Views of Venice from a Height

Venice is a wonderful city, full of great old buildings, churches, castles, spires, an architectural dream – all criss crossed with canals and marvellous bridges.    More than 60 000 people visit Venice each day, and this number is more than the entire local  population of  Venice.

Everywhere one goes, especially in summer, there are many people, all wanting to see the beautiful buildings, and there is a lot to see in a small area.

Many of the tourists inVenice come here by cruise ship.   The big ships dock very close to the old part of Venice, and this is an increasing worry for environmentalists ,and bodies such as UNESCO claim that the big cruise ships cause tides that damage the foundations of the old buildings, and cause pollution.   On the other hand, the cruise ships say that they are conscious of the fragile nature of the old city,and are committed to protecting the environment, as well as contributing to the economy of Venice.

Venice needs tourists, which the cruise ships bring in, and a compromise has to be found that will keep the tourists coming to visit this beautiful historic city.   The authorities realise this, and have recently put a cap on the number of cruise ships allowed into Venice port each day, and plans are underway for the bigger ships to dock at another nearby port.

We were fortunate to leave on a cruise ship from Venice recently, on the day we left the port, there were 2 other ships tied up beside ours, and as we slowly made our way out of the port we had a fantastic view of all the iconic buildings like the Doges Palace and St Marks Square, and the many church spires on the skyline, along with the beautiful bridges over the canals.

The Doges Palace from 1424

The Venice Lido

St Marks Basilica

Luxury Yachts in port

Rialto Bridge