Ultimate Guide To Exploring The Streets Of Venice
Anyone who follows me on Instagram – and if not why not?! – will know that I recently spent a lovely 9 days in Italy and half of my trip was experiencing Venice for the very first time. We went to Venice with few expectations and usually for me no plans for the days ahead. This is so unlike me as when I go away I usually read up beforehand things I want to do, places I want to go and make a rough plan of how I want to spend my days. As this was mine and my boyfriend’s anniversary trip I didn’t want to fill it full of things to do as we did just want to relax a little, so in Venice, we really did go with the flow.
Getting to Venice
You can fly into Venice airport pretty easily from a whole host of airports via a few different airlines so this aspect isn’t difficult at all, but when you arrive at the airport chances are you’ll need to get transport over to the actual island of Venice. There are two main options there’s a bus/ coach which can take you across the bridge but because there are no cars in the main part of Venice you might not be able to get too close to your hotel/ accommodation.
We chose to get the waterbus as looking online there was a stop about a 5-minute walk from our hotel. This is the most convenient way to get into the city and you get to see quite a lot from the perspective of the canals and sea. The waterbus costs €15 each and you can purchase tickets from machines next to the baggage claims belts, although be careful you’re buying a ticket for the water service and not the bus/ coach.
Carnival Palace Hotel
We spent quite a lot of time trying to plan our hotels before we went away and as it was our first proper holiday together – excluding long weekends and trips in the UK – we decided to spend a bit more than we would normally to get really good hotels and rooms.
My boyfriend found the Carnival Palace Hotel which is a 4-star hotel just away from the hustle and bustle of the main streets and canals. We loved being in a slightly quieter area even though we could walk to some lovely restaurants, cafes, and shops just a few minutes away. The hotel offers a vast number of rooms ranging from under £100 a night right up to The Red Suite which is what we opted for. Going to Italy out of season in November meant we could afford some hotel rooms which at another time of the year we just couldn’t have justified.
Our hotel room was absolutely amazing with a large hallway/ dressing room area as you walked in with plenty of space to store clothes and suitcases out of the way of the bedroom. The bedroom itself was huge with a super king bed and a large sofa, and the bathroom was one of the best I’ve ever seen with a separate bath and double shower cubicle. But the best thing was two balconies on either side of the bedroom where one consisted of a hot tub which we definitely made use of.
Is Venice expensive?
A lot of material which I read had me prepared that Venice was going to be super expensive and that you’d need to spend a lot of money in order to have a good experience here. But I’m going to be honest and say I didn’t find it any different from most other European cities I have visited, including other Italian areas like Rome or Ischia.
Bottled soft drinks seemed to be the only slight expense with a lot of shops selling a 500ml bottle for €3 whereas you can get a large bottle in a mini market for less than €2. I’d expect restaurants surrounding the busiest area of the Grand Canal to be expensive so we avoided these but to be honest the restaurants didn’t look as nice as others that we ate in.
A gondola ride was the other thing I’d prepared our spending money for, people told us go to downside canals as they were cheaper but after 2 days full walking we found absolutely everywhere including the main canal to be the same price. From what others had said about it being incredibly over the top expensive we were expecting around €200 or so but we were shocked that it was just €80 for a boat of up to 6 people. For us, that meant only €40 each and if you had 6 people then it would be under €15 each which in my mind is a bargain.
Eating in Venice
The food as you’d expect from Italy was heavily based on pizza and pasta but from our travels, we also found a few meat/ steakhouses, a number of Chinese restaurants and plenty of seafood. But like traditional tourists, we were looking for all the pasta and pizza. In most restaurants, you’ll get a massive pizza or a decent pasta portion for €12 or less and even in the fancier looking restaurants, this didn’t vary up too much unless you jumped to steaks or meatier based dishes.
We found a lovely restaurant called Al Faro which turned out to be a 5-minute walk from our hotel which did probably the best pizza I have ever eaten. The pizzeria has a 4-star rating on Trip Advisor and my god was the food good, so much so that on our 4-night stay we ended up here twice. It’s also so reasonably priced for two pizzas and two drinks we paid just €25.
Things to do in Venice
As I said at the beginning we didn’t have a whole list of things planned for Venice and most of what we did was just explore and walk around the city. As there are no cars in the bulk of the city it’s so easy to just get lost and see what you can find with all the bridges and winding streets, so this is what we did the majority of the time.
There’s Piazza San Marco (St Mark’s Square) with the Basilica which is absolutely stunning which you can visit and go inside. Located on the square is also St. Marks Campanile which was originally built as a lighthouse but you can head up the tower to get incredible views out over Venice and even The Alps in the distance on a clear day.
One other thing which I feel you have to do in Venice is have a gondola ride. As I explained above I didn’t feel it was too expensive and it’s one of those once in a lifetime experience’s as the gondola takes you down canals and streets which you’d never get to experience by foot and it’s great to see the city from another perspective.
Flooding in Venice
As Venice is built on stilts canals cover pretty much all of the city and it’s rare to walk for more than a few minute’s without seeing water, because of this the city is prone to a little flooding outside of the main Spring/ Summer months. If you’re visiting in the slightly colder months like us you might find some late mornings/ early afternoons that there’s some water on some of the streets/ inside shops or restaurants, but the locals handle this so well and nothing comes to a stop like it would if this happened in London.
