The best kind of adventures are really the unexpected ones.
Visiting Venice was meant to be just a chill out in the middle of my trip. I’d pretty much been doing activities back-to-back and I was feeling pretty zapped. I wasn’t expecting or planning to do much but I ended up having a great couple of days and Venice became one of my favourite destinations! So here’s a guide to Venice…
Gondola ride
This has to be one of the most popular and iconic activities to do when visiting Venice. I’d made a friend at my hostel and we decided to hang out with each other while in the city and we both really wanted to do a gondola ride which we both agreed we wouldn’t have done if we were on our own. Gondola rides cost around €90 – this is the hire of the whole boat and you can have up to 5 passengers per boat – and rides usually run for around 30 minutes. We had so much fun and learned a lot about Venice and it’s famous canals – it was great to see the city from a different perspective!
Read the following tips to make sure you have get the best experience possible;
Be aware that some gondoliers may charge more if you ask them to sing for you – luckily, ours didn’t, he was very happy to sing for us and gave us lots of facts about Venice and its famous canals. Our gondolier was very happy for us to ask questions and we even had a selfie with him at the end of the trip!
Only get on gondolas where there is a board indicating their designated stop/start place and the cost of the trip.
Settle/agree on the price before you step on board – if you get on the boat at the designated place (with a board as above point mentions), the gondola ride should be a set price. Some gondoliers may try to haggle with you and may change the price once you are on board if you haven’t already agreed the price.
Flooding
Venice is sinking! Well, kind of… As sea levels rise (thanks climate change), the waters in the canals of Venice are rising higher than they should. It’s quite a fun thing to watch and the shops around Venice sell plastic covers for shoes so your feet don’t get wet! But, don’t worry, there are walking platforms around the city where the flooding is at its deepest. Check out the tide times and get ready for high tide – we went down to St Mark’s Square to check out the flooding on the Grand Canal and walk along the platforms with everyone else. It was pretty cool to witness the water splash over the walkways and bubble up from the drains (not sewage drains thankfully) – obviously, it draws the crowds in!
Food! Glorious, food!
So one of my favourite things about Italy was, of course, the food!!! OMG! Venice served up some of the best food I had throughout my time travelling around Italy. From one of the best pizzas I’ve ever had to a delicious carbonara – Venice has it all! There are so many restaurants around all serving up top quality traditional Italian dishes, it is a foodie’s paradise! If you want something a little different, we found a café (I’m disappointed to say I didn’t write the name down) that did double fried egg, a cheese and ham toastie and tea or coffee all for €7 – it was amazing, see if you can find it on your next visit to Venice.
There are also a number of bakeries around the city so you have to try some of the baked goods, namely the cannoli. I would recommend going to the Rizzo bakery which has been open since 1890 – they have an incredible range of pastries, cakes, pizzas, sandwiches and so much more! You won’t regret getting your baked treats from Rizzo!
Where to stay
I stayed at Ostello Santa Fosca (CPU Venice Hostels). It cost €97 for 2 nights in a 6-bed female-only dorm room. It was clean and comfortable with ensuite facilities and the room itself was quite spacious (plenty of room for 6 people and bags). There were kitchen facilities but no laundry facilities at this hostel and staff were very friendly. The hostel is located right on one of the canals and is within walking distance (around 10 minutes) of the train station.
*All information correct as of publishing.
Venice is such a beautiful city and unexpectedly became one of my favourite places I visited throughout Europe. It’s very walkable and the scenery with all the canals, gondolas and bridges is just gorgeous. I can’t wait to visit Venice again, I’ll definitely make sure I stay longer than a couple of days next time!
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