The Venetian Lagoon is about 30 miles long and about 6 miles wide. It is separated from the Adriatic Sea by a long thin island called the Lido. In the middle of the lagoon lies the city of Venice, which is about 3 miles by 2 miles in size. This is not so much a city on an island as a city on the water.

For most of its history, Venice was entirely cut off from the land, only reachable by boat. In the 19th Century, a three-mile causeway was built for a railway to reach the city. In the 20th Century, this was expanded to allow cars access to the city.

Although cars can now get to Venice, they are not allowed into the city. When you arrive at Piazzale Roma, the end of the causeway, you must park your car in one of the giant car parks, because Venice is entirely pedestrian. This is hard to grasp for most people; we are used to a small pedestrian area in the centre of a modern city. In Venice, it is the whole city which is pedestrian.

Venice has one wide canal, the Grand Canal,