Destination: Venice, Italy
Dates: March 2015
Nights: 2
Accommodation: Hotel Delfino Venezia Mestre.
Highlights: Coffee, weather, Lido, hotel, and the gondola ride
Lowlights: Food, rude people, graffiti, and being charged extra to sit down.

Day 1. Mestre

Getting to the hotel from the Venice Marco Polo International airport was very easy. It took us 30 minutes on the 15 bus ( towards Corso del Popolo Torino) and luckily for us it stopped outside our hotel. The hotel we were staying at was located in Mestre not in Venice. At £40pn for a 4-star hotel it was a bargain compared to staying in Venice. Outside the hotel you can hop on the 4 bus that runs 24/7 into Venice and comes every 15mins. The fares on the bus were fairly cheap, a round trip to Venice would cost 3 euros per person.

Throwing our luggage in the room, we were eager to explore Venice. We hopped on the bus and 10 minutes later we finally arrived in the city of canals. We walked around all afternoon meeting one dead end after another. Exploring every corner, bridge, canal and alleyway. That was fun!

We were on the hunt for St Marks Square to go up the 16th Century Cathedral Tower (St Mark’s Campanile). It stands at 323 feet (98.6m). From the top, you get an unparalleled view of the domes of St Mark’s Basilica, the Doge’s Palace and everything else in the Piazza San Marco. You also get a wonderful view of the lagoon, and on a clear day, you’ll be able to spot the islands of Giudecca, San Giorgio, Murano, and Lido in the distance. It costs 9 euros to the top with spectacular views of the city. I would advise going at sunset.

We decided to try a local restaurant in Venice and stupidly selected one randomly. The food wasn’t pleasant, small portioned and very expensive. You should definitely do your research on where to eat.

Day 2. Gondola ride and Lido

Another day, another chance to explore this magical city. The biggest attraction in Venice is the architecture. With the sun out we had plenty of time to walk around, grab a luscious coffee at Manuel’s Caffe, get shouted at Gelati Nico for taking too long to pick our gelatos, get lost, capture the beautiful buildings, boats, and of course get ripped off as tourists.

We had our Gondola ride booked for 3pm for a 35minute ride around the Gran canal and through the inner waterways. A typical ride costs around 80 euros. Our gondolier was called Rocco who didn’t speak much but serenaded us with his beautiful Italian songs.

After our ride, I grabbed a quick bite at a takeaway window which you can find all over Venice. Using my translation app that converts Italian writing into English, I ordered what I thought was a plain cheese calzone but had an odd blue cheese taste. To my relief my app wasn’t broken it was only a mouldy calzone with green and white fuzzy spots. Yummy!

Before food poisoning could kick it, we jumped on the 6 ferry over to Lido di Venezia which is a 7-mile barrier island in the Venetian Lagoon. The ferry was a cheaper way of getting snaps of Venice from the water. It cost 5 euros and took 16 minutes.

The island had a relaxing and chilled atmosphere with roads and cars. It was a perfect getaway for a few hours to escape the abuse we had this morning . It was easy to walk as it’s all flat and there was a beautiful beach on the other side. It was only right that we toured Lido in on these bad boys…

Lido was a great place for me to forget about my food incident. Once back in we saw Venice come alive at night. With a few drinks and Italian cannolis all was forgiven and it was time to say goodbye.

Venice is truly a remarkable place, it still amazes me thinking about how this majestic city was built. Whilst I had a few, lets say undesirable encounters with the food and being shouted out this didn’t ruin my experience and long lasting memories. Visiting Venice in March out of season, we could roam the streets without the crowds in perfect weather conditions. I will definitely recommend researching places to eat and getting lost!