Have you ever

July 02, 2018

Have you ever - been to Venice, Italy

Before I visited Venice, I had absolutely no idea how a floating city would look like. It is truly amazing as I imagined, but it is also very expensive to be in as they said. A few tips before we indulge in the beauty of this island.

We arrived in Mestre train station and to get to the island, we took a bus for a couple of euros per person and the bus journey only takes about 10 over minutes as you can see from the map below. Now here's the thing, I was indecisive about staying in Mestre or the island itself because the price difference was huge where hotels in Mestre were so much more affordable. But at the same time I was also worried about the troubles of commuting between Mestre and Venice thinking that the transportation might not be efficient. In the end, we decided to go for hotels on the island which we had to fork out €200 for two nights stay. If you are on tight budge visiting Venice, it is fine that you book a hotel not too far from Mestre station and travel to the island everyday. It is way cheaper this way and no problem whatsoever in travelling between Mestre and Venice as the bus service is quite frequent. But of course staying on the island itself means you can get to wake up to the view of canals and live like a true Venetian for a while I suppose? So it is up to you to weigh the pros and cons in this.

Also, to get around within the island, you can either walk or get a city pass from Venezia Unica City Pass by pre-booking it from the website (https://www.veneziaunica.it/en/e-commerce/services). You can find one from the many selections that best suits your schedule. I would recommend you to get it for ease of travelling (especially if you plan to travel to the nearby islands like Burano and Murano) and you get to enjoy some discounts at certain restaurants and bars as well. I personally enjoy moving around the city with the waterbus because you can just sit back and enjoy the view. Like this.

Venice Island

Venice is not too big but with plenty to explore. St.Mark Square is probably the most impressive sights in Venice which gathers the most crowd. It is quite a happening piazza with many popular buildings around the piazza such as the St Mark's Campanile, St Mark's Basilica and Torre dell'Orologio. St Mark's Basilica is one of the most iconic cathedral with beautiful sculptures and artworks and it is renowned for it.

St Mark's Basilica

Lots of canals, I know right? There are literally hundreds over canals that made up the city with bridges and small streets connecting the city. It is like a maze where you will probably get lost once or twice but eventually you will find yourself coming back to the same spot because it is really not that big. The largest canal of all is the Grand Canal with the oldest bridge - Rialto Bridge spanning the Grand Canal. Rialto bridge is for pedestrian only and hugely populated by tourist at any hours of the day for views like this. This is also where you will find massive number of shops selling souvenirs like the traditional handcrafted masks made for carnival.

Rialto Bridge

View from Rialto Bridge during day time

View from Rialto Bridge during night time

I have so much love for this piece of artwork by Lorenzo Quinn, the Italian sculptor. The giant pair of hands installation depicts a powerful message about the threat of global warming and rising sea levels which might cause the entire Venice to be submerged under the water, forever. You can see that one hand is holding it up and the other is actually doing the opposite. To put it simply, humans are just creative and destructive at the same time. It signifies that we can either come together to address the climate change issue that affects us all or destroy it with our own hands. It is built just right outside the Ca'Sagredo waterbus station.

Burano Island

The waterbus can take you to the nearby island (less than an hour) such as Burano for day trip which is known for its colourful painted houses and lacemaking. We got to know from the locals that they used to paint their homes with bright colours to make it more visible for the Fishermans to come home to and the tradition has stayed ever since.

Murano Island

There is also another popular island nearby which is famous for its glass making. The island is filled with lots of shops selling coloured glass jewellery, vases and etc. I feel that not all of them are authentic for the price they carry but they make good souvenirs. You can find some glass factories that offer factory tours for glass making as well. Again, not all of them are worth the while so perhaps you can do some research before popping in if you are really keen. If you ask me, I prefer Burano as it feels more lively and not too commercialised.

If you are wondering where did we stay in Venice that almost caused us to go broke, it's the Apostoli Palace. It is nearby the Ca'Sagredo waterbus station and walking distance away from the Grand Canal central. One thing I like about this place is that it is away from the crowd (I am a light sleeper) and they serve good breakfast. Overall, it is a decent place to stay with convenient location if you don't mind paying a little more.