Via Giuseppe Garibaldi – Venice’s Wide, Working-Class Soul
📍 Castello, Venice

Once a canal lined with humble dwellings and shipyard laborers, Via Giuseppe Garibaldi is now Venice’s widest street — and perhaps its most human. Unlike the narrow calli of San Marco or the boutique-filled alleys of Dorsoduro, Garibaldi is proudly local. Built over a filled-in canal in the 19th century during Austrian rule, it was later renamed after Italy’s famed unifier and has since become the beating heart of Castello.

This is where Venetians live, laugh, and argue over coffee. Stroll its length and you’ll find open-air markets, family-run trattorie, historic osterie, and the kind of shops that still fix things rather than throw them away. The buildings have a faded beauty — laundry flutters from windows, and the sound of clinking glasses and dialect echoes across the street.

Grab a gelato or a spritz, sit under the trees in Giardini Napoleonici, and watch the rhythm of real Venice unfold — unfiltered, unsanitized, and gloriously alive.

🧭 Tip: The street leads toward the entrance of the Giardini della Biennale. If you're heading to or from the Art Biennale, this is the perfect route to walk and take in Venice beyond the postcards.