I am finally bringing you my last instalment of my Italian adventures. In case you missed my first two posts you can catch up here - Lido de Jesolo and Burano and Murano.
Today I am talking all about Venice. Venice is without a doubt my mum's favourite place on Earth. Every time she steps off the boat there is a permanent smile on her face, the entire time she is there. I must have visited 7 or 8 times now, and every time we are in the vicinity of getting to Venice easily where ever we are in Italy, we will go if we can.
In my Burano and Murano post, I posted all about how it easy it is to get to Venice and its surrounding islands. From Jesolo we got on a bus to the boat port and then got a direct boat to Venice. The boats are about every half an hour, but be warned if you go mid season they will be packed. We visited Venice twice whilst on our two week holidays. We actually know our way round Venice very well now. Although, there are so many back streets you can easily get lost, but within a few minutes you will be at a square where you can easily find your bearings again. We do however always take a map as there are lots of tiny streets.
If it is your first time visiting and you want to see all the sites then wherever you get off your boat head left. As we have seen the sites many times, one of my main tips if you are wanting to stay away from the hustle and bustle when you first get there and you just want a little time to explore, then head right. This time we headed right on our first trip and ended up in a little section which we had never been to before. We stopped for a drink and cake in a little cafe with the locals overlooking the canals. Everywhere we have ever visited in the Italy, the locals are always so lovely and welcoming. They are all so joyous and make you feel warm inside. I love Venice as there is so many lovely shops to walk around, there are streets and streets with a great variety of things to buy. I love the little souvenir shops, which are not tacky and sell lovely paintings, jewellery and home made crafts.
If you are going for the attractions then there are lots to see. First of all, the gondola ride is a must if it is your first time visiting. For a family of four it will easily set you back 80-100 euros. If you want a gondola exclusively as a couple without sharing with anyone else, it will cost you even more. It is great, as you get to see all the sites and go down the Grand Canal, but they also take you down the back streets where you get to see where the locals live. There is also the Rialto Bridge to visit which is lovely, but always busy no matter what time of day you go. You can take some great pictures and the views are fabulous.
Definitely take a trip into St Marco's Square, which is actually very easy to find as it is close to the Grand Canal. It is such a beautiful view and it is home to St Marco's Cathedral which we have never actually been into. Just from the outside you can see what a fabulous building it is. There is so much intricate detailing, it is just stunning. Every time I visit I forgot just how big the square is. One tip, if you want to sit in the square which we did the very first time we visited, be prepared to pay the prices. I always remember that none of the restaurants in the square had any prices on their menus, and we were planning on eating our dinner there. When we got in and ordered the drinks, we then saw the prices. You will easily pay 9-10 euros for a coffee. The view was beautiful and they often have a string quartet playing, and you are able to relax in the sun and take in the views. However, we decided to just drink our drinks and move on to find somewhere a little more purse friendly to eat our dinner.
To eat we have learnt to eat where the locals eat, as always in Italy. This is often the little restaurants which only have a few tables, and are situated away from the main squares on the little backstreets. These are the places which we now always head for. I have never had a bad pizza or pasta dish, so I do not have any particular recommendations as everywhere offers such fabulous food. On the trip which we took in our second week, it is a little family tradition to go to Hard Rock Cafe's whenever we are holiday. I always find this funny as we never go to the one in Manchester as it is too expensive. Anyway, it was a little treat and I have to say my burger was insanely tasty. The meals were not cheap, and I think they were even more expensive than in Britain. As always with Hard Rock restaurants it was busy, and I was surprised at the size of the restaurant as there was only about 25 tables all together. Thankfully, we did not have to wait too long and everyone thoroughly enjoyed their food.
I think I have just about covered everything which I wanted to! As you can probably tell by my enthusiasm I love Venice, and so does all of my family. If you want to ask any more questions then please feel free to in the comments.
Lucy
xoxo