A Jewel in the Mediterranean (Venice)

Member Name: alexlea88

Product:	Venice
Date:	13/08/09 (15 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A fantastic city to walk through and explore and generally take it easy

Disadvantages: Some crowds if you head to the tourist areas. The odd pigeon-attack!

Venice is a simply fantastic city. If, like me you enjoy city breaks with your loved one, you can't go far wrong with somewhere as stunning as the floating city.

We flew from the UK into Venice Marco Polo airport, which is actually on the mainland. Venice itself is situated in a lagoon off the coast of Italy. From the airport, you can either hire a water taxi or get the water bus (the cheaper option) which goes around the islands and drops you off at various points in Venice itself. We stayed in Murano, a small island a few minutes on the water bus from Venice, which meant that it was a little quieter and a bit cheaper! Murano is where the majority of Venetian glass is now made, as the industry was moved off the island due to the risk of fire destroying the whole city.

In terms of Venice itself, the beauty is that you will never manage to explore the entire city, and you can really just stroll around for hours, over bridges, through small plazas and larger squares. We had an amazing time just wandering and popping into shops, stopping for a drink or a bite to eat and generally taking it easy.

It can get busy, and is made worse by the small passages and general lack of space in parts of the city, and there is a general problem with pick pockets, but this is small beer when the location is a stunning as this.

Highlights include St Marks Square, where you will be attacked by a million pigeons and can take a lift up to the top of the basilica for amazing views. There's the Bridge of Sighs, which used to be where convicted prisoners walked over to their fate (although you may walk past it a few times without noticing!). The Rialto Bridge is a wonderful sight, and it you are looking for something a bit special, you can eat at one of the many restaurants by the side of the canal nearby.

Further a field, there are a number of smaller islands and the spit of land at the end of the lagoon called the Lido. Not only do they offer a different experience to Venice (braches, countryside etc) they also offer a bit of respite from the crowds.

Getting around is easy and you can buy single use or day tickets for the water bus. A quick tip for sight seeing is to get a day ticket and take the water bus up the Grand Canal in a huge snake through Venice - that way you'll see most of the main sights at a fraction of the price of a guided tour!

When we were there, we made the mistake of not taking a gondola ride through the smaller canals. I say mistake, because as it turns out, it gives us an excuse to go back to this truly beautiful city.

Summary: You have to visit this amazing city at least once!