Those of you who follow me on Instagram already know that about a month ago The Duke and I traveled to Italy. We landed in Venice and stayed there for 2 days. Here are some tips and trivia you might like to know if you are planning to visit this magical place.
The Room
It was the first time we stayed in an AirBnb instead of a hotel, because accommodation is very expensive in Venice. The house was in the most beautiful area of Venice, named Cannaregio, which helped a lot with the transportation and food, however, the apartment was not exactly as expected, so I am not going to suggest it to you.
The Food
Well, that's a tricky one. Many of our friends who had already visited Venice told us that food is not one of the strongest assets of this beautiful city, to say it politely. It was either tasty and expensive or terrible and expensive... In other words, anything you eat is expensive, no matter the quality! We got to experience both. The typical Venetian restaurants are called Osteria and they have seafood and fish. And of course you can find many Pizzeria & Spaghetteria, but beware of their opening hours. Almost everyone is open from 7pm to 10 pm and if you are 10 minutes late then you will be hungry!
The Gelato
Within the two days of our stay we had some very delicious gelato in Suso, near Ponte di Rialto, and Gelato di Natura, near the Catholic Church of Santi Apostoli. Both recommended!
The Transporation
You will see no cars or anything with wheels in Venice. The means of transport are the public Vaporetto (water bus), the Water Taxi and the Gondola. We got 48-hour tickets, which cost 30 euro each and you can move around Venice and the Venetian Islands, and that was one of the smartest decisions we made the day we arrived.
The Gondolas
Water transportation causes me nausea so as you can figure out I did not take a Gondola, which is very narrow and not so stable even on calm waters. However, if you want to have a private ride around the beautiful Venetian canals you can rent one for around 100 Euros (that's up to 6 people). The gondolieri, the boatmen that propel the gondolas, wear striped t-shirts, black pants and straw hats in Spring and Summer and are the most well paid people in Venice!
The Canals
Besides from the water transportation you can of course walk around the canals without getting dizzy, which is what I rather prefer doing. The big canal, Grande Canal connects all smaller ones. Some very exciting places you should definitely visit are the Rialto Bridge (Il Ponte dei Rialto) and the San Marco square (Piazza San Marco) where you can see the Cathedral, the museum inside the Doge's Palace (Palazzo Ducale) and the infamous Bridge of Sighs (Ponte dei Sospiri).
The Islands
Around Venice there are also smaller islands that you can visit, like Murano, Burano, Lido, Torcello and more. Although we had planned to visit both Murano and Burano we realized the time wasn't enough so we only went to Murano. Not much to say about it, besides of course the Glass Factories, if you are a fan of the Murano glass.
The Masks
Venetian Carnival masks are one of the city's souvenirs that you can decorate your house and keep the memory of your trip alive. The most beautiful we saw were from La Gioia, all handcrafted, which means that none of them looked the same with another.
You can see more photos from our trip to Venice at my Instagram feed and my Instastories.
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. I will be more than happy to assist, if I can.
xoxo
|barefoot duchess|
Photos by The Duke and myself
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| Palazzo Ducale on Piazza San Marco |
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| Typical Gondolieri in their Summer uniforms |
