Venice

We flew from Gatwick South Terminal with Easyjet and were delighted to arrive at Marco Polo Airport to lovely warm sunshine.

I had already bought a 3-day ‘Blue’ Venice Card on-line, which covered all public transport, such as the Vaporetto water buses, and also included our boat transfers from Marco Polo to St. Mark’s Square. You can also buy an ‘Orange’ Venice Card which includes entry to the Doges Palace and reductions on entry to other sights. Although this is more expensive than the Blue Card it would be worth getting if you intend to visit a lot of the churches and museums. You can also buy a 3-day Vaporetto only pass for 25 euros. Any of these passes will certainly save you money as the normal one way fare on a Vaporetto is 5 euros, even for one stop!

The airport boat ~ Alilaguna ~ is certainly the best way to arrive in Venice. This was our first visit to the city and our first glimpse of St. Mark’s from the water was breathtaking! You can also take a private water taxi, and although these are quicker, they are nonetheless a lot more expensive than the public Alilaguna.

We arrived at midday and after fighting our way through the tourists in St. Mark’s, we walked to our hotel which was ten minutes away, although it had taken some time to locate it on our map! We stayed at the Albergo San Samuele, a very pleasant small bed & breakfast which was a two minute walk from the Grand Canal so very conveniently situated.

Venice was quite busy with tourists, even for the time of year, but once you strolled away from St. Mark’s, the streets were much quieter. We found a local Trattoria for some lunch before starting our exploration. Venice is divided into six districts (sestieri) ~ Castello, San Marco, Dursoduro, Cannaregio, San Polo and Santa Croce. The city is easy to walk around, although I would suggest you use a map as it’s quite easy to get lost! We noticed straight away how peaceful it was without cars or mopeds! Every corner you turn around is another pretty canal, magnificent church or attractive campo (square).

We queued briefly to go into the Basilica di San Marco, which had a stunning interior, although the gold leaf on the walls was faded, which was quite understandable considering it is nearly 1,000 years old. It must have been quite amazing when it was first built. Around the corner is the Doges Palace (Palazzo Ducale) and fortunately there was no queue and it was and well worth the visit to see the splendid grand council chambers and meeting rooms, as well as the walk across the Bridge of Sighs which leads from the Palace to the prison cells (so called because of the sighs of the condemned prisoners). The cells are very interesting ~ you can even see 16th century graffiti!

If you love art like we do, visit the Galleria dell’Accademia (6.50 euros) with Venetian art from the 14th century, and then stand on the bridge outside the Gallery and admire the view down the Grand Canal. The best way to see the Grand Canal is to catch Vaporetto No. 1 or 82. They both go up and down the Canal and you get great views of the magnificent Palazzos that line the route and also the magnificent Rialto Bridge. It goes without saying that if possible, try to get one of the few seats outside where the views are best. We also took a Traghetto, the public gondola, which takes a few passengers at a time across the Grande Canal. There are only three bridges, so these are useful, and this was great fun and only 1 euro for two people! Stroll along the waterfront from St. Mark’s and soak up the atmosphere. You will see the beautiful church of San Giorgio Maggiore across the lagoon and at the mouth of the Grand Canal, the stunning white-domed church of Santa Maria della Salute. Further along you will come to the quieter area around the Arsenale (no, not the football team!) with its impressive gates into the Naval Headquarters. We found a lovely Trattoria ~ Da Paolo ~ right by the gates, where we had lunch, and comes highly recommended! We also visited the biggest church in Venice, the SS Giovanni e Paolo in the Castello district, with its huge and impressive interior.

We also took a boat to the main islands. Murano is pleasant enough if you are interested in glass, Burano is very pretty with houses painted all the colours of the rainbow and lots of lace shops, while Torcello is quiet and unspoilt, with an 11th century Cathedral the only thing to see here. I can recommend the Da Romano Trattoria in the main street on Burano, offering delicious food and excellent service.

Overall, we had a fantastic few days in this stunning city. It is unique and beautiful and even with hoards of tourists, we loved it. Another place I would also recommend to eat was the excellent Osteria al Bacareto just at the end of the street that our accommodation was located on. The food was very good, very reasonably priced and the service was polite and friendly.

Four days of sunshine helped of course, but the art, architecture, food and atmosphere shouldn’t be missed.