After visiting Milan last year, I really wanted to go back to Italy and explore other cities, particularly Rome, Florence, and Venice. The latter had always been at the top of my mother’s bucket list and so after hours of flight searches and price comparisons, I was able to tack on a week in Italy to our Amsterdam trip.
How to Get Around in Venice
To get to Venice from Amsterdam, I booked a flight with Transavia, KLM’s budget airline. My hard limit for intra-European flights is $100 because once you add on all the additional transportation (bus, train, taxi, etc.), it doesn’t look like a great deal anymore. Amsterdam to Verona was $97. A bit too close to the limit for my liking but since this was a bucket list destination, I booked it anyway. From Verona, we took the train to Venice for €9.
Transportation within Venice itself is pretty simple: you walk or you take a boat (either vaporetti, traghetti, or the crazy-expensive gondolas). We bought a 3-day vaporetto pass on site and relied on Google Maps for walking navigation. Little-known fact: if you are under 30 years old, you can get a discount for the vaporetto pass. They’ll also give you a letter for discounts at various attractions. I was used to seeing discounts for under-25s and/or EU citizens so this was a nice surprise.
Where to Stay in Venice
We stayed in a 2-bedroom Airbnb in the San Polo district – a perfect location since almost all of the sights were a 20-minute walk away. Additionally, there was a vaporetto stop two minutes away where we could travel up and down the Grand Canal.
Communication
Since I knew that Venice was a maze to navigate, I loaded up my Always Online Wireless pre-paid SIM with 1GB of data for the week.
Venice Itinerary
Day 1: Amsterdam – Verona – Venezia
As mentioned earlier, we flew from Amsterdam to Verona on Transavia. Although Transavia’s website indicated that only one piece of carry-on was allowed, we saw several passengers with the classic carry-on + personal item combo. This infuriated my mother who had gone through great pain trying to fit her purse into her roller much to my amusement (my personal item is a packable backpack that I simply turn into a ball and shove into my backpack when required).
The flight was uneventful. We landed at Valerio Catullo Airport, a tiny airport just outside of Verona. The airport is so small that there are no jet bridges. We had to take a bus on the tarmac to the exit. Thanks to the Schengen agreement, there was no need to go through immigration so we jumped on the Aerobus which connects the airport to the Porta Nuova train station in Verona. The journey takes 15 minutes and costs €6.
At the train station, using the self-serve ticket machine was pretty straightforward and there were no hobos hanging around the machines to grab people’s change like in Milan. Our arrival in Verona was timed perfectly as the next train leaving for Venice was within half an hour so we didn’t hang around for too long. Just enough time to contact our Airbnb host to let her know at what time we’d be arriving.
In Venice, the first shock was the paid bathrooms at the train station. It was hilarious seeing tourists stand in front of the turnstiles, pondering whether they should pay or hold it in. Once the shock wore off, we paid the €1 fee to take care of business.
Exiting the train station, the first thing I saw was the San Simeone Piccolo church with its green metallic dome. With the late afternoon sun peeking through the clouds, the calm waters of the Grand Canal, and the church across the canal; I felt like I had stepped into a movie set. The last time I felt such a strong feeling after arriving in a country was in Iceland two years ago. Venice boded well.
The second shock was seeing how narrow some of Venice’s alleys were. The narrowest of them are only wide enough for one person to walk through – claustrophobes beware. After zigzagging through a bunch of alleys and crossing a couple of bridges we made it to our Airbnb where we were greeted by our hosts’ parents, a nice elderly Italian couple. We were given a tour of the property, then were left to settle down. The host had graciously left some pasta in the kitchen. So we ate a nice Italian dinner and then went to bed after a long day of travel.
Day 2: Rialto Bridge, Piazza San Marco
On our first full day in Venice, we mostly walked around to get our bearings in the city, stopping at the Rialto Bridge, Piazza San Marco, and the Bridge of Sighs for pictures. We also visited Saint Mark’s Basilica during our stop at Piazza San Marco. Although admission to the basilica is free, you’ll have to shell out a few Euros once inside to see the Treasure of Saint Mark’s, the Pala d’Oro (€2), the museum and the terrace (€5). Photography of the altar is not allowed but it’s quite easy to take a picture of it from the side without being seen by the “no photo” brigade. Backpacks are also not allowed. There is a bag check on a side street to the left of the basilica. It’s free but you can/should tip the attendants upon pickup.
On our way back to the Airbnb, we stopped by Dal’s Moro to get some cheap pasta to go. My Mom took pesto while I opted for nero di seppia – basically squid ink – which made my pasta look terrible but was actually very delicious. I was amused by the looks of disgust on other patrons’ faces as I devoured the container of black pasta. We made another pit stop at the grocery store to stock up on food and went home to rest.
Day 3: San Marco Campanile, San Giorgio Maggiore, Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute
There was no sleeping in on the following day as I wanted to be at the San Marco Campanile (€8) at opening time and avoid the crowd in the Piazza. It was an overcast day so although we weren’t able to see far out from the top of the tower, there was no harsh sun hitting the numerous red tiled rooftops.
We then crossed the San Marco Basin via vaporetto to San Giorgio Maggiore where we visited the church and went up the bell tower (€3).
Both the San Marco Campanile and the San Giorgio Maggiore Campanile have an elevator that takes you the top so getting up there is not physically challenging.
