There is another Venice to discover. After admiring the “official” one, the famous and touristy one, full of people and pigeons and carnival masks, you might love to go “beyond” and explore its secret heart. This itinerary isn’t about chasing banal souvenirs or any selfie, but rather wants to give you different emotions. We will meet you at Venice Marco Polo Airport (VCE) and accompany you with our chauffeured vehicles to the public vaporetto-boats dock. Because it’s from there, from the moment you begin your journey on the water, that the magic will start. The entire itinerary takes just over an hour, between walking and sailing. Of course, at each stop you can – and should – stop for a long time. And … dream!
Calle Varisco
Vaporettos will most likely drop you off near San Marco square, where most of Venice’s monuments are concentrated. But don’t stop there; go further. A 15-minute walk, among the most beautiful streets of the historic center, and there you are at the Cannaregio neighbourhood. In the heart of this labyrinth of alleys and canals lies Calle Varisco.
Be careful, you really need to have a “good eye” to find this unique alley. Because this is the narrowest street in Venice, and perhaps in all of Italy! Anyone who manages to spot it, among the ancient walls of the houses around, will surely enjoy “crawling” through it… but what we ask you to admire above all is the silence. Here, you can truly breathe the most authentic air of the “real” Venice, where people speak in dialect and the aromas of cooking waft from open windows. A selfie is a must at Calle Varisco, but it’s also nice to stop and listen to the secret voice of the lagoon!
Campo Santi Giovanni e Paolo
Resume your journey and stroll for another 5 minutes. Take the Basilica of Saints John and Paul as your reference point, and you’ll find yourself in the heart of a quiet, “forgotten” neighborhood. An area that seems untouched since the Middle Ages (the basilica dates back to 1430) and offers the same beauty as St. Mark square – but with fewer crowds and less noise. While walking among the ancient blackened brick facades, interspersed with marble columns and bell towers, you’ll hear only the lapping of the canals’ waves stirred by the passing gondolas. If you wish, you can visit the basilica, where numerous Venetian doges (governors) are buried.
Continuing your walk for 5 more minutes, along the way you’ll encounter a place truly unique in the world, but it’s not a church or a bridge, nor a fountain or a statue. It’s a bookstore.
High Tides Library
They say it’s “the most beautiful bookstore in the world,” and perhaps just because it’s in Venice, it truly is. Because it overlooks a canal, it suffers the effects of high tides when they raise the lagoon’s water by up to half a meter. Yet the owners of the Libreria Acqua Alta (High Tides Library) have found a way to adapt to nature!
Instead of shelves, the books—both new and used—are arranged in disused bathtubs, miniature gondolas, and small boats, so that, in the event of flooding, the books won’t be damaged by the water. It’s not just a brilliant idea, but also a fantastic design concept that gives the bookstore a fairytale aura.
Stopping in this bookshop is a must. Visitors are free to linger, read, touch, and be drawn by the ancient and modern beauty of the “high-tides” books. Imagine yourself leafing through a text by the window while, outside, gondolas glide along the canal…
Calle della Toletta
To reach Calle della Toletta (near Maravegge bridge) from the bookshop, you have to walk for about half an hour or, alternatively, take a vaporetto or public boat.
Not everyone knows the charm of this hidden corner of Venice, home to the “Witch’s Alarm Clock” – an ancient clock whose delightful legends invite reflection on life. Tradition has it that a much-feared witch lived on this street and she worked magic with this clock. One day, the people decided to get rid of her and send her away, and so the witch fled. But before disappearing forever, she embedded the clock in the wall of the street and left it trapped in a spell. It seems that even today, the clock’s hands, usually stopped, sometimes move on their own for no apparent reason.
Poveglia and its ghosts
The last stop on the itinerary is a small island in the lagoon located about 50 minutes from Calle della Toletta. It involves both walking and taking a vaporetto boat, as you’ll need to arrive off the coast of Malamocco… far from the centre.
But it’s worth it. Because Poveglia Island is both fascinating and haunting. It’s called “the island of ghosts” because for centuries it was used as a battlefield, a plague hospital, and then a psychiatric hospital too. People came to Poveglia to die. This is why damned, sad, and restless souls still roam here. The terrifying anecdotes of those who have spent a few hours here are countless. And no one dares to live here. The best place to savor the wonder of a secret, mysterious, and tranquil Venice. Perhaps… too much!
