Venice, Italy

October 11 - 18, 2019

Venice, the floating city, the city of romance. It is indeed beautiful, if you can find ways to get around the massive crowd. There are 50,000 locals here, and it hosts 30 million tourists each year! The structures are very well preserved, and the canals and bridges certainly are picturesque!

Voyagers tips: Venice is not an easy place to visit. First, the lack of cars, bikes and scooters mean you travel by foot and by boats. Minimize your luggage so you don’t struggle with carrying big suitcases up and down bridge steps. There is a big bus stop and a train station on the entrance of the island, you can come by train or take the bus from airports. Get multi-day water bus (vaporetto) passes to help get around and enjoy the view from the canals; figuring out the bus routes can be intimidating at first, but it’s easy enough to figure out with the route map and the MoovIt app. Water taxis are convenient but very pricey. Make sure to book skip-the-line timed tickets online for St. Mark’s Square attractions to avoid waiting in lines, and go in later afternoon to avoid crowds. Get local SIM cards before coming here; the SIM cards cost about twice as much here as they do on mainland Italy.

Useful apps: MoovIt (map out routes to big attractions and nearby islands), WC Venice (find public restrooms and water fountains), AppTaxi (call taxi), WiFi Map (find wifi spots).

Day 1 - Venice (Around Town)

Day 3 - St. Mark’s (San Marco) Square

Day 5 - Murano and Burano islands

Day 6 - Gondola ride

day 1 - Venice Around Town

We drove from Ljubljana to Venice airport to return the car.

We took the ACTV bus from the airport to Venice bus station. The luggage rolls around on turns, not ideal. The other bus option would've been better.

Excited to be heading to Venice!

Finally crossing the bridge to the island of Venice.

With canals and bridges with steps all over Venice, walking and boats are the only options to get around. It pays to travel light.

Being in Italy, we were inspired to make our own pasta dishes.

Interesting art display made of glass. Murano glass is popular here.

Beautiful architecture throughout the town, very well preserved.

A random tourist photobombed our picture. :)

Canals and bridges define the city of Venice.

The famous Rialto Bridge, the most popular of the four bridges that cross the Grand Canal, gets really crowded and touristy. (The large canal that runs through Venice is the Grand Canal.)

The view from Rialto Bridge.

Another view of the Rialto Bridge.

These are the smaller canals that run through Venice.

Missing good Asian food, Megan decided to learn how to make wontons. Making wonton skins without a roller required some creativity.

Making wontons is no joke!

Venice is a beautiful place to just stroll around. It takes about half an hour to walk from one end to the other if you don’t get lost. People say if you didn’t get lost in Venice, you haven’t been to Venice. Many streets lead to dead ends. Google Map is good for showing where the streets are, but the directions are completely useless. It took several days for us to get good at navigating the streets. But then again, getting lost wandering the streets is part of the experience!

Venice at night

Tourists love enjoying meals by the canal.

This is the cafe right outside our apartment. Letteria2465. Pretty popular given its quiet location.

The shops near Rialto Bridge open late.

Evening view from Rialto Bridge.

Venice is beautiful at night. It’s nice to walk around in the evening and appreciate a different side of Venice.

Voyagers tips: One popular thing to do is to get a table in St. Mark’s square in the evening, enjoy the live music and a few drinks. It’s worth the hefty cover charge. We didn’t get to do this as the kids probably wouldn’t have enjoyed it much, but it does sound nice. Some streets are pretty dark once you move farther away from the popular area between San Marco square and Rialto Bridge; while Venice is pretty safe in general, it’s best for women not to go out alone in the quieter areas.

day 3 - St. Mark’s Square (piazza san marco)

water bus

Piazza San Marco

San Marco Basilica (St. Mark’s Basilica)

San Marco Capneli (St. Mark’s Bell Tower)

Palazzo Ducale (Doge’s Palace)

St. Giorgio Maggiore

The most popular attractions in Venice are centered around St. Mark’s Square, and the area between St. Mark’s Square and Rialto Bridge are the busiest area. We took a full day to explore these main attractions.

Voyagers tips: Be sure to book skip-the-line tickets ahead of time. We booked the Basilica tickets first and the bell tower ticket an hour and a half after, which is sufficient time for the basilica. For Doge’s Palace, the ticket is a combined ticket with other museums at St. Mark’s square. They also sell skip-line tickets online, but they require paper printouts, which is ridiculous. If the line is too long at Doge’s Palace, buy the tickets at Museo Correr across the plaza then go into Doge’s Palace without waiting for the ticket line. We went in the afternoon in October and there were no lines for Doge’s Palace. Use restrooms at the basilica and Doge’s Palace before you leave, as public restrooms in Venice are hard to find. You can also just order a cup of coffee at a cafe and use their restrooms.

vaporetto (water bus)

We got onto vaporetto #1 at Piazzale Roma and got the best seats up front. This was a lucky find, as most buses don't even have front seats.

