Venezia & Murano
"Your ultimate bucket list destination" - please read using the voice from every 50s' commercial that ever existed. This trip was (this is unexpected!) MY idea. To be honest it was an attempt to mock Telchac's deeply rooted hatred for touristy cities filled with masses. My inner urge to be mean did not quite translate as he liked it :D (as well as I did).
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| typical Venetian sight (you may see few people there, this is the beginning of December in Venice - what about in spring and summer?!) |
Useful tip (that we had no clue about): check Acqua Alta forecast before going (and buying a plane ticket). If you're not keen on fishing and spending some time waist deep in (...shit is the obvious ending isn't it? :D) water, just google it. Here are some photos to support my claims. Btw this happened at the beginning of October and we just anxiously waited for the water to go away.
Basic trip info:
- duration: from Friday morning till Sunday evening
- staying in: Cannaregio (part of Venice)
- eating in: typical Italian bars
- drinking in: basically everywhere, if you read this regularly you knew it before I'd said it
I will not be talking about the flight to Venice cause it was normal, uneventful morning flight. What you might find useful though is how Alilaguna (which is an official shared transfer from the airport) operates. Alilaguna is definitely the cheapest way to get to the city (I am not saying a car is not a good idea however, I would want to avoid it simply because I don't think it's convenient when you have to leave it outside of the city). There are two lines each with a different route so you can choose the one that suits you best. So far, so good. You can make a booking online but you need to exchange the voucher for the tickets. It says you can't do this in the Arrivals hall - well, you obviously can - or at least we could. We knew it leaves the airport every half an hour so we jogged to get there and make the earliest boat possible. Here comes the surprise - the boats operate on first come, first served basis - meaning if there are several planes arriving when yours is, you will probably need to wait in a line. For how long? Nobody can tell :D because there are people with bigger suitcases which means fewer people aboard. So you wait, and wait and wait (when we had arrived we were told we could only board the one that would leave in an hour - an hour well spent right? - fortunately, we were lucky cause they decided to put one big group in a separate boat and they moved us up front. So we only waited for half an hour. I'm not saying it's the end of the world, I'm just saying if you're not aware of it, it might ruin your plans.
Useful tip: if you're by any chance getting the Alilaguna back, getting on at Madonna dell'Orto, be there earlier than necessary - it's the last stop and it may happen that the boat is full and you'll need to wait for another or take the water taxi to get to the airport on time.
Useful tip: if you're by any chance getting the Alilaguna back, getting on at Madonna dell'Orto, be there earlier than necessary - it's the last stop and it may happen that the boat is full and you'll need to wait for another or take the water taxi to get to the airport on time.
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| Now scroll back to the first photo and compare the number of people ;) |
After we got on the boat, it was a smooth thirty-minute ride (first stop of many). Then the usual drill - hotel, check-in, room not ready, exploring :D. However, let's talk about Cannaregio and the hotels. Cannaregio is a part of Venice which is supposed to be the least touristy (and it really is). It was almost empty on Friday as people were at work. That's why we decided to stay there. If you decide to stay in the centre you need to be prepared for two things: even getting out of the hotel may be uncomfortable because of all the people (let's take Danieli and the boat stop right in front of it). Also if you plan to walk with your luggage, it may be quite an effort with all the narrow passageways and stairs up and down the bridges. That is why Cannaregio looked perfect for us!
Everybody knows that hotel rooms in Venice are pretty small - but this was not our 'problem'. We were slightly not happy with the fact that it was freezing in our room! (I'm exaggerating - it was cold :D). So I just wanted to warn you, to think about it if you decide to go to Venice in winter because there are fewer people there (as we did) :D. The historic buildings are nice and all but (in general) it's hard as hell to get them cosy and warm. So pack accordingly.
