Venice
Venezia (Venice), the city built on water, consisting of 118 islands and 400 bridges. Venice is a city of historical significance and immeasurable beauty. The original foundation of Venice is, generally speaking, a mix of water and wood. A daring project one would think, since a wooden foundation could possibly rot over time. However, the Venetian engineers who built these foundations were lucky! No trees grew on Venice, and therefore wood had to be imported from Montenegro. To their luck, the wood they used were Alter wood, which is relatively water resistant. Furthermore, if there is not oxygen and Fungi present, then wood can better survive! Venice’s water is salt water, and therefore the wood did not rot easily. If you are thinking of visiting a mysterious and beautiful city with so much history attached to it, then Venice is your place to go to!
WHERE TO STAY:
Area: Venice Mestre
Venice Mestre is located right on the other side of the main bridge that connects Venice to the mainland. The hotels are much cheaper over there, and if you don’t mind a 15 minute bus ride or train ride in exchange for saving a lot of money, then this place can highly be recommended!
Recommended Hotel & Hostel: AO Hotel Venezia Mestre 2
AO Hotel Venezia Mestre 2 is both a hotel and hostel in one. If you are traveling a partner, you might want to book a private double bed room. However, if you are traveling solo there is also the possibility of booking a cheap bed in a dorm.
- Price per night for a private double bed room, off-season: From 350 DKK/night (€47/night)
- Breakfast included: No, but it can be added.
- Cleanliness: Very good!
Location of the Hotel:
- Located right next to the bus station. Bus number 2 and 7E can be taken to get to Venice. The bus ride takes approx. 15-20 minutes.
- Located a short 5 min walk away from the train station. Trains run every 5-10 minutes to Venice, and the train ride itself takes approx. 15 minutes.
HOW TO GET AROUND:
- Bus from Venice Mestre to Venice Santa Lucia (The island of Venice): €1,5 one way
- Train from Venice Mestre to Venice Santa Lucia (The island of Venice): €1,5 one way
- Once on the island of Venice, you can either walk around, or take the “ACTV Vaporetto”, which are small ferries/boats that you can buy tickets to. NB! If you are planning to use the Vaporettos a lot, then it is much cheaper to buy a 24-hour ticket.
- Price of a 24-hour ticket, which gives you access to Vaporettos + Busses: €21
Beautiful places to see in & around Venice
1. Burano Island
Burano is known for its lace work and brightly colored homes. The reason the houses were painted bright colors back in the days were so local fishermen could identify the island and return home even if a thick fog appeared on the ocean and the visibility became bad. Nowadays, if the locals wish to re-paint the colors of their houses, they need to send a formal request to the government, and they will then be told which colors are allowed in which areas.
Specific buildings to see in Burano are as named in Google Maps: “Colourful Bricked House”, “Casa Di Bepi Sua” (Bepi’s House) & “Casa Blu”.
Where: Burano is a small island located a 30-45 minute boat ride away from Venice.
How to get there: Take Vaporetto (Boat) line 12 from the harbor called “F.te Nove” (I.e., Fondamente Nove). This is the only boat line that goes to Burano from Venice. You will be dropped off at the only ferry port that exists on Burano in the north. From here, you can simply walk around the small island.
How long: Burano is a small island which can easily be explored in a couple of hours. However, you might find yourself enjoying it so much that you would like to spend the whole day there!
Price of transportation: It depends if you are buying a return ticket, or if you decide to buy a 24-hour ticket, which can be used for all busses and Vaporettos in and around Venice. The price of a 24-hour ticket is €21.
Good tip: During off-season arrive before 10.00 AM, and you will experience having some of the streets to yourself. The shops didn’t seem to open before 11.00 AM either, so if you arrive too early you might not be able to do much other than walk around and take pictures. It is said to get very crowded on Burano during the summer-season, so if you want to avoid the crowds at this time of the year, you should arrive as early as possible. Another good tip is to buy a 24 hour ticket to the Vaporetto and buses in Venice (as mentioned previously), since the boat ride to Burano is included in this ticket.
2. Rialto Bridge
The Rialto Bridge is the oldest bridge on the grand canal. First there was a floating bridge, but as the popularity of the Rialto market on the eastern side increased, the floating bridge was replaced by a wooden bridge. This wooden bridge has then been rebuilt several times, due to being burnt down and due to overcrowding. In 1591 the stone bridge was then built, similar to the wooden bridge before.
Where: Venice
Good tip: Go to the back side of the bridge to get a a good picture in front of the bridge. There are less people on this side on the ground, as well as less people on this side on the bridge. Win-win!
3. Piazza San Marco (St. Mark’s Square)
San Marco is the oldest quarter of Venice, and was used as a place to gather for the Venetians.
Where: Venice
Good tip: If you are on a budget, avoid having a coffee at one of the restaurants on the Piazza San Marco. A coffee here costs approx.. €7. Instead, once you have explored the San Marco Square, continue on to some of the side streets, where coffee is half the price!
What to do at the Piazza San Marco: Go to the top of the tower called “St. Mark’s Campanile”. You will get a 360 degree view of Venice from above, and the price to do this is €10 (Definitely worth it!). The Campanile was built in the 12th century and used to be a tower locals used as a lighthouse or lookout tower for ships during wartimes.
