Update 2023: We updated all travel guides to include only books that have been recently updated and reflect the situation after the pandemic.
Visiting Venice can be a bit overwhelming. It is not just the hustle and bustle of a busy Italian city. There are lots of fellow tourists, things work differently than what we are used to, and there is an immense number of different activities to choose from. You will have to make choices with large crowds and too many options available. We highly recommend properly planning your visit to the lagoon. The travel books and travel guides in this post are here to help you on your way. We have hand-picked all of these books!
Venice is one of Europe’s most famous destinations. It is also a city that has become known for overtourism. We know the city very well and have actively contributed to discussions about the overtourism in the town. World-renowned media have featured our cruise data and blogs on cruise traffic in the lagoon, including The Washington Post and local Venetian newspapers.
Over the last years, we have visited Venice five times during low, peak, and shoulder seasons. During these trips, we stayed in Venice for multiple days and used a travel guide to help us navigate the lagoon. We also took part in a food tour and had help from our hotel concierge.
- All books have been handpicked by us
- We exclude books with bad reviews that we haven't read ourselves
- This post includes affiliate links on which we could earn a commission
DK Eyewitness has been completely updated in 2022 and includes critical information about your trip to Venice after the pandemic. This book nicely covers the city of Venice and the surrounding areas.
Whether you want to walk into the magical maze of canals, sample delicious cuisine, or relive fascinating history, your DK Eyewitness travel guide ensures you experience all that Venice and the Veneto have to offer. The updated guide brings Venice and the Veneto to life, transporting you there like no other travel guide does with expert-led insights, trusted travel advice, detailed breakdowns of all the must-see sights, photographs on practically every page, and our hand-drawn illustrations which place you inside the region’s iconic buildings and neighborhoods.
Our Apple Watch will register well beyond 20,000 to 30,000 steps per day when we travel. We are the kind of tourists that walk everywhere. Venice is made for walking, and this book by National Geographic tells us exactly where to walk. The book has different walking routes for each of Venice’s neighborhoods. The book comes with detailed maps, tips on where to eat and drink, and site-by-site descriptions. National Geographic Walking Venice is printed in a handy format so you can take it on your walks through the city.
This guide, although written in 2017, remains relevant. The pandemic didn’t change walking.
Rick Steves is a famous American travel author and TV personality. Steves has published strong and useful travel books for many destinations in Europe. This travel guide for Venice is most definitely not an exception. The book is written for travellers that stay a week or longer in Venice. It includes Steves’ ‘strategic advice’ on how to best spend your time and money during your stay in the lagoon. It also has an overview of top sights and hidden gems. Some of those tips even include leaving the lagoon for a quick trip just outside Venice. Each book by Rick Steves also comes with a chapter on how to beat the crowds, skip the lines and avoid tourists traps, which we absolutely recommend reading upon. Although the book is written with an American audience in mind, it doesn’t matter where you are from, you will find this book both entertaining and useful.
Michelin’s guide books are famous in Europe and beyond. These green books have helped millions of travellers find what they seek while exploring new cities. This Michelin guidebook for Venice is no exception when it comes to the quality that we have become used to from the French brand. The book offers advice on shopping, hotels and restaurants while using Michelin’s famed star-rating system to help you choose the best and only the best. It also comes with an overview of top sights to visit, walking tours and itineraries, so you can make most out of your trip.
There are not that many travel guides that only cover Venice. That is why we are including multiple books that cover the entire country. We always select some of the best books on the market that we either own ourselves or books that we want to read.
Fodor’s The Best of Italy is one of those books. Like Fodor’s books, The Best of Italy writes extensively about Venice and is highly recommended to travelers who will visit more cities or destinations in Italy. The book comes with a handy pull-out map (of Rome in this case) and illustrated features highlighting Italy’s top attractions, including Venice’s Grand Canal. Most importantly, the book has indispensable planning tools such as major attractions, complete itineraries, and dining recommendations.
This new guide was published in early 2022.
Lonely Planet never disappoints, which is probably why this brand is one of the most well-known in travel. Lonely Planet Italy is a comprehensive guidebook that covers the entire country and has a particular chapter on Venice. Like all Lonely Planets, the book provides tips and tricks, recommendations on things to see, places to stay, places to eat, and shops. The new edition comes with a pull-out, passport-size ‘Just Landed’ card with wi-fi, ATM, and transport info – all you need for a smooth journey from the airport to the hotel.
This edition was published in late 2021.
We always include a travel book for children in all our overviews of travel guides. This Venice Kids Travel Journal is easy to fill out and will be entertaining for kids, even on longer trips. Other details include 120 pages, 6×9, cream paper, and a beautiful matte-finished cover. The book will help make the trip to Venice fun, easy and entertaining for you and the kids.
By reading up on the history of our travel destinations, we can better understand the behavior of those living in the places we visit. Every site that we see has its unique history. Venice is probably one of the places with the richest and best-documented histories of all destinations we have stayed in our time on earth. This book explores 1,500 years of history and tells the stories behind ()famous characters like Marco Polo and Casanova.
Over the years, more and more people started traveling, and overtourism became a growing issue. Although the coronavirus pandemic has forced us to change our travel behavior, for now, we believe that we will travel again and that the return of crowds is inevitable. This book helps you to Avoid Crowds and is your guide on what (not) to do when it’s busy. The book includes a particular chapter on traveling after the COVID-19 pandemic. It also contains lots of information about Venice!
