Venice, Italy
If you were looking for somewhere to visit that has a mixture of history, nightlife, AMAZING food and lots of shopping what better place to visit than Venice.
We flew over for a long weekend stay and honestly, it might be my favourite place I’ve ever visited. We booked our stay through Groupon and I will say I was a little dubious at the hotel we’d end up getting – people often find themselves thinking if the price is low, you will get what you pay for in terms of value and that it won’t be great but this definitely wasn’t the case with this trip!
We had coach transfers included, which took us to the Central Bus Station in Venice and from there it was around a ten minute walk to our hotel. The drive from the mainland into Venice itself was incredibly beautiful, over the long bridge with bright blue waters running beneath – it really feels like you’re being transported to another world especially as there are no cars or bikes allowed in the city!
The walk from the bus station to our hotel took us down intricate lanes and over narrow bridges. We arrived at Hotel Al Sole, Santa Croce and was pleasantly surprised – a beautiful fifteenth century hotel with exposed brick, marble statues and artwork to die for. After checking in, we were shown to our room and like most European destinations the rooms are not huge but for 2 people what more could you need? The style was typical of old Venetian residences with floral prints, dark wood and rustic shutters. The best part of our room was the incredible view of the canal, I still miss waking up to this every day!
You can’t go to Italy without sampling some of the authentic Italian food and boy did we do just that! I think I ate my body weight (and then some!) in Ferrero Rocher or Nutella gelato. Our favourite restaurants that we visited were Taverna De Baffo, Ristorante Canal Grande and Pizzeria All-anforna for the worlds best pizza!
We also spent two days being typical tourists and seeing the “must see” sights of Venice. We visited St. Marks Square, the Basilica and Doge’s Palace. We took way too many photos on Rialto Bridge, tried to taste all the food imaginable along the Grande Canal and shopped in the cute boutique stores that lined every corner we turned.
One of our favourite parts of the whole trip, although pricey was taking a ride on the gondolas. You can even opt to have a singing gondolier if you wish! We didn’t go for one of those, a) it bumps the price up A LOT and b) you pass plenty of other people who have paid for that so you can enjoy it without the charge!
I would highly recommend visiting Venice if you get the opportunity, although not somewhere you would need to go back to time and time again it’s definitely a must see on the travel list!
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