The vaporetto is a nice economical way to enjoy the view from the water.

Some of these water buses are quite packed.

Venice, built on relatively soft land, is slowly sinking. The raising water makes things worse. Some buildings have ground floors permanently flooded and abandoned.

The Rialto Bridge in the background.

Vaporetto, the water bus (not water taxi), is the primary public transportation. Once you learn how to navigate the network, it’s quite handy. Some buses get super crowded though.

Voyagers tips: Download a vaporetto route map and learn to read it. It’s very confusing at first glance. The ones without decimals only go in one direction. The ones showing decimals (e.g. 5.1 and 5.2) go in opposite directions of the same route. Day passes are useful for unlimited trips. Each ride costs 7 euros, whereas day passes cost 20 euros for 1 day, 30 for 2 days, 40 for 3 days. Use the MoovIt app in conjunction with the route map. Enter in destination in MoovIt map to see recommended route, then verify with vaporetto route map. Use google map to see where the vaporetto stations are, but figure out your own route to get there, do NOT rely on google’s useless directions. Some stations have several terminals, labeled A-B-C-D…, look at the signs to see which terminal is for the bus you want. It sounds complicated, but once you struggle through the first two or three rides, it becomes second nature. Lastly, bus #1 is a great scenic ride through the entire grand canal. For the best seats, get on Piazza Roma station and get good seats before the crowds pile on at subsequent stops.

Piazza San Marco

Doge's Palace is actually next to the basilica in the connecting "square".

The Campanile (bell tower) stands tall next to the basilica.

The bridge of sighs, part of Doge's Palace, can be seen from the port next to St. Mark's Square.

Lots of gondolas line up at the port, waiting for the cruise ship crowds to arrive.

It's actually illegal to feed the tons of pigions at the square, but tourists do it anyway.

There are tons of people here all the time. After navigating through narrow streets of Venice, stepping into this grand square is a surreal transition. It’s good to just stand in the middle and absorb the beautiful architecture around you before exploring the individual buildings.

Basilica di San Marco

Voyagers tips: Book online tickets for the basilica and the capanile here: https://basilicasanmarco.insidecom.it/en/. Backpacks aren’t allowed inside the basilica, there’s a bag check around the corner of the basilica that they’ll direct you to if you show up with a backpack. Once you get in, tour the basilica downstairs, then take the narrow stairway near the entrance to the museum upstairs. There’s a nice balcony upstairs for a great view of the square. Don’t miss the tapestry area, where you can enter through a set of stairs going down inside the museum. There’s a bathroom near the entrance of the tapestry area.

san marco capaneli

Nice 360-degree view from above.

You can see the San Giorgio Maggiore island from here. We'll go there to get a nice view of the Venice island.

The bells were still ringing when we first got up here. They are loud!! We had to cover our ears.

The bell tower is right next to the basilica. The elevator is the only way to get up there, no stairs needed. It’s worth going up to enjoy the aerial view of Venice.

Voyagers tips: Lines tend to be long in the morning. The entrance for skip-line tickets is on the side facing the main square. We booked skip-the-line tickets for the afternoon, but it turned out there was no line in mid-afternoon in October, and you can’t enter early through the skip-line entrance. If you want to enter at a different time than the time on your pre-booked tickets, you’d have to go through the regular line.

Doge’s Palace

Inside the main square of Doge's Palace.

This was the original statue of this dog-alligator animal that was on the tall poll next to the port. It was taken down and replaced by a new replica.

The 3-D decoration on the ceilings are incredible.

You can get a neck cramp trying to enjoy all the ceiling art here.

The Bridge of Sighs, where prisoners were sentenced in the palace and walked through this bridge to the prisons where they're locked up.

The prisoners get their last glimpse of the outside of Venice before being locked up, hence the sigh.

The view out of the bridge. We saw a "bridge of sighs" in Oxford and didn't realize that was named after this bridge due to stylistic similarities.

Being locked up after walking through the bridge.

The halls of prison are dark, cold and humid.

The cafe inside Doge's Palace was a nice rest stop before continuing our day. The prices are reasonable, and there's no crazy cover charge like most restaurants near San Marco Square.

Last glimpse before leaving. Don't forget to use the restroom before heading out!

An interesting museum inside the palace. You can see all the old retired columns and other art pieces.

Doge’s Palace, the highlight attraction of St. Mark’s Square in our opinion. The interior is truly impressive; we enjoyed this visit more than the basilica.

san giorgio maggiore

The ride on #2 to San Giorgio is only about 5 minutes.

