Venice is the regional capital and was built on 118 islands within a lagoon in the Gulf of Venice. Like a piece of fine embroidery lingering on the water, the city is a unique wonder and one of the most visited Italian cities. Throughout the Middle Ages, under the leadership of successive doges, Venice became the first naval power in the Mediterranean and expanded its power and influence throughout the Mediterranean up to Constantinople, establishing a strong state that was independent until 1797, when Napoleon crushed the free republic and sold it to Austria.

Other important cities are Verona, Padua, Treviso, Belluno, Rovigo, and Vicenza.

The region is circled in the North by beautiful alpine summits (Marmolada, Monte Antealo, Tre Cime di Lavaredo, Monte Cristallo) and delimited by the coastline in the South of the Adriatic sea, which is interrupted by the mouths of many rivers, canals and lagoons and is characterised by sandy beaches. In between, the vast part of the territory is a plain, with low hills of volvanic origin, the Monti Berici and the Colli Euganei.

The population is concentrated in the Southern part which is the heart of the economy of the region. The regional economy, which used to depend entirely on agriculture, is now highly oriented towards the high-tech industry, however, many people are still working in agriculture in farms specialized in the cultivation of maize, barley, soy bean and sugar-beet, fruit, vegetables and vineyards producing highly renowned wines. In fact, Veneto is famous for prestigious wine production of very old origins, which nowadays produces excellent DOC wines, among which the Valpolicella, the Gambellara, the Merlot, the Pinot and the Sauvignon. Finally, fishing is also an important resource, as well as the many food-processing industries.

Unsuprisingly, Veneto has variety of regional dishes which combine fish and sea food from the Garda Lake and the Adriatic, with cheeses, salamis and polenta typical of the mountains cuisine. Amongst the most renown dishes are Sarde in Saor, Baccalà mantecato, Brodo di Pesce as well as polenta con Osei, Fegato alla Veneziana, Risi e Bisi.