The best time to visit Venice is in early spring when the weather has warmed up a little but isn't too cold. Visiting in the height of summer can be quite muggy and humid, spring time is just that little bit more fresh!
Make sure you arrive in style by taking a water taxi from the airport. It's expensive, at about €100, but if you are with friends or agree to share, €25 or less per head is well worth it and you'll be dropped off at the nearest landing-stage to your hotel.
If you're staying for three days or more, invest €33 in a 72-hourACTV smart card. Unless you intend to sit in your hotel all day (why would you!?) you will save money over buying single tickets and it's much easier, you simply validate your ticket by passing it over the reader as you enter each landing-stage.
Don't go for the most expensive hotels, unless you intend to spend most of your time there. There are much cheaper hotels in Venice which serve as perfectly good bases! There is no shortage of gondoliers touting for your custom and, for a special occasion with a special friend, a gondola ride down the Grand Canal is unforgettable. If the gondola rides really are out of your price range you can cross the canal by traghetti - gondola ferries - for just 50 cents