Everybody knows that hotel rooms in Venice are pretty small - but this was not our 'problem'. We were slightly not happy with the fact that it was freezing in our room! (I'm exaggerating - it was cold :D). So I just wanted to warn you, to think about it if you decide to go to Venice in winter because there are fewer people there (as we did) :D. The historic buildings are nice and all but (in general) it's hard as hell to get them cosy and warm. So pack accordingly.
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| Cannaregio was really cosy, with laundry hanging everywhere you get the feeling it's not at all touristy. |
It takes about half an hour to get from Cannaregio to the centre on foot. You can actually see how you get from almost no people at all to more and more and more people. Venice is a bit tricky with all the bridges (now you're thinking - "you don't say" :D) - the thing is, there are, I guess, two bridges to get to Cannaregio, so if you want to get romantically lost hand in hand you might end up swearing and trying to find your way back with the least possible number of detours (not our case, Telchac had his phone glued to his hand - and I was so thankful, especially when I wore heels :D).
Our itinerary - none, in fact. We always create our little google map that we then turn on and use but this time there were very few sights and monuments - if they were you could not actually see them because of all the local bars, pasticcerie and other food temples.
However - as I'm a bit of a view freak - I planned a trip to San Giorgio. Also, we did an unplanned Vetreria (glass factory, oh, I feel so fucking Italian knowing all these Italian words :D) tour but more about that later.
How to get around Venice? Boats, your foot and that's it. There are no cars, no bikes, no scooters, no segways and no hoverboards (what a change, right?). When it comes to boats, there is a flat gondola rate of 80 EUR, I think - no, we did not do that.
We were told the water taxi is quite expensive, as well (from around 100 - 120 EUR one way to/from the airport). There's also a vaporetto (public transport) which is supposed to be cheaper but it can be pretty crowded from what we saw. On the other hand, there's one every few minutes in every direction so it should not be a problem. Some of the vaporetti stops are at the islands so you can use it for your trips as well. We mostly walked, here and there and then back and so on. We both liked the narrow passageways, different bridges and sotoporteghi. It's all the same but different. And very photogenic! So if you're able to and have time - then walk! Wear your warm clothes and walk! Btw this way you will for sure make some unexpected turns and find yourselves alone (which came as a surprise after the crowds everywhere).
There were a few times when we took a shared water taxi (complimentary hotel transfer) instead of walking. But this was mostly when I wore heels, that's true :D Of course, we did not ride on the Grand Canal, despite that it was nice seeing the city from a different perspective. I posted some stories where you can see the boat ride, you can see my favourite one in the highlights on our IG.
Hope you enjoyed reading this after such a long time, we'll be back next time with some food and trip tips! CU then!
How to get around Venice? Boats, your foot and that's it. There are no cars, no bikes, no scooters, no segways and no hoverboards (what a change, right?). When it comes to boats, there is a flat gondola rate of 80 EUR, I think - no, we did not do that.
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| Gondola - yes or no? If yes, then why? |
We were told the water taxi is quite expensive, as well (from around 100 - 120 EUR one way to/from the airport). There's also a vaporetto (public transport) which is supposed to be cheaper but it can be pretty crowded from what we saw. On the other hand, there's one every few minutes in every direction so it should not be a problem. Some of the vaporetti stops are at the islands so you can use it for your trips as well. We mostly walked, here and there and then back and so on. We both liked the narrow passageways, different bridges and sotoporteghi. It's all the same but different. And very photogenic! So if you're able to and have time - then walk! Wear your warm clothes and walk! Btw this way you will for sure make some unexpected turns and find yourselves alone (which came as a surprise after the crowds everywhere).
There were a few times when we took a shared water taxi (complimentary hotel transfer) instead of walking. But this was mostly when I wore heels, that's true :D Of course, we did not ride on the Grand Canal, despite that it was nice seeing the city from a different perspective. I posted some stories where you can see the boat ride, you can see my favourite one in the highlights on our IG.
Hope you enjoyed reading this after such a long time, we'll be back next time with some food and trip tips! CU then!