Venice Bingo: Spot 30 Typically Venetian Things
Walk the calli, tick off the card, snap a photo of every typically Venetian thing you can find. From a gondolier in striped shirt to a Carnival mask in a workshop window, this is a 30-item Venice bingo that turns any walk into a treasure hunt. No fixed route. Just keep your eyes open.
Challenges (30)
Spot a gondola
Find a gondola moored on a canal or in motion, the long black boat with the iron prow. Photograph it.
Spot a striped-shirt gondolier
Find a gondolier in his uniform: striped Breton shirt, dark trousers, straw hat with a ribbon. Photograph him at the oar.
Spot a Venetian mask shop
Find a Venetian Carnival mask shop with rows of feathered, gilded, beaked masks in the window. Photograph the collection.
Spot a Murano glass piece
Find a Murano glass shop with hand-blown vases, chandeliers, fish or millefiori pendants. Photograph the colours.
Spot an Aperol spritz
Find an orange Aperol spritz at a café table (Venice is the spritz capital). Photograph the glass with the olive and orange slice.
Spot a Venetian pigeon in St Mark's
Walk into Piazza San Marco and find the pigeons in flight or perched. Photograph the birds with the basilica or campanile in shot.
Spot a fritole or frittelle
Find a tray of fritole (Venetian doughnut balls with cream or raisins) in a bakery window or on a café tray. Photograph the powdery balls.
Spot a Venetian house with laundry
Look up between two narrow houses and find laundry strung across the calle. Photograph the line.
Spot an Italian flag from a balcony
Find an Italian tricolor flag flying from a Venetian balcony or palazzo. Photograph the flag against the palazzo.
Spot a vaporetto
Find a vaporetto (water bus) at a stop or in motion on the Grand Canal. Photograph the boat with the canal behind.
Spot the Rialto Bridge
Find the Rialto Bridge over the Grand Canal. Photograph the white marble arch with the shops on it.
Spot a Rialto market stall
Walk into the Rialto fish or fruit market and find a stall with octopus, sardines or stacked vegetables. Photograph the catch.
Spot the Basilica San Marco facade
Find the Basilica di San Marco on Piazza San Marco. Photograph the five gold-mosaiced arches.
Spot the Campanile of St Mark's
Find the brick Campanile in Piazza San Marco, the 99-metre bell tower. Photograph it against the sky.
Spot the Doge's Palace pink facade
Walk to Palazzo Ducale next to the basilica. Photograph the pink-and-white diamond-pattern facade with the loggia.
Spot the Bridge of Sighs
Find the Bridge of Sighs (Ponte dei Sospiri) connecting the Doge's Palace to the old prisons. Photograph from Ponte della Paglia.
Spot a Venetian winged lion
Find a winged Lion of St. Mark (on the column in Piazzetta, on the Doge's Palace facade, on a venetian flag or building). Photograph the lion.
Spot a cicchetti bar (bacaro)
Find a bacaro (Venetian cicchetti bar) with crostini and ombre wine glasses on the counter. Photograph the spread.
Spot a Venetian narrow calle
Find an especially narrow Venetian alley (calle) where you can almost touch both walls. Photograph the slot.
Spot a Venetian well-head (vera da pozzo)
Find a stone well-head in a campo (Venetian square). Photograph the carved cylindrical well.
Spot a Venetian gondola squadra
Find a gondola squero (workshop) where gondolas are built and repaired (San Trovaso, San Pietro). Photograph the wooden hulls being shaped.
Spot the Acqua Alta bookshop
Find the Libreria Acqua Alta in Castello, with books stacked in bathtubs and gondolas inside. Photograph the famous interior.
Spot a Venetian sundial or wall clock
Find a Venetian astronomical clock, sundial or painted clock face on a palazzo. Photograph the timepiece.
Spot the Ca' d'Oro facade
Find the Ca' d'Oro (Golden House) on the Grand Canal, the gothic palazzo with the lacework facade. Photograph from a vaporetto or the opposite bank.
Spot a Murano glass-blowing demo
Take a vaporetto to Murano and find a glass-blowing workshop with the furnace and glassblowers at work. Photograph the molten glass.
Spot a Burano colourful house
Take a vaporetto to Burano and find the row of brightly painted fisherman's houses. Photograph a colourful canal-front.
Spot a fritti misti or sarde in saor
Find a Venetian classic plate (fritto misto of seafood, sarde in saor sweet-and-sour sardines) in a trattoria or bacaro. Photograph the plate.
Spot a Venetian street water tap
Find a Venetian iron drinking water tap with the city's coat of arms in a campo. Photograph the tap.
Spot a Venice mooring pole (briccola)
Find a striped mooring pole (briccola) sticking out of the water on the lagoon side. Photograph the pole against the water.
Spot a Venetian carnival costume window
Find a costume shop with full Venetian Carnival costumes (cloaks, gowns, tricorn hats) in the window. Photograph the display.
Frequently asked questions
The duration is up to the organizer when they set up the adventure. As a guideline, a focused day across San Marco, Rialto and Dorsoduro ticks off most of the easy items, and stretching across a weekend (with Murano and Burano) lets a determined group complete all 30.
Each of the 30 items is a camera challenge. When you spot the thing, take a photo and submit it; the bingo card tracks progress. Play solo, with friends or split into teams and race to tick off the most items.
Some items (a gondolier mid-song, the Bridge of Sighs) need timing. Sweep San Marco and Rialto for the easy items, the Doge's Palace queue area for the bridges, Dorsoduro for cafés and a vaporetto ride to Murano for the glass.
San Marco, Rialto and Dorsoduro hit the most items in a walking-and-vaporetto loop. Add Castello for the quieter Venetian life, the Cannaregio for the Jewish Quarter, Murano and Burano for the islands.
Yes. Kids love spotting gondolas, masks, pigeons in St Mark's and the lion statues; adults enjoy hunting cicchetti, Murano glass and Aperol spritz. No alcohol stops are required.