If Venice isn't already on your travel bucketlist, here are a few reasons to change your mind!
A few of our favourite places in Venice
The Grand Canal - breathtaking and reminiscent of a million films you've watched. The pictures talk for themselves, although it is x10 more beautiful in real life.
San Marco - should be at on every Venice visitors' itinerary. We loved it late at night when the square was quieter but the live music was still playing - so romantic!
Free rooftop viewing point - one of the best things we did during our trip! The Fondaco dei Tedeschi is a super luxurious department store (check out their red escalators!) right next to Rialto Bridge, on the roof they currently have an incredible 360' viewing point - the view is amazing and it's free! I think you can book tickets but we just joined the queue and were on the roof within in 10 minutes.
A walk around a quieter side of Venice - On the recommendation of the lovely lady in our hotel we walked from our hotel across the Ponte dell' Accademia, admired the view along the Grand Canal, wow again. Then walked along the Rio Terra Foscarini taking in the stunning canals bridges and colour buildings. We then arrived at a vast stretch of water that was in between us and the island of Giudecca, then follow the Fundament Zattere Allo Spiritio Santo right the way around until you are back on the Grand Canal and where you started. Truly one of our many highlights, so pretty and you feel really far away from the army of tourists which can feel quite overwhelming by the end of the day!
Transport
Flights...
We were lucky enough to find flights from Bristol to Venice Marco Polo for only £19.99 each way with RyanAir.
From the airport to Venice island...
A little research before hand told us that the most cost effective way to get from the airport to the actual island of Venice on water is by using one of the buses known as Alilaguna. The boats leave from just outside of the airport and take around 1 hour depending on where you are staying. Costing only around €15 each compared to around €100 for a private water taxi it was a no brainer.
Venice water bus aka ALilaguna...
Using the Alilaguna can seem a little daunting but is super simple once you get your head around it. Look up the location of your hotel on google maps then looking for the nearer stop on the river which will have a little blue and white boat icon, once you know the name of the pier you need to jump off at visit the Alilaguna website here to see which of the four lines you need to take - think of it like the tube! You can buy tickets in advance from their website or from their desk outside of arrivals or on the waterfront at the airport. To buy additional Alilaguna tickets once in Venice itself, you will need to visit a local tobacco shop or a specific ticket booth although we only saw one of these near the train station.
Weather in Autumn
Misty mornings with full sunshine by 10am starting cooler but reaching around 24'c by the afternoon. Cool evenings.
Where we stayed
As we only had two nights in Venice we wanted to ensure that we were in a central location so that could see as much of possible during our short time.
We stayed in the lovely Hotel San Samuele, which we would highly recommend. The location is incredible a 15 minute walk from San Marco, Rialto and so close to the Grand Canal. The room was fairly basic but the bed was super comfortable and had a great bathroom. And the staff were amazing teaching us helpful Italian phrases (I cannot stand when people bark in their own language when on holiday!), helping us plan where to visit and even suggesting some of their must sees off of beaten track. This place is an overall winner.
Our Venice top tips
- Take trainers/comfy shoes - there is so much walking to be done!
- Take a minute to stop and take in just how beautiful it really is!
- Don't worry about getting lost - there are gems around every corner.
- Unless you want to pay megabucks for mediocre food avoid eating in touristy areas
- Try as much food as possible, some of the best things we tried were from coffee bars, bakeries and sandwich shops not in restaurants as we had expected!
Ahh when can we go again?!
Lulu x
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