Venice’s Carnival season will be celebrated Feb. 11 through 21. Venetian masks are iconic to this celebration and “fritole,” fried dough balls dusted in sugar, can be found in many bakeries during this time.

The “Queen of the Adriatic,” one of the few nicknames for this city, boasts around 400 bridges with roughly 150 canals. The Grand Canal is the main waterway.

Should you find yourself gliding along the canal in a gondola, appreciate the gondolier as becoming a licensed gondolier requires immense training.

Though a bucket-list experience, be prepared to pay 80 euros for a 40-minute gondola ride. If you’re wanting a romantic serenade, it will cost extra.

Since the city’s layout was meant to cater around the canals, your chances of getting lost are great—just go with it! Getting lost in Venice is part of the experience.

There are 120 islands in Venice—Burano, a colorful island in the Northern Venetian Lagoon—is only a one-and-a-half-hour ferry ride from the city of Venice.  

Murano glass and Burano lace are two items you should bring back home with you to remember your trip.

Touring Italy by car? Park your rental outside the city center and take the train, bus or ferry in, for a more relaxed and less expensive experience.

Due to tectonic plates, Venice is sinking at a rate of one millimeter per year.

Many fish dishes to include “risotto al nero di sepia”—risotto with cuttlefish ink and “sarde in saor”—sardines in a sweet and tangy sauce, are popular dishes belonging to this side of Italy.