Rover Recommends 6 Ways to Get Lost in Venice


Getting lost in Venice is not only, no longer about losing one's way enmeshed in the city’s labyrinthine canals, and in a mess of constant corners that lead to more, well, corners. But all in a sense of marvel, of awe. Venice is not only physically beautiful and intriguing, it is also riddled with myths and legends, and a treasure hunt of culture and history.

Definitely, if you want to be all organized about it, go ahead research, take a map, make some choices and good luck following them through. Now, if instead you want to be surprised by Venice’s amazing mazes, stumble upon strange serendipities, and plainly just get lost, listen to what Rover Recommends.

1.       Walk around without a map. Just walk. Let the corners lead you to more corners. For sure, your senses would betray you, but when it’s time to eat or quench your thirst, there will always be a café or food shop around the, yes, corner. For sure, it will train your tracking abilities as well as your sign language skills. Get lost in translation and direction.



2.       Follow the narrowest canals. Not only it will be almost possible as there will be houses or shops or other tourists blocking your view or route of the canals, Venice has lots of it, from the Grand Canal to the narrowest ones, and they all look the same. Don’t worry. As the saying goes, follow the river and it will lead you to the sea. Which sea? We’ll see. A sea of tourists, perhaps.


3.       Come during the Carnevale. At night time. Alone.


4.       Look for the Libreria Acqua Alta. Half of the time you’ll get lost looking for it. The other half, you can get lost among the books in its coffers. Philosophers, explorers, scientists, they all turn to books for guidance. Who knows you might find a secondhand copy of Lonely Planet’s or Rick Steve’s Pocket Venice, along with the many other titles and authors you can look to for courage and stamina to continue wandering.


5.       Go to the nearest ferry terminal and take any ferry at any schedule. Pick the next stop or the one after that. Then explore. Repeat steps one, two, three.


6.       Take a gondola ride. Tell the gondolier to surprise you or to take you somewhere. Something to that effect. And together, enter a time and space beyond the sinking kingdom of Venice. Who knows you might end up on a beach around Venice’s mainland neighbors or in the surrounding isles.



Are where there yet? Exactly! Nowhere or now here? But as the great Unshod Rover would say: “I don’t really mind getting lost though if it means sporadic, spontaneous collisions with different versions of oneself. Come to think of it, all this time that I have been lost, inch by inch I have been scratching the surface of the unknown, getting closer, deeper each time into finally a pure knowledge of the universe outside of and within me. So, come unprepared. Just as you are.  /Unshod Rover for Oasis Holidays
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For guided tours as well as other tour and travel packages in Venice and other cities in Italy and Europe, you may contact our subsidiary Volando Tours.  

For Tour and Travels India as well as International packages from India, please contact us at Oasis Holidays

Unshod Rover is a worldwide-eyed wanderer currently based in Bangalore, India. You may follow his musings and journeys on this blog. "All Rover the World" chronicles his continuing travels wandering about the world and stumbling upon strangers.