The unmissable core done efficiently: pre-booked Basilica and Doge's Palace, then the hidden spiral staircase and the opera house on the way to the Accademia bridge.
Best time: From 8:30; book the Basilica and Doge's Palace slots in advance
Timed entry; 45 min, add the loggia for the horses.
The Byzantine-style cathedral of Venice, lined with some 8,000 square metres of gold-ground mosaics; the loggia puts you beside the bronze horses above the square.
Seat of the Venetian Republic for centuries: the Great Council hall with Tintoretto's Paradise, the armoury, and the prisons reached over the Bridge of Sighs.
Venetian history, maps, Canova sculptures and the Napoleonic royal apartments in the wing closing the far end of the piazza; usually far quieter than the Doge's Palace.
Opera house; 45 min visit or come back for a performance.
Venice's opera house, rebuilt twice after fires (the last in 1996); daytime audio-guide visits show the gilded hall, and a performance is the real thing.
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Ponte dell'Accademia
Cross the wooden bridge for the Grand Canal view toward the Salute.
