Venice (Jun 23)
With no plans or fixed agenda, we took our time exploring the hidden corners of Venice (including Lido-Pellestrina, the beaches of Punta Sabbioni, and the islands of Burano and Murano).
Our base for the week was a small one bedroom apartment in the centre of Castello, on the east of the island of Venice; it was a gem of a place hidden away by in one of the many narrow streets that crisscross the island in-between the canals and waterways. We were just a short walk from St Mark’s Square and only a few metres behind the old military arsenal.
At the bottom of our street is a paved road called Via Garibaldi, it’s a place that comes alive at night buzzing with restaurants and bars and appeared to have as many locals as tourists, which is always a good sign.
Our four day stay was perfect to explore the islands and see what the region has to offer in slow time. Along with the city break, we also made it to a number of the wide open sandy beaches on the Adriatic side of the Venetian lagoon,
finding plenty of space to enjoy a dip in the sea away from the crowds.
We managed to get here on the cheap (again) having redeemed a flight voucher we were given by British Airways after a flight error and delay last year. We had to use it by the end of June, so managed to squeeze in Venice between trips we had already booked … oh and work.
We were pleasantly surprised at the price of things here, thinking this would be a complete tourist trap.. we were wrong! Look hard enough and you can get a real bargain, like bars selling Aperol Spritz for €2.50 or a pretty decent Italian meal for under €15. Look even harder and you can spend the afternoon in a rooftop bar (Paradiso) frequented by some famous historical figures, overlooking the city’s ancient skyline;
Just look and you can’t miss $60m + yachts owned by billionaires moored a few hundred feet from our apartment!
The usual sights that people come here to see are just amazing, words can’t describe the intricacy of the stonework and artistry, but what’s even more enjoyable is that you can wander the streets and bump into astonishing sights far away from the larger crowds and main tourist map.
We often felt like we were the only people in town – this sense of elbow room was one of the best parts of our break (together with the absence of cars).
We didn’t “do” a gondola tour, but did manage a sneaky gondola taxi ride across the water from St Marco to the Basilica di Santa Maria for €2, oh and we found a bookshop that has its own gondola parked out the back that you can take photos on – so we cheated…
https://maps.app.goo.gl/iYNfUmzF2VPyL1JG8?g_st=ic
We managed a LOT of steps on this trip, over 31,000 on one day alone, but it was far from exhausting, given the frequent stops we made.
Having four days, we didn’t feel rushed and took each day as it came, following our noses and not taking too much notice of the guidebooks or boat timetables… the latter caught us out on the penultimate day as we intended to head off to Burano from the nearby port of Punta Sabioni, only to discover that boats stop sailing there after a certain time – oops, we should have checked the timetable first! It didn’t matter though as we got up early the next morning (our last) and used the final hour of our 24hr boat pass at no extra cost (well worth getting from https://www.veneziaunica.it ).
Burano was gorgeous, a picture postcard view wherever you looked and a lovely way to round off the trip
Arrivederci