Rialto bridge, Venice- Guide To Enjoy the heart of Venice to its fullest!

Venice, a city of Italy, popular as the floating city, looks just like a kaleidoscope of pictures. With its stunning canals, wonderful castles, historical museums and cathedrals, art galleries, marvellous churches and public squares, the city looks like a fantasy island. These attractions of Venice make it a city worth visiting, and these places cast spells on its tourists. Among these structures, the Rialto bridge is a spellbinding architecture. Let’s explore 5 things do to on the Rialto bridge and 4 places to visit near Rialto bridge.

Rialto bridge, Venice- an Italian Gem

Rialto bridge, or Italian Ponte di Rialto, or lover’s bridge is a bridge of stone crossing the grand canal in the heart of Venice. Antonio da Ponte and his nephew won the competition for their design for the marvellous bridge selected. This bridge is a 7.5-metre long arch and it stands on 12,000 wooden pilings that support the bridge; these pilings are 400 years later.

The architect, Antonio da Ponte, fought against eminent designers such as Michelangelo and Palladio for the contract of the bridge. The bridge connects the cities San Polo and San Marco.

Both sides of the bridge are brimming with shops and stalls that make up for Rialto Bridge. You can buy crafted objects and souvenirs from these shops. It gets crowded during peak tourist seasons but it is worth climbing up the stairs for a photograph.

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History of the Rialto bridge, Venice

A place where the Rialto bridge now stands was once occupied by another bridge Pont Della Moneta, which was named after a mint that grew at one of its entrances. Built-in 1181, a pontoon bridge that was built on ships, designed by Nicolò Barattieri.

The next bridge that came after the pontoon bridge was a wooden bridge as the traffic in the nearby Rialto market has increased. Built-in 1255, this consisted of two ramps by the side and a movable platform in between, so that it could be lifted when ships passed by beneath it. The shops that are on the sides, help in getting the maintenance cost of the bridge.

In 1444, the wooden bridge collapsed and was rebuilt into a stone bridge. In 1551, authorities decided to ask for designs for the new stone bridge and among all the designs, Antonio da Ponte’s design won.

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How to reach the Rialto bridge, Venice?

Venice Marco Polo Airport is the nearest airport that is 13.9 km away from the Rialto bridge. You can take the following transport to reach the bridge-

Cab/ taxi-

Take a taxi/ cab from Venice airport, it can cost you around 3500 to 4000 INR, but the taxi/cab will take you to the bridge in 14 minutes.

Bus-

If you want to save your money, you can take a bus ride to the bridge. The bus will take you to the bridge in about an hour. The cost for a ride is around 200 to 1000 INR, and a bus is available every thirty minutes.

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Best time to visit Rialto bridge

Summers are busy in Venice, so if you want to visit Rialto bridge in summer it may not be the best idea to do so. But if you like bustling streets and sweat running down your face, then no one can stop you.

The best time to visit Rialto bridge is in the Spring season, half of May to July. Or you can visit during the Easter holidays, or winters, although we are not sure it’s going to snow in the winters the weather is cold for at least three months. There is not much crowd during this time, and you can enjoy the calm on the bridge.

5 things to do on Rialto bridge, Venice

There are several things to do around Rialto bridge, from shopping at Rialto Market to Gondola rides. Given so many options you ought to get confused, we have sorted out 5 things to do on the Rialto bridge for you-

1. Night walking and Gondola Ride

Walking at night at Rialto bridge is something you shouldn’t miss, nothing could be more intriguing than a stroll along with looking at the reflections of marble on the canal. You can listen to the stories, legends and myths about the bridge and Venice.

Opt for a Gondola Ride to reach the other side of the canal, and rest while marvelling at the views. Gondolas can carry at most six people at a time, so it is perfect for a family.

2. Shopping at Rialto Market

Rialto Market is 400 years old and it is all about grocery shops, fish markets, souvenir shops and other regular item shops. It is abuzz with people during the day, if you want to reach the bridge various signs help you navigate.

There are several shops under the pathways that look after the needs of travellers that visit the bridge. In front of the grand canal, the visit to the thrilling little Campi should not be missed. You can also go on a walk to the Cannaregio area to see 7th-century churches in Venice. Shopping at Rialto Market is the best on our list of 5 things to do on Rialto bridge.

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3. Gorge on Wine and Cicchetti

Enjoy Venetians pre-lunch wine and exploit the flavours of it while indulging in the aromas surrounding the Rialto Market. You can touch down your wine with the flavour of Cicchetti, it is a savoury little snack enjoyed with wine by the Venetians.

The exotic flavour of wine with Cicchetti is mind-blowing, and all of it feels better if you are enjoying the views of Rialto bridge.

4. Marvel at Rialto bridge paintings

You can buy the paintings of the bridge in different forms and times. Tourists purchase these as a token of remembrance for their trip to this amazing bridge and this one thing is optional in our list of 5 things to do on the Rialto bridge. All of these paintings are world-famous and painted by several renowned artists, grab one of these on your way back home.

5. Take a picture lock the memories

Taking a picture is a perfect way to remember all the memories that you made on the bridge. Capture the moment with your family members with the Rialto bridge as a backdrop and the river filled with various Gondolas sailing.

4 places to visit near Rialto bridge

Now that you know 5 things to do on the Rialto bridge, you should wonder about places that you can visit near the Rialto bridge? We have selected 4 places that you can visit near Rialto bridge-

1. Bridge of Sighs

Bridge of sighs was formed in 1603. This bridge is made of limestone, and its windows have stone bars. This bridge joins the new prison to interrogation rooms in Doge’s Palace. It is also called Pont des Sospiri by the domestic population.

This bridge, which is among our 4 places to visit near Rialto bridge that has a dark history but is recognised among people for being one of the most romantic places to visit in Venice.

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2. St. Mark’s Square

Famously known as Piazza San Marco, St. Mark’s Square is the only public square in Venice, Italy. Except for this square, all other places in the floating city are Calli and Campielli.

It is surrounded on three sides by a state chain of public buildings and on the fourth side by Basilica de San Marco.

3. Doge’s Palace

The next place in our list of 4 places to visit near the Rialto bridge is Palazzo Ducale or Doge’s Palace. It is a Gothic-style landmark and is one of the main landmarks of northern Italy. The structure of the palace visible today was constructed in the 14th century.

The palace is now a museum and several paintings dangle from its walls, but these paintings were not brought for display purposes, like in other museums but to decorate the palace.

4. Teatro La Fenice

Teatro La Fenice is one of the various opera houses in Italy, and its beauty has made us include it in our list of 4 places to visit near Rialto bridge. This opera house was opened in 1792, the theatre instantly became a hub for ballet and opera.

Today you can view the sumptuous nineteen-century interiors if you attend a musical or dance performance, or take a quick tour of the theatre.

Planning to enjoy wine and Cicchetti whilst admiring a parade of gondola ride pass by, or simply want to know more about the bridge and go on a day or night stroll? No worries you can check Italy Packages at the Pickyourtrail website, and enjoy to the fullest. If the normal packages don’t fulfil the travellers inside you, how about customising your own Italy itinerary? At the Pickyourtrail website you are free to choose, so let’s go backpacking!!!