4. Libreria Acqua Alta di Frizzo Luigi
This off-beat bookstore sells vintage books, and built stairs out of old books, in a small courtyard in the back of the store. These stairs made out of vintage books has become quite a popular attraction. A very unique sight and experience!
Where: Venice
Good tip: Go all the way to the back of the store, to see the famous stairs made of books. You are allowed to walk on them, and on the top you will have a beautiful view of the canals. If you look carefully around while wandering through the bookstore, you might find yourself lucky to see some of the cats that lives there.
Price: Free! Unless you want to purchase some vintage books.
5. Lago di Garda (Lake Garda)
Are you in need on a daytrip from Venice to somewhere different? Lago di Garda is the largest lake in Italy located right on the edge of the Dolomites. It is a perfect place to go if you want to get away from Venice for the day. Peschiera del Garda, which is one of the towns reachable from Venice by public transport in less than 2 hours, is located in the south of the lake.
Where: Peschiera del Garda, Lago di Garda.
- Travel time: 1,5-2 hours by train from Venezia Mestre to Peschiera del Garda.
- Price of train tickets (one-way): €11,7 with the regional train, and between €25-43 with a highspeed train. Click HERE to search for tickets from Venezia to Peschiera del Garda.
- Tip for the budget traveler: If you want to save money, book your train tickets with Trenitalia. In Italy, there is more than one train carrier, and some companies are much more expensive than others. Trenitalia seems to be the cheapest of them all.
- What to do in Peschiera del Garda:
- Go to the park called “Basione Tognon”, located on the top of a hill, for a beautiful view of the town and the lake. Up there, you will also find an outdoor bar in which you can enjoy a cold drink with a beautiful view. The price of an Aperol Spritz is only €5.
- Go for a walk along the beautiful turquoise blue water, and enjoy the sound of the birds.
6. Lido Island
Searching for a different beachy vacation vibe? This is excatly what Lido has to offer during the summer months. If you are there in August/September, you might be lucky to experience that Lido is hosting the ‘Venice Film Festival’ during those months.
Where: A 15 minute boat ride away from Venice.
6. Getting lost in the streets of Venice
An experience to check off your bucket list, is to just let yourself wander around to explore the different valleys and narrow streets among the canals of Venice, and suddenly you are lost. You might also find that Google Maps is not a reliable source when finding your way through Venice, since there are many tiny alleys, which Google Maps does not consider as roads which can be accessed. The opposite might also occur; that Google Maps will guide you through a place, which is a dead en. Have fun figuring out how to get around!
WHERE TO EAT:
- Taverna Scalinetto
- Where: Venice
- What: A local hidden gem of a reataurant located on a narrow street. The portions are big, and you can easily get full by one main meal. Their seafood dishes are very tasty, as the seafood is freshly caught here in Venice and their pasta etc. is homemade from scratch.
- Prices: Starters costs €16-20, main courses costs approx. €18-20, and dessert costs approx.. €7.
- IG page: @tavernascalinetto ( tavernascalinetto.it )
- Bar All’Arco Venezia
- Where: Venice
- What: A small local bar/restaurant, in which you stand by a table, and eat cicchetti and drink wine. Cichetti are small pieces of bread with seafood on top.
- Prices: A glass of wine is approx.. €4, and then it is approx.. €3 per cicchetti you order.
- IG page: @allarcovenezia
- Ristorante Casa Bonita
- Where: Venice
- What: A local restaurant located by one of the canals, away from the touristic crowds. The portions of the dishes are big, and the prices are fair. Very tasty and delicious fresh food.
- Prices: The cost of e.g. a plate of ‘Risotto with zucchini and prawns’ costs €16.
- IG page and website: @casabonitavenezia ( casabonita.it )
- Hostaria Castello
- Where: Venice
- What: Fine dining restaurant serving high quality dishes with food from local food producers. VERY tasty and highly recommendable if you are not on a budget. But the portions are very small compared to the price you pay, so this is not a place to go if you are hungry and are on a tight budget! If you want to get full, you need to order 3 courses I would say.
- Prices: A small plate of Ravioli costs €18 (Approx. 133 DKK). If you order 3 courses, it could cost approx. €50 (depending on which dishes you decide on ordering).
- IG page and website: @castellovenezia ( hostariacastello.com )
- Gelatoteca Suso
- Where: Venice
- What: A gelato shop.
- Prices: For a waffle covered in chocolate, and 2 scoops of gelato it costs €5,5.
- Website: suso.gelatoteca.it
- Punto G Venezia
- Where: Venice
- What: A local café. The perfect place to order a coffee (The coffee here is SPOT ON) and try the famous pastry filled with cream called ‘Cannoli’.
- Prices: Price examples are €2 for an espresso, €3 for a cappuccino, €5 for an iced latte.
- Website: No website nor IG page exists for this place.
- Bar da Gigetto
- Where: Burano Island
- What: A cozy café by the canals, with a lovely view of the colourful buildings on the other side. Sit down and enjoy a good cup of coffee here!
- Prices: For coffee the prices range between approx. €2,5 and €4.
- Website: No website nor IG page exists for this place.
- Nuova Pizzeria Marlin
- Where: Murano Island
- What: A café by the canals, serving good pizza! I can recommend the one with rucola, fresh tomatoes and fresh mozzarella.
- Prices: €12 for a pizza.
- Website: No website nor IG page exists for this place.
ENJOY VENICE!