The water levels only rise for small parts of the day and it’s so easy to just avoid the flooded streets as it’s rare to get so bad that it affects a lot of the city. One day the lower end of the road where our hotel was got flooded but it wasn’t the end of the world. Just remember to bring boots/ non-canvas shoes if you’re going Mid October – February time, failing that you can just buy some waterproof leg covers from local vendors.
And that’s it for my Venice guide, this ended a longer than I had intended but I hope it can be of help to anyone thinking of visiting the city.
Pin It
35 responses to “Ultimate Guide To Exploring The Streets Of Venice”
Leave a Reply
All About Me
Rhian Westbury
Travels and Destinations
Nothing currently planned
Your post brought back great memories of when I visited Venice about 10 years ago. I never realised it was subject to serious flooding (although it’s not surprising). I guess I was lucky to arrive there early March!
Venice looks amazing. It’s definitely on my wishlist to travel. I think 80E is really good value for a gondola too, even if there’s just two of you, and what a great experience. Not sure how I’d cope with the flooding if I lived there, but I guess they’re used to it!
Beautiful photos, I have not been back to Italy in years. Makes me want to take another trip.
What a stunning place, I have never been but from your pictures I am missing out for sure. Love the look of Carnival Palace Hotel that is sure a nice place to stay and relax .
Ahh I have always wanted to visit Venice myself! It also looks incredibly romantic, I might have to book in a visit with my boyfriend!
Venice is on my bucket list – it looks so pretty! I had heard it is expensive too, glad to hear it is more reasonable than you thought x
Venice looks like such a stunning place to just spend time walking around, all those beautiful buildings and how delicious does the food look!
When in Venice,eat pizza!! Another fun place I would like to visit one day if only to see if there any fish in the canals!
We went Venice last year and it was absolutely fab. From taking on Gondola’s to ACTV buses and then ferries, I guess we missed out nothing there. We enjoyed the most having thick shakes, yoghurts and gelato’s there.
I went to Venice last new year. The Carnival palace hotel looks amazing compared to the hotel I stayed in!
I was in Venice this summer and, although I like the fact that the city is on water and there are no cars at all, I have to say that it was so crowded that I couldn’t enjoy it as much. I think it is better to go there in October or November like you did to really feel the beauty of the town.
I think that’s the good thing about the fact that I went outside of the summertime, I didn’t find it busy at all x
We are going to Venice next year, so I will keep all this in mind. It’s somewhere I have always wanted to go.
I’d love to go to Venice! It looks absolutely stunning and the Carnival Palace Hotel looks comfortable. Shame about the floods in Summer though.
Rosie
Venice is a place my husband and I have wanted to visit for a long time. If we’re ever lucky enough to go, you can bet we’ll be eating our weight in pizza (for him) and taking a gondola ride (for her) x
Glad to know Venice is not as expensive as I thought! I am in love with your photographs and the post is very informative! Thanks for sharing.
Oh I love venice. I don’t find it overly expensive either, it’s just about being smart and not eating in the main tourist areas. When in italy no where does bad food so the selection is just huge!
I totally agree, but that’s the same with pretty much every city. Avoid the main tourist areas to eat as you will pay more x
This is a nice guide to Venice. I loved the feeling of the town when I went there but I hated the smell!
Venice is in my top three of places I most want to visit! I am hoping we can get over there next year at long last!
Venice has always been somewhere on my bucket list….. but after seeing your blog post, I just want to go even more now!!!! What a stunning place xx
Mu mum’s been to venice but she didn’t really rate it, however I would love to go on a gondola ride. The price is much cheaper than I was expecting, it has a very romantic feel to it doesn’t it
I can’t wait for my next trip to Venice. I’ll have to check out the Carnival Palace Hotel. It looks like a great find.
That wasn’t as expensive as one would imagine! I hope to get to the real Venice one day. I see the Venetian gondola rides in Las Vegas all the time!
Venice is on my bucket list. I always love to travel to Italy for its culture, for its amazing food and restaurants. Carnival palace hotel looks amazing and I will love to stay there whenever I get a chance to visit Venice.
Al Faro restaurant also looks too good to taste its food (pizza especially).
Venice tends to be very expensive in summer. I have been there both in winter and in summer and the difference in prices was huge. In winter I paid less than £100 for 3 nights, in the city, while in summer £150 a night got my a tiny room with no space to move around.
Ohh Venice sounds really amazing! I’m so glad you had a great time and got to go on the Gondolas! 🙂 I’ve wanted to go there for a while – it seems like such a unique place! <3 xx
What a beautiful place! Carnival Palace Hotel looks awesome too.It is always great to plan a vacation in winters- the places are less crowded and the deals are amazing!
I’ve always wanted to go to Venice. You’ve made me want to move it up my ‘must visit’ list ! The hotel looks amazing as well. Lovely room!
Ahhh, you’re making me want to go back to Italy so badly! Venice is so beautiful, would love to see it in every season 🙂
I’ve had so many friends that have visited Venice and loved it. The gondola rides look so fun!
Nothing is better than Italian pizza, I’d love to try one there someday. Venice is such a beautiful place, it would be an amazing location for a vacation.
I’ve always thought Venice was beautiful, but your pictures take it to the next level! I’ve never been to Italy before, but have been itching to go. I love that there is so much history in every single building and city!
Italy is on my bucket list of must-see places. I am so jealous that you got to experience it. And the food looked amazing.
I’ve been wanting to visit Venice for so long now, me and my partner are actually planning on going early/mid next year x