destination

Venice

A trip to Italy isn’t complete without a visit to Venice. Despite what is commonly heard, Venice does have roads. And many lovely squares. However, the roads are extremely narrow and for pedestrians only. I visited during the off-season and still found myself getting frustrated with the crowds, so keep this in mind if you choose to visit during the warmer months when the city is at its peak. The main form of transportation around Venice is via water taxi- very expensive, but worth the ride. If you opt to walk around Venice instead, be sure to carry a map with you- Venice is EXTREMELY easy to get lost in and is actually quite confusing. However, every canal stems from the Grand Canal, so that helps. As for gondola rides, they cost around 80 euro and last about 20-30 minutes long. Since they are a famous tourist attraction, they are indeed overpriced, but still worth the experience; however, the gondolier will not sing to you… unfortunately. I found the canals and the city itself to be quite clean and the seafood dishes that I tried were incredible. I only spent one day in Venice, but I recommend staying for 2-3 days. You can see the city of Venice in only a day, but the surrounding islands need more time. The beautiful, colorful islands such as Burano and Murano are accessible via ferry from the city and are renowned for their long tradition of glass-making.