After admiring Venice from above, we returned to San Marco and took another vaporetto. This time, our stop was Salute where we visited the Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute, a baroque church that stands out due to its octagonal design. Away from the noise and crowd of San Marco, the exterior steps of the Salute are a nice place to relax and take a breath. Inside, we were treated to an organ and choir rehearsal. I say “rehearsal” because every so often the singer would stop and give indications to the organ player. It was clearly not a performance meant for church visitors.
From Salute, we took the vaporetto all the way to the Rialto Bridge. We stopped by an osteria for some tapas and Aperol Spritz and then made our way back home.
Day 4: Torcello, Burano, Murano
A WWII-era siren jolted me out of sleep early in the morning of Day 4. After a few seconds of freaking out, I pulled up my phone to Google what the eff was going on. It turns out Venice uses these sirens to alert the population of upcoming acqua alta – high tides events that cause partial flooding of the city. After being reassured by our host that our Airbnb was on higher ground and thus not at risk, I downloaded the High Tide Venice app to keep track of the tide during our stay.
Despite knowing that the water would continue to rise until noon, we still went out early since we wanted to visit the other popular islands of the Venetian Lagoon: Murano, Burano, and Torcello. To reach those islands, we needed to take the number 12 vaporetto whose station was on the outer edge of the Cannaregio district.
Our walk there started well enough. We crossed the Grand Canal from San Polo into Cannaregio via the number 1 vaporetto. Then, we followed the Google Maps instructions to Fondamente Nove where the vaporetto station to the islands was located. That was a big mistake. With the rising tide, there were several alleys where we had to tiptoe or walk on our heels to avoid getting our feet wet – shout out to Adidas’ UltraBoost shoe soles which had enough padding to prevent soaking wet feet. Although awkward at times, our heel walk worked fine until we reached the corner of Fondamenta Santa Caterina and Calle Lunga Santa Caterina. Both streets were completely flooded with ankle-reaching water. Fondamente Nove, the vaporetto station, was at the end of Calle Lunga Santa Caterina. We were so close and yet so far.
Determined to make it, I pulled up my phone and Googled the catwalk map that I had spotted on several vaporetti stops’ timetable board. Although the map wasn’t very detailed, we were able to avoid most the flooded streets. Retracing our steps meant walking back through the initial alleys where we had heel-walked and with the tide rising higher and higher, we did end up with wet feet. Still, we made it to the waterbus stop just in time for the departing vaporetto to Torcello.
Instead of stopping at Burano first like most of the tourists, we decided to go all the way to Torcello first and then go to Burano and Murano on our way back to Venice.
Torcello was disappointing. Unless you’re really interested in Byzantine mosaics, there is nothing to see there. The mosaics are very beautiful though. The Church of Santa Maria Asunta’s bell tower is open to visitors but there is no elevator. It is a long climb to the top and you have to get there and back before the bells ring or run the risk of becoming deaf.
Burano was beautiful. Its brightly-colored houses are a an Instagrammer’s wet dream. My mother, who had so far resisted the numerous shopping opportunities, finally caved in and bought handmade lace clothing. Her browsing and subsequent negotiating took up most of our time so we didn’t fully explore the island. I definitely intend to return someday for more photo opportunities.
Finally, we didn’t spend much time in Murano. We were both exhausted from a long day. We stayed on the main street and browsed through the numerous souvenir shops. I ended up buying two souvenir necklaces and one pair of earrings. We ate at the overpriced – but convenient – restaurant near the vaporetto stop and then returned to Venice. On our way to our Airbnb, we stopped at Ca’ d’Oro but since two of the three floors were closed, we decided to go back another day.
Day 5 & Day 6: Scuola Grande di San Rocco, Ca’ D’Oro, Castello District
We took it easy in our last couple of days in Venice. Our first stop in Day 5 was the Scuola Grande di San Rocco. This former guild house hosts several paintings by Tintoretto. The first floor looks pretty average and you might wonder why you paid so much money until you step into Salone Maggiore on the second floor. There, gorgeous paintings adorn the walls and – most importantly – the ceiling. To avoid a stiff neck from staring at the ceiling, you can pick up a mirror at the end of the room and take your time with the paintings. Once you’re done, step into Sala dell’Albergo for a superb painting of The Crucifixion.
From the Scuola, we took a vaporetto to Ca’ D’Oro, an art museum hosting several works – mostly religious – from the 15th to 17th century. The highlight of the building is definitely the two balconies from which one can observe the traffic of the Grand Canal.
On our last full day, we mostly wandered in the Castello district. We stumbled upon the Greek Orthodox church, a beautiful church that looks completely abandoned from the outside until you step inside its warm and gorgeous interior. Like most churches in Venice, photography is not allowed so you’ll have to take my word or it and go visit it.
We continued on to the Venetian Arsenal where I took a fall and subsequently broke my camera.
That was pretty much the end of our trip in Venice. We returned to our Airbnb early to relax, knowing that we had a train to Verona in the morning followed by two days of flying – first to Amsterdam, then to Iceland – to get back home.
Final Thoughts
All in all, Venice was better than I expected. San Marco and the area around the Rialto Bridge feel very Disney-like since everything there seems to be catered to tourists but once walk away from those areas, you find a very charming and quiet city. I intend to return to visit more museums – I was very disappointed that we hadn’t had time to visit Doge’s Palace which was completely my fault since I waited too long to book the tickets and it sold out – and also to explore the other districts, namely Carannegio and Dorsoduro. A lot of people say that Venice can be done in 2-3 days and that’s true if you only want to check items off of your list, but if you’re an explorer, 5-7 days is the right amount.
Trip Breakdown
Total Spent: ~$227 CAD
Flight: $97 CAD/person
Transportation: €55/person
Activities: ~€30/person
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