My Travel Diaries

A Weekend in Venice

Thursday 23rd August 2007

For our 10th Wedding Anniversary my husband and I decided Venice should be suitably romantic to celebrate!

From the second we landed we were mesmerised, the private water taxi is definitely the best way to approach Venice. We arrived in the evening and Venice Island looked magical with the lights of the Palazzos' reflecting of the waters of the Grand Canal.

The taxi dropped us just outside the Savoia and Jolande hotel, we were staying in the Vila Igea, a small annex hotel owned by the Savoia and Jolande, and had a two minute walk to the hotel. It was very quaint and typically Venetian. Our room overlooked a gorgeous little square - Campo San Zaccaria.

It was an excellent base as we were literally steps away from St.Marks Square and from the Vaporetto stop at San Zaccaria right on the Grand Canal.

We spent a lot of time just wandering the little cobbled winding streets and getting a real feel for the city. We never found any shortage of great food including a great little trattoria just across the Rialto Bridge on the Giudecca side called Trattoria Alla Madonna. The atmosphere was great and the seafood linguini is the best I have ever had...

I definitely recommend buying a multi-day ticket for the Vaporetto, this is the water bus that goes right around the Grand Canal and out to Venice Lido. It is a really easy way to get around the city and a great way to get your bearings.

There are art galleries and museums galore in Venice as well as dozens of Chapels to visit which have amazing works of art. Personally I think the main sights not to miss are the views from the top of St.Marks Campanile and of course a visit to the Doges Palace is a must - where you can visit the Bridge of Sighs which links the Palace to the Prison. We particularly enjoyed a Vaporetto trip across to the Venice Lido and found that this is a great way to spend the day enjoying the Italian summer time and experiencing the perfectly manicured beach!

There aren't "shows" as we would have in London or Paris but we did come across a little production called "Carnival". I have to say we really enjoyed it, there was food and wine before the performance where the actors mingled in character with you and really got you into the feel of the performance. It tells the story of the history of Venice and brought in the most famous characters from Venices past such as Marco Polo and Casanova.

Everyone always connects gondolas and Venice, they go hand in hand. The gondola ride doesn't get a good reputation as it is expensive and short. We did it anyway as I would have felt cheated if I hadn't! It was overpriced and the gondolier never sang just one cornetto(!), but for what it's worth, I am glad I did it.

Harrys Bar is another well known spot in Venice especially for celebs and the elite. The food is expensive but I can't comment on the standard. I can tell you that the Bellinis are fab and addictive and well worth the wait for a seat at the bar.

A beautiful way to spend our anniversary.

Contact Margaret on 0845 058 7437 for up to date prices on flights and accommodation

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