Venice is a beautiful city in Northern Italy. We were able to find some very old churches and buildings around the city that took us back to the early days when Venice was once a mighty power in the world.
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Transportation
Water taxis and water buses are your transportation since there are no roads and no cars in the city.
- Cruise: We arrived on a cruise into the port of Venice. After we arrived on the west side of the island we needed to find a way to get to Piazza San Marco, which is the central part of Venice. The city center was only a 2.9 km walk but with the crowded, crooked streets of Venice and us lugging around and 4 big suitcases we did not think that walking would be the best idea.
- Vaporetto Water Bus: To get from the cruise terminal to Piazza San Marco we chose to take the water bus. This is a quick, very inexpensive way to make your way along Venice if you have lots of bags. The fare was €7.50 for 75 minutes and we were able to store our luggage inside the bus. For more information about the water bus system click here.
- Private Water Taxi: If traveling in a water bus does not fit your taste you can always hail a private water taxi! These are not your old cabs you find in New York City. These boats are really nice inside and it will cost you if you plan to take this taxi service. Prices range between $50-150 for just a 30 minute ride. To find out more information on the water taxis click here.
Travel Tip: Be careful as the water can flood up a couple feet high! Tourists and even locals will push their way on the tabletops so be extremely careful because if you fall you might get hurt and you will get wet!
- Walking: Since there are only small pedestrian streets in Venice, we were prepared to do a lot of walking. It was a little difficult for us to navigate the streets as the names are not visible everywhere and most streets have very similar names. We even had a map and it was a challenge finding our hotel (Jonah has been to Venice before so he knew some of the sites to use as landmarks to eventually find the hotel). The roads were not very friendly on our feet as there were a lot of little bridges over the canals and hard stone roads.
Since we arrived in Venice earlier in the day, some of the streets and squares were flooded. It was very interesting to witness the water flooding from the canal onto the Piazza San Marco. They had these tabletops that we were able to walk on so we didn’t get our feet wet, but we still had to be careful when walking across the tables since it was pretty narrow already and there was a lot of people walking in both directions. We also had a lot of luggage so it was a challenge for us. Some of the locals had tall rain boots and just walked in the water.
Travel Tip: If you do get lost make sure to just go inside a business and ask a local where you need to go to get to your destination. Venetians are very friendly and understand most tourist’s frustrations when it comes to navigating through their small streets.
Accommodations
- Ca’ del Campo Hotel: This hotel was central to most everything that we wanted to do in Venice. We thought the room was very comfortable and had quite a lot of space compared to most European hotels. The free breakfast, which was located in a remodeled attic was amazing! We ate a traditional Italian breakfast and the lady working (who only spoke Italian) was very nice and hospitable as she offered us coffee or hot chocolate. If you book a room within a month expect to pay $350 or if you plan ahead you can pay $98 for a beautiful room!
To-Do
- Gondola Ride: When we visited Venice, we knew that we definitely wanted to do a Gondola ride, no matter the price. When wandering through the seats of Venice, we looked for a Gondolier (Gondola driver). They are usually in a black and white striped shirt with a straw hat. Our Gondola tour was between 30-45 minutes and cost us around 100€ which included tip. Although it was very pricey, it was an unforgettable experience.
- Shopping: Venice is also very famous for it’s handmade leather, glassblowing, and masquerade masks. There are many shops across the city that sell these types of items. The quality and detail they put into the items they make is beautiful.
- Doge Palace: Located in the Piazza San Marco, the Doge Palace was home to the Doge of Venice, the supreme authority of Venice’s old Republic. It has been a museum since 1923. You can purchase tickets to get inside here for 20€.
- St. Mark’s Campanile (the bell tower) and St. Mark’s Basilica: Entrance to the bell tower is 11€, that includes skip the line access. You can purchase the tickets here. Entrance to the Basilica is free, but if you are traveling between April 1st- November 2nd, you may want to purchase skip the line tickets for 2€ per person since the lines can be very long during this time. You can buy the tickets here.
- The Rialto Bridge: This is the oldest bridge across the canal that once was the dividing line for the districts of San Marco and San Polo. We were able to see this on our Gondola tour and our Gondolier told us all about it. He told us to kiss underneath the bridge for good luck!
Food
- San Zulian Pizzeria: This pizzeria was right across from our hotel and despite mixed reviews we enjoyed our time at San Zulian. We went during lunch time and we were the only tourists eating there with a few locals. Of course we had pizza at the pizzeria which was amazing! The only issue we had here was when we asked for the bill in Italian they brought us dessert (who’s complaining?). We had pretty traditional European service and were able to relax when eating our meal.
- Ristorante Mondo Novo: This Italian restaurant is owned by a Venetian family. When we walked in we saw them all drinking wine so we were unsure if they were closed since they were the only ones inside. One of the gentleman sitting down stood up and greeted us to a table with a smile. We felt very welcomed there and knew right away it would be a great experience. Like every place we try in Italy we started off with the bruschetta which was amazing! We debated on what to eat for dinner and decided to eat some pasta. We had the lasagna and the penne. Paired with a bottle of wine-Mondello (see pictures below).
This beautiful city of Venice is sinking little by little everyday. So take the opportunity to visit this breathtaking city on water soon and exploring this amazing city on water!
