It’s always been my dream to explore and see Venice’s beauty at night, and I finally had a chance to do it. The city is still at night, very far from what I expected because I always picture it as lively, full of lights and filled with music, but it’s the other way around. To be honest, I was a little disappointed at first, but in the middle of exploring the city, I appreciated it and was mesmerized by its calmness. I realized that it’s more enjoyable to wander the streets by night since there’s only a few people roaming.
We only had limited time to explore the city because we arrived a little bit late since my beau came from his work, and our train from Bologna was 25 minutes late. Honestly speaking, our trip to Venice was the most chaotic and the most hassle trip we ever had so far to think that we’ve planned it ahead of time, but I think we still managed to explore the most important attractions of the city. In this blog post, I’d share with you our adventure and a mini travel guide to Venice.
BEST TIME TO VISIT VENICE:
I already visited the city four times and I experienced exploring the city by Summer, Autumn, Spring and Winter. I’d recommend visiting Venice by mid-Spring (April to June) or Autumn (September to October) since the temperature’s very comfortable in those days. During Summer season (the peak season), the city’s very clogged and congested, and the weather’s dry and hot.
WHERE TO STAY:
Finding a good but cheap hotel that’s accessible are a bit hard to find in Venice. Good thing Booking.com always offers affordable deals (you can earn cash rewards after your first booking and after your stay, click here to sign up!)
WHAT TO DO / VISIT:
Explore the city by foot (…). Don’t take vapor rides as much as you can because in every corner of Venice, there are gems. It’s a bit tiring, but all worth it. Get lost in the city.
(…) But make sure to experience taking the canal boat at least once. If you want to go on a Grand Canal Tour at a very cheap price, try Venice’s water buses (or the vaporetto) – the main form of transportation in Venice.
Wear comfortable shoes, and clothes. Exploring this city may really be tiring since there’s a lot of walking to do. Better be prepared.
Gelato!!! A trip to anywhere in Italy is nothing without eating gelato, whether it’s summer or winter, a gelato is a must!
Buy souvenirs, of course. Always buy something from the place you’ve been to, to serve as a remembrance, especially when you really travelled your way from it.
Eat away from the popular attractions. You’ll find a lot of good restaurants outside the popular piazzas (because they’re overpriced).
Appreciate the Grand Canal. Just stop by any bridge on the Grand Canal and take time to appreciate the beauty of the city.
Rialto Bridge. The real heart of Venice is the majestic arched beauty of Ponte di Rialto. One of the oldest bridges across the Grand Canal. Shops are on the sides of this bridge, and this is where most people buy their souvenirs as there are plenty of choices.
Fondaco Dei Tedeshci by DFS. One of the most beautiful palaces of Venice where you can find a large department store of luxury brands for high-end shoppers. Aside from the stores, you could also have a panoramic and breathtaking view of the picturesque Venice in Fondaco rooftop terrace for FREE. All you have to do is book your visit here.
St. Mark’s Square & St. Mark’s Basilica. This is my favorite part of Venice. It is the central square of the city where you can find St. Mark’s Basilica. When I first saw it, I really fell in love with it. There’s something magical in it. You could also see & feed pigeons here, see the clock tower, find different restaurants, bars, coffee shops surrounding the square. But I really don’t recommend eating here because the prices are too expensive. Anyway, this area is always filled with tourists in every season, so if you want to take photos without many people roaming around, better yet visit by night.
Bridge of Sighs. The iconic white-stone enclosed bridge that’s one of the most famous bridges in Venice. They say its name was inspired by the sigh of the prisoners at their final view of Venice through the window before being taken down to their cells.
There are so much more to see and discover in Venice, but we really didn’t roam around the city that much because as I’ve said earlier, we only had limited time. And in our itinerary, we really planned to just pass by the most important attractions in Venice since both of us went there already, and we hopped in Burano Island since I really wanted to go there ever since. My next post will be about Burano. For now, you could watch below the video diary that I created to sum up our trip. I hope you enjoyed this post :)
Faebulous Story 