Piazza San Marco

There can be few more memorable sights than one's first glimpse of St Marks Square. The guide books recommend a first entrance in time-honoured fashion, on the number 1 vaporetto from the station (or Piazzale Roma, where the buses arrive and the big car parks are), alighting the boat adjacent to the square, and making your way through the piazzetta into the square itself. I think the best way to first see St Marks though, is when you are doing the general 'being lost in Venice' thing, and then, suddenly, you turn a corner, walk through a little underpassage and find yourself in the largest piazza in Venice. And it is big... It is ...  Read the complete review

The Piazza San Marco, or St Mark's Square, is the best known square in Venice. Bordered on three sides by the Museo Correr, and with the Basilica San Marco and the Campanile at the east end of the square, this is rightfully acknowledged as one of the most impressive and beautiful places in the world. When I stumbled across it while wandering fairly aimlessly (and maplessly) through the city in December 1997, the square was shrouded in fog, and the Basilica at the far end of the square was only visible at all because it was illuminated. The scene was truly ethereal, and I think just this view of the square was what really endeared Venice to me. The Museo ...  Read the complete review