venice

Venice is located in an exceptional region; the Veneto region, which has everything: excellent wine, good food, and postcard landscapes. Very close are the immense Lake Garda, the ancient Verona, and the delicious valleys of Valpolicella. We invite you to come with us and do a 2 days Venice trip.

On the occasion of the visit of my cousins ​​from the USA, we organized a super tour of the Northeast of Italy, including the Veneto and Lombardia regions. It is here when we begin to appreciate the beauties and comforts of Italian agriturismos, finding spectacular places.

We made the trip entirely by car, starting from France, with a direct trip to Lake Garda, about 7 hours of travel, which between conversations, music, coffee stops, and classic toilet breaks, goes by relatively quickly. This trip included several regions that we know a lot about, our itinerary included: Salo, Gardone, Verona, Venezia, Valpolicella, and Piacenza.

What to say about Venice? You don’t believe it when you see it, it’s a particular city, perhaps too touristy for my taste, but its charm and particularity cannot be denied, surely at night, it must have a very romantic touch. We visited it during the day because we slept near Verona since it was less expensive. When we went it was very hot, and the city was literally overrun with tourists, and it was a bit difficult to see the buildings without a lot of people, but we still managed to take spectacular photos that show the particular charm of this city.

Venice is full of clichés, or maybe Italian clichés are full of Venice. In any case, it is easy to see what we always see in the movies and perhaps this is where the fascination that tourists have for this city comes from. It is enough to go through its streets and you will cross a canal every so often with a postcard view.

The central place par excellence is Piazza San Marco, and in front of it the imposing Basilica of San Marco, also enjoy the view from the square of the small islands in front of Venice, it is very beautiful. Take a walk around the square and admire the Campanile di San Marco, you can even enter the cafes to visit them, but avoid consuming, I personally think they are abusive with prices. And they have the most expensive coffee I’ve ever seen.

It is right next to the Basilica, and its architecture is fascinating. You can enter, but the entrance ticket is quite expensive, around €25. In any case, we were stunned seeing its exterior architecture, and the amount of detail. If you go around it, you will arrive in front of the Bacino di San Marco, where there are always loads of Gondolas in port, waiting for the tourists. The view is a postcard.

A place that should not be missed is the Ponte di Rialto, it is the great bridge that allows you to admire the Grand Canal, which is simply magnificent. This bridge is not the quietest place in the world and you will have to fight with the large number of people who cross it and stop to take photos, but the view is worth it.

The different canals are enchanting, and it is worth getting out of the busiest parts, getting to know bridges that are less crowded with people, and more lonely streets that allow you to admire the passage of the gondolas in complete tranquility. You also have to know those passages between streets that are sometimes so small that they allow only one person to pass at a time, and when the city is full of people you must walk as if in a kind of procession.

The city of Venice is an island, connected to the land by a bridge. Being a small island, space is limited.

The hotels located on the island are generally quite expensive. But if you want to stay in a dream hotel accessible by boat with a private dock, you have to stay here. If you are going for a short time, it is possible to visit the city staying on the outskirts, before the bridge, although the part very close to the bridge (south side: Marghera) is a port area and is not particularly pretty. Personally I would go a bit further to get better options (the northern part: Mestre). In those places, there are good options if you want to explore the city at night.

The other option is to stay in the surrounding cities if you have a car, which will allow you to include other places, which was our case. You can spend two days in Venice as part of a trip that covers other nearby destinations.

Venice is part of a region of Northern Italy called Veneto, where for my particular taste the food is excellent. I consider it one of the most varied, balanced, and interesting cuisines in Italy.

Suggested for a friend we went looking for a bar that is quite famous, HARRY’S not because of the bar itself, because it is a rather modest place, but because Hemingway used to go to that bar to drink, apparently he loved to go to drink Spritz there. It is an ideal place to have a cocktail and breathe a bit of history because the bar has existed since 1931.

Avoid the area of ​​Piazza San Marco to eat or have a drink, it is extremely expensive and the prices do not match the quality, it is just a very touristy place.

Pay close attention to the menus, and always ask for them in Italian, even if you have to do the translation with the phone. It happened to us in a restaurant that inadvertently gave us two menus, in Italian and English, and the menus were not the same, neither were the prices.

We visited in early September, and it was crowded. It is not one of my favorite dates for travel because is more expensive and almost always crowded.

The best season for visiting Venice is between March and May, with the best temperature and not a lot of people, you’ll have the time to enjoy beautiful sunsets.

I understand that you are maybe thinking about the famous carnival season, but Venice is small and is very very crowded for the carnival. Some events are only by invitation, or you have to pay for very expensive tickets that you have to acquire well in advance.

November and December must be avoided because is the ‘Acqua Alta’ season.