Venice

I wanted to go to Venice because of a book I read when I was younger, which sparked my love for Venetian masks, plus it looks really cool on assassins creed. I went with my younger sister for a few days in the summer after my first year at university. Venice can be a fairly expensive city but, there are ways around this. For example a gondola ride through the canals cost an arm and a leg however you can take a ferry through the larger ones for next to nothing or alternatively there are a special type of gondola called Traghetto that will take you across the canal for a couple of euros although we did not get chance to try this.

For venice, we looked at airbnb but since we booked last minute it turned out to be fairly expensive. Instead we ended up looking on the Hostelworld website and booking a place called Camping rialto. This was a campsite where you could stay in either tents or wooden chalets with shared bathrooms and showers and a small bar/restaurant. The wooden chalets came in a few different sizes from a 2 person one (this is what we stayed in) about the size of a garden shed with 2 camp beds inside to larger chalets that are similar size to a small cabin and include more amenities. We had never really considered staying somewhere like this before but it turned out to be fairly good in the end and saved us a lot of money. The site was just outside of the city but it was only a short bus ride away with the bus stop being just across the road from the camp so it was easy enough to get into Venice.

Obviously Italy is known for its food but Venice is not. Compared to other places such as Rome or pisa, the food in Venice is not especially good. Don’t get me wrong the food there was not bad but you can find similar quality food in England so it’s nothing special really. This means there’s no point spending a fortune on expensive meals when instead there’s plenty of small cafes around where you can get cheap snacky meals instead. Single slices of pizza go for 1-2 euros and these can be found on pretty much every street. There’s also many places that have sandwiches salads and other food available for pretty cheap. As expected in Italy, ice cream or gelato can be found around every corner. It is usually about a euro per scoop and comes in every flavour you can think of. We had a different flavour ice cream from a different place every day we were there. Definitely try the cannoli while you’re there. It’s an Italian pastry roll with a cream centre.

The best way to travel around Venice is by water bus. Water taxis are faster and can be more convenient however they come at a hefty price whereas walking is free but would take a long time to see the whole city. The water buses are ferries that come every 10-15 minutes and travel the larger canals and to some of the other islands in the lagoon. To make this even more convenient you can buy a Venezia Unica pass with the built in ACTV travel card. This card gets you on all public transport in the city including buses into the city which is good if your accommodation is outside of it. On top of this the card also gives you free entry into many churches, museums and historical buildings. Although be aware that many of the churches have a strict dress code and you can’t enter if you’re wearing shorts. Overall the Venezia one card can save you a lot of money and will get you into some interesting places that you might not have thought about visiting before (we ended up visiting a historical house belonging to a marionette maker, a silk museum and the Doge’s Palace using the card). However if you don’t plan to visit a lot of museums it may not be worth the price for you. There is also a young persons discount going up to 29 years old. Make sure to visit the other islands in the lagoon such a murano which is known for glass making and burano which is known for its colourful fisherman’s houses.

Overall, Venice was a wonderful trip and a beautiful city to visit. Although be aware that most places are shut on a Monday, since there are many weekend travelers to the city the businesses there have changed their weekend to a Monday. It was an excellent holiday full of interesting history and culture. I’d highly recommend it to anyone