which Paolo Veneziano painted the story of St. Mark in the 14th century.

Torre dell’orologio / St. Mark’s Clock Tower

The Clock Tower is still an insider’s tip for taking a look at St. Mark’s Square without waiting in line at the entrance to the Basilica or the Bell Tower, because despite its excellent location, the relatively high price often acts as a deterrent: 12 euros per person are charged for admission.

For this you can not only see the entire St. Mark’s Square from above – even from higher up than from the loggia of St. Mark’s Basilica – but on the way up you also get to see the clockwork and on the top terrace you will find the two Moren, the “Old” and the “Young”, who strike every full hour on a bell specially cast for this tower.

Getting lost in the alleys

In recent years, I’ve enjoyed letting my curiosity guide me and wandering haphazardly through the city to discover lost stores, secret passageways and places still spared from mass tourism. Although my way often ended in dead ends, it is still worthwhile to take a look off the tourist routes and the many “pilgrimage sites”.

In addition, I recommend you to get up quite early, because it is a unique experience to watch the city waking up in the morning, when the tourists are still asleep and many bakeries and pastry shops emit their scent into the alleyways. Residents get ready to take their children to school and then go to work, goods are delivered by boat, as well as garbage disposal is done by water. At no other time does Venice show its authentic side.

Venice photo equipment

An important question you will ask yourself is: What do I take with me to Venice? From my experience with APS-C and DSLR, it makes a big difference whether I travel with a crop or full-frame camera.

APS-C:

• With the Canon EOS 7D, I had at least one wide-angle and one zoom lens with me every time I visited Venice (in my case: Canon EF-S 10-18mm and Canon EF 24-105mm, respectively). With these you can photograph most of the subjects you discover while exploring the city. In most cases, however, an EF-S 17-55mm would have sufficed.

DSLR:

• Because of the size of your full-frame camera’s sensor, you can also get by with just one lens; I’ve used the zoom lens (Canon EF 24-70mm) most often, and it’s good for setting the scene of a sunset or sunrise. I can photograph almost any subject in Venice with it.
• I also had a wide-angle lens (Canon EF 16-35mm) with me on the last tour, and rarely did I really need the 16mm. (For that it came in good use in the Alps on the way back, but that’s another story).

Take photos in Venice – Other tips

• A small and light tripod for night walks is not bad, makeshift you can also use railings, steps or the like.
• If you want to photograph the city without people, you can use a gray filter and a tripod during the day. However, during high season it can be difficult to have a clear picture without color streaks and tracers. A good way to avoid having the tourist crowds in your pictures is to be already out and about at sunrise and thus photograph the city as it wakes up; this is because many tourists come from the mainland and are still on their way to the lagoon city, local residents are still having breakfast, and few people are out on the streets with you.
• If you want to take pictures from the highest points of the city (St. Mark’s Tower, San Giorgio Bell Tower, etc.), it may be worthwhile for you to bring a telephoto lens. With the Canon 75-300mm I can fulfill all wishes for image enlargement despite a high f-number.

Related links

This article was first published on salvati.photography.