Things to Do in Venice at Night: Best Ideas & Tips

Venice at night is amazing, as the crowds of daytrippers are gone, which means that the city is quieter and much, much calmer. Which can be a win-win situation.

Best Things to Do in Venice at Night (Quicklist)

• Watch the sunset
• Take a gondola ride
• Have an aperitivo
• Photograph Venice at night
• Join a food tour
• Take a ghost tour

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3 Favourite Things to do in Venice at night

Best Things to Do in Venice at Night

Watch the Sunset in Venice

One of the first things to enjoy in Venice at night is the night actually beginning!

Find a spot in the town where you could see the sun go down, a.k.a., the sunset.

There are many places from which you can see the sunset, but some of the best ones are:

• Fondamenta delle Zattere – the promenade that runs along the southern waterfront
• Riva degli Schiavioni – the promenade that is between Piazza San Marco and the lagoon, just where the Bridge of Sighs is
• Rialto or Accademia bridge – the bridges are not just great for watching sunrises, but sunsets as well. And they look lovely when illuminated by the sunset!

Visit Venice Attractions After Hours

There are tours available that let you visit some of the best places to see in Venice after hours, such as the Doge’s Palace and San Marco’s Basilica.

Enjoy the art and the décor in Palazzo Ducale and see the best of San Marco’s without anyone bothering you!

There’s even a tour where you can visit both the palace and basilica, not just one of them.

This is one of those things to do in Venice at night that can be even better in summer, when daytime crowds are at their peak.

There’s also a VIP tour of both available!

And it’s really easy to visit the areas after dark if you’ve got a convenient place to stay.

Have an Aperitivo in Venice

Unlike many other places in the world, in Italy, dinner starts quite late.

You can expect the restaurants to open earlier at 7pm, which means that you get the food just before 8pm. For many people, myself included, that is a bit too late, as I’m already starving by that time.

That’s why I recommend having a snack, such as Aperol Spritz and cicchetti, before checking out how Venice by night looks.

Related: Things to know before visiting Venice!

And after some explorations, go for dinner!

It’s also recommended to reserve a table, especially if you have a specific restaurant in mind.

Photograph Venice at Night

There’s something magical about Venice by night.

I just like how the lights reflect in the canals, with gondolas and vaporettos going back and forth.

Related: Venice gets quite cool in the evenings so make sure to pack a jacket with you – among other things

The smaller streets with the little bridges look very romantic and, well, photogenic. See how peaceful Venice can be at night when most of the crowds disperse

So make sure to stroll around and enjoy the views that Venice, the city of love, offers you.

Go on a food tour in Venice at night

Trying different food in Venice – or the whole of Italy – is a must.

If you’d like someone to help you decide what to have (because the choice really is quite overwhelming), you can try going on a food tour.

Some of them run at night as well, which is a great thing if you’re looking for things to do in Venice at night.

Go on a ghost tour in Venice

These tours take you through Venice while a guide shares legends, murders, and local mysteries – a great option if you enjoy darker stories.

Check out a legends and ghosts of Cannaregio tour

Quite a few of them add wine and food tastings or bar hopping as well. Some cover only specific districts, such as Cannaregio or Poveglia.

You can choose between a private tour or a group one. They usually last around 1,5 hours.

Go to a Bar or Club in Venice

There are some bars, although they are rarely your typical dance clubs.

On the weekends, you can try out the Lido, which is only a 15-minute vaporetto ride away from St Mark’s square. The only disco in Venice itself is the Piccolo Mondo Disco, located in the Dorsoduro district.

Or, if you enjoy a bit of live music, you can go to the Venice Jazz Club. Located in the Dorsoduro district, it’s a cosy club that can host up to 50 guests. The VJC quartet is the main band that plays in the Venice Jazz Club, but quite often there are guest acts as well.

The entrance is paid, of course. You can find more information on the Venice Jazz Club website.

Or visit the Skyline Rooftop Bar, which is located on the 8^th floor of the Hilton Molino Stucky Venice hotel on Giudecca island. It has a pool, a bar (duh) and throws parties. Anyone can buy a ticket and attend! And the views from the top are quite amazing.

Have a gondola ride in Venice at night or during sunset

A gondola ride of one of the more expensive things to do in Venice, true.

Having the gondola ride at night makes it that much more romantic!

We did a kind of at-night gondola ride when visiting Venice in November. Riding through the Grand Canal and seeing the Rialto Bridge and the Basilica di Santa Maria delle Salute all illuminated is quite an unforgettable experience.

…or a Catamaran or yacht ride at sunset

If a gondola ride doesn’t seem unique enough an activity for you, there are yacht or catamaran tours available.

They let you enjoy Venice from the lagoon and come with drinks. Some even come with live music – it’s quite romantic, I’d say.

The Catamaran experience with drinks and music is not private, though. If you can spring for it (or have a bigger group of people), choose the yacht where it would just be you with your friends/family!

Venice at Night: Useful Tips

Is Venice safe at night?

Venice at night is as safe as any touristy city at night can be. If you exercise the normal safety measures, it’s quite safe, even as a solo female traveller.

Do You Need Reservations in Venice?

I already mentioned this but know that the best restaurants tend to get quite full, especially during weekends. It’s a good idea to make a reservation, especially if you’d like to try a specific place out. Just to be safe.

Navigation Tips for Venice at Night

It’s quite hard to orientate properly after the sun has gone down. The tiny streets and many bridges and canals in Venice can confuse pretty much anyone.

So make sure to have a map ready! You can download maps for offline use in Google maps or just use a good-old paper map, as the GPS tends to not work correctly in Venice.

What “Night” Means in Venice

Night in Venice is more like Evening in Venice, to be honest.

Restaurants generally close by 10pm and bars – by 11pm.

All the attractions, even the night tours, are generally done by 9pm.

So, if you’d like to enjoy some proper nightlife in Venice, you better head over to the mainland, to Mestre. Just make sure to catch the last train around midnight – or wait until the service restarts around 5am.

If you’d like to stay out longer, visit Venice during some of the festivals

Whether it’s Carnivale at the beginning of the year or Redentore in July, or many many other festivals throughout the year, your chances of something happening later at night grow if there’s a festival.

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