Venice is without a doubt, one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever laid eyes on.
Between it’s gondola- filled canals and narrow winding streets, it feels like you’ve stepped back in time, which is probably why Venice is hailed as one of the most romantic cities in the world.
We spent about six days there in total, flying with Ryanair to Venice Treviso airport. Below is a breakdown of our favourite things to do, see, and eat in this magical little city.
WHERE WE STAYED:
In a gorgeous little AirBnb in the Heart of the city. It was super clean, reasonably priced and our host Marco couldn’t have been more helpful! You can find the listing here. It was less than a 10 minute walk from the main SanMarco Square, which mean that we never had to get any water taxis or boats during our trip around the city. I definitely recommend it if you’re looking for something for a couple or two people sharing.
WHAT WE ATE:
It’s no secret that Venice can be an expensive city, especially for food and drink. Lots of the restaurants along the main tourist spots (the Grand Canal, SanMarco Square, etc) are known as “Tourist Traps” as they are overpriced and the food is pretty basic. We saved a lot of money by avoiding these, and since we were out exploring most of the time, we actually ate on the go quite a bit too. Here’s a look at some of our favourites:
Coffee & Pastries at Pasticceria da Bonifacio
Yoseph found this little spot called Pasticceria da Bonifacio on Tripadvisor, which is hailed as the best bakery in Venice. It’s so tiny you’d walk right by it, but OH MY GOD, it’s absolutely divine. The coffee is so delicious (and strong) and the freshly baked pastries and cakes are out of this world. Most mornings we would pick up two coffees and a bag full of delicious treats for under €7, which is incredibly reasonable in Venice – it’s a spot the locals go. If you’re in Venice you MUST check it out, you’ll thank me later. I especially recommend the berry tart, the sausage rolls (omg) the mini chocolate eclairs, or anything really. Now that our trip is over, I think this little bakery is what I will miss the most about this city!
What I wore:
–
Dalmoros take-out pasta
Of all the pasta we ate in Venice, one of my favourites has to be Dalmoros take-out pasta from a box. It was so deliciously fresh, and only cost about a fiver, which is pretty amazing by Venice standards. Funnily enough, after this that went to The Gritti Palace for €23 Bellinis (more on that below) – but it’s all about that balance right?
What I wore:
–
Antico Forno Pizza Takeaway
Sitting at the banks of the Grand Canal to watch the sun set over the Rialto Bridge, we picked up some pizza slices from AnticoForno (it’s supposed to be one of the best takeout pizzas in the city!) and just sat and enjoyed the sunset, and watched the hustle and bustle of the gondolas and boats passing by on the water, it was pretty perfect! I definitely recommend trying out Antico Forno for a pizza slice – at only about €3 a slice, it’s incredible value for money and so so delicious!
What I wore:
–
WHAT WE DID:
Day Trip to Bruano
We couldn’t make the trip to Venice without checking out this famous fishing village – and it’s even more beautiful in real life! The locals paint their houses these gorgeous rainbow colours so they can find their own house in the fog – how clever is that? It’s only a 45 minute boat trip -around €6.50 each way – and you can spend a few hours there wandering the gorgeous streets and sampling the local seafood – we had the Scampi in Fritto Misto and it was delicious. Burano is a must-visit if you are in Venice, it’s instagram HEAVEN!
What I wore:
–
Sunset Bellini’s in the famous Grittioverlooking the Grand Canal
It’s no secret that Venice is an expensive place, and we’ve been doing really well to manage our budgets during this trip and save money on certain things and avoiding the tourist traps, but this is one spot that lives up to it’s hype. The gorgeous sunset waterfront views at the Gritti Palace Bar terrace (Bar Longue) were absolutely worth the eye-watering €23 price tag per Bellini. It was definitely a “treat yoself” kind of moment and we really enjoyed ourselves, although mind you, we definitely had just the one each before moving on, and nursed it for as long as possible, haha!
