Venice, Italy: Travel Series

Venice: The Floating City. A destination unlike any other.

Getting Around – Venice is such a joy to get around, not because its easy, but because no matter where you are or how lost you get, you are never far from a picturesque canal or historic building. Getting around in this city is half the fun of being in Venice. There are two main ways to make it to where you want to be – public or private water taxi and traveling around on foot (but make sure you utilize maps and give yourself extra time cause its easy to get turned around). If you plan on using public water taxis, its beneficial to look into the Venezia Unica Tourist City Pass – it not only gives you access to the public water transportation system but also grants you free or discounted access to some of the cities historic attractions.

Where To Stay – Hotel Ai Mori d’Oriente This hotel was really well appointed and had a very classic feel. Depending on your budget, you have some amazing suite options. I would highly suggest one of the rooms located on the canal. The have french doors that open up right on the water. It makes you really feel like you are a part of the city. It was also cool being in a very historic area of the city near the jewish Ghetto. While the hotel was beautiful, to be honest, we were never really there. Getting here from the train station was also quite the adventure. We used a public water taxi to get us as close as possible and thought we would just walk the rest. yikes, the walk was farther than we thought and the cobblestones made it really hard to drag all our luggage. We made it work tho and really enjoyed relaxing in our suite before heading out to explore. Upon leaving the city for our next destination, we opted to take a private water taxi that came straight up to our hotel, way more convenient.

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What To Do – We went on a Walks of Italy tour to see the Doges Palace and St. Marks’ Basilica and I will say the Doges Palace was really fun. Seeing the dungeons and going thru the secret passages was captivating. Hearing the tales about the original Casanova and seeing where he escaped from was so cool (TBH didn’t know Casanova was a real person) . Well worth doing this tour. St Mark’s was beautiful but we were very tired after seeing the Doge’s palace so we decided to break away from the group and take the basilica at our own pace. The rest of the trip was spent literally just walking around to look at things and eat as much as we possible could. We took one of the more expensive gondola rides thru the city during a photoshoot we had planned (WOW) and it was the most incredible way to see what Venice has to offer.

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We decided to check out Al Timon which was said to have the best steak in Venice. It did not disappoint. Damien and I sat next to the canal and split a huge meal. It was evening, the locals were sitting in boats all around us, drinking and snacking casually on Al Timon’s most popular fare. The atmosphere, the food, the company… perfection.

We cannot wait to get back to Venice to explore even more of what this city has to offer (*insert glassblowing and more wine*). Let me know your fav Venice adventures in the comments.