The island is quite small, and you see this impressive church right from the ferry port.

View of Venice from the water bus stop.

Inside of the church. The entrance to the bell tower is inside the church.

We toured around the small island first to wait for sunset time before heading up. This was a nice glass art on the island.

We got to the island after 5pm and most things were already closed, except for the church, bell tower, and an art museum.

A nice stroll along the port.

We finally took the elevator up to the bell tower. Nice view, but it was too cloudy and gloomy to see the sunset.

It's a great view of Venice from here, just wish it wasn't so gloomy and foggy.

Exiting the church.

Taking the water bus back to the stop near our apartment.

The nearby island of Giudecca looks nice, but we didn't get a chance to visit. There are several islands near Venice worthy of visits.

The bell tower on St. Giorgio is similar to that of the San Marco Capaneli, except it’s much less crowded, and you get a nice view of the entire island of Venice, including the San Marco Capaneli in the view.

Voyagers tips: St. Giorgio Maggiore is a small island across the water from Venice, a quick 5min hop on #2 water bus from San Marco - San Zaccaria station F takes you there.

day 5 - murano and burano islands

murano

burano

There are several islands near Venice worth visiting, the most popular ones are Lido, Murano, Burano and Torcello. Lido is known for the beach in the summer. We decided to visit Murano, known for Murano glass, and Burano, known for colorful houses and laces.

murano

The vaporetto ride to Murano was quite pleasant.

Even the heavy industrial equipment can be transported by boat.

We arrived at Murano island.

There are glass shops EVERYWHERE on this island.

We stopped to enjoy some gelato. It was quite tasty.

Even the Christmas tree here is made of glass.

The main street is packed with tourists even during off-season in October, but once you venture off the main street, the town seems almost empty during the day.

We found a small glass shop on an empty side street, where the glass master was working. We got a close-up view of this work, it was amazing.

He really worked his magic with the flame, the glass rod materials, and a few metal tools. Very cool!

We were so impressed, we bought the art piece he was working on as our souvenir.

We walked into another glass shop and got a quick demo, this master was able to pull a horse out of a glob of glass in about 30 seconds. Amazing!

The horse still glows red from the head when he set it down.

Murano, known for Murano glass, is a great island to visit. It’s close to Venice, and there are several cool glass workshops and factories to visit if you venture farther off of the main port. If you only have time to visit one island while in Venice, this is the one we’d recommend.

BURANO

A painful jam-packed 30-minute ride from Murano to Burano.

Glad we got here!

The restaurants along the canal cost more, but we were tired from the 30-minute standing ride and needed a rest, so we had some pizza and pasta in a nice restaurant.

The colorful houses live up to Burano's reputation.

This town is known for its lace work, with many of these lace shops.

Another lace shop.

Ashlyn was craving for more gelato, and she found it!

The bridges and canals add to the beauty of this small island.

Time to head back, it's a long ride with transfers to get back to Venice via the vaporetto.

Nice sunset view on our way back.

This green-domed church, the church of San Simeon, is close to our vacation rental apartment.

Interesting street lamps throughout the more popular parts of Venice.

This is the Venice train station, across the grand canal from the area where we stay.

Ivan tried making braised ribs for the first time. It actually wasn't too shabby!

The vaporetto ride from Murano to Burano was brutal, the most painful water-bus ride we experienced while in Venice. People were squeezed while standing during this 30-minute ride. It was worth it though, the island had its unique charm. The return route also required a transfer in Murano, so it takes a while to get back to Venice from here.

day 6 - gondola ride & aqua alta bookstore

Gondola

A nice gondola ride on our last full day in Venice. Bucket list checked!

We walked around for quite a while looking for the ideal gondola point.

Since the gondola ride is 80 euros for 30 minutes and return to the starting point, they only cover a small portion of the canals. We picked a starting point next to the Rialto Bridge.

The girls wanted their turn in the comfortable back seats.

Our guide has been rowing gondolas for 30 years.

Selfie time!

It apparently takes three years to get good at rowing gondolas, according to our guy.

It wasn't cheap, but was well worth it!

aqua alta bookstore (libreria acqua alta)

A full size gondola in the small store!

Several bathtubs were used to keep books dry.

An awesome photo op spot in the back. I'm guessing these books aren't for sale anymore.

This is the front of this unassuming bookstore.

A good spot to get some reading done... NOT!

Nobody reads here, but everyone pretends.

There's actually always a line of people waiting to take pictures on this big pile of books.

Aqua alta, or flooding, is a frequent occurrence in Venice. To combat this, this ingenious bookstore propped up their books in creative ways. Full-size gondolas, bathtubs, tables, you name it. This out-of-the-way bookstore became a popular tourist spot with a nice photo op in the back.