What I wore:
–
Sailing Day off the coast
We booked this sailing trip via AirBnB experiences the just before we left for Italy as it had such good reviews, and BOY did it not disappoint! For €65 each, we were taken out on a beautiful sailboat for three hours around the Venetian coastline, swam off the boat, and even served drinks and food too! Considering a 30 minute gondola ride in Venice costs €100, we found this trip to be incredible value, not to mention the organiser & skipper were so lovely and great fun to hang out with!
What I wore:
–
Venice Jazz Club
For my Birthday night in Venice, Yoseph wouldn’t tell me what he had planned for the evening, so I didn’t know what to expect. After spending the day sailing around Venice (see above) I thought it couldn’t get any better, until he took me to the Venice Jazz Club. It’s a cosy little spot that you can reserve a table in (they close their doors at 10 so there’s no walk-ins) for an intimate evening of music and drinks, and I cannot recommend it enough! The musicians are outrageously talented and they play a beautiful selection of Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, etc and they keep you entertained and laughing for the whole evening – Frederico the pianist even dedicated a song to me for my birthday and I was suitably mortified (but lowkey delighted, of course) and if you’re into live music it’s just a beautiful way to spend an evening with friends or a loved one. The ticket price is €20 but that includes drinks and they have other drinks/food deals that make it a seriously affordable night out by Venice standards. It’s a must! The weather was roasting that day, and as we left the club a HUGE thunder storm erupted and we ended up running through the narrow streets dodging the rain and watching the huge lightning flashes illuminate the night sky, I’ve never seen anything like it, and it’s one of those special memories I’ll cherish forever. After the rain stopped we took a video as we were walking home, watch it below:
What I wore:
–
Canal Boat Trip local Venetian
One of our last activities before we leave was to get a boat ride around the city’s famous canals – but rather than go for a typical Gondola ride which can be overpriced and so crowded at peak times, we decided to look for something a bit more special. A lovely couple we met on my birthday boat trip told us about this amazing local Venetian who takes you out on a solo boat tour around the city for an hour at sunset with nibbles and a bottle of prossecco, telling you stories about the city, all for the same price as a 30-minute gondola ride. Needles to say we jumped at the chance, and It was probably our favourite part of the whole trip – just taking in all the beautiful sights, listening to stories and snapping cute photos for our memories. His name is Ricardo and he doesn’t advertise publicly as he likes a more low-key, friend of a friend recommendation, so if you’d like his information to contact him about booking a boat ride on your trip, just head over to my instagram and send me DM and I’ll pass you over his details – he loves the Irish!
What I wore:
–
OTHER TIPS:
- WATER: The tap water is fine to drink. Order it in the restaurant to save a few euros on water. Or just drink wine instead 🙂
- SAFETY: Venice is extremely safe. Like in every big tourist city, it’s good to beweare of pickpockets and carry a safe bag, but as far as we could tell, there were no real tourist dangers or “scams” that we needed to worry about. In some of the main tourist areas, you might have a man come up to you to offer you a rose. They’ll say it’s free and try to put it in your hand, but don’t take it. It’s not free, and your inviting them to haggle with you and will expect you to pay them for it. We saw this happen to so many people. Just say a polite and firm “No”, and they won’t bother you.
- MOSQUITOES: There are mosquitos so if you’re susceptible to being bitten (like me!) then wear repellent and pack antihistamines.
- MAPS: Download your google maps ahead of time. They do technically work in Venice, especially for getting you in the general direction of where you’re looking to go, but they’re not the most reliable and finding *exact* spot, so once you get really close, just follow street signs instead, and you should find your locations!
Have you ever visited Venice before? If so, what was your favourite thing to do or see?
Let me know in the comments below!
Happy Reading,
Love,
First time in your blog and loving it completely! You have done complete justice by depicting the beauty of Venice in its complete splendor through such beautiful photographs. Loved all of them, my favorite was that of the evening, I felt I am looking at the Venice of the 17th century, it was so beautiful!!!!
Ray Clifford recently posted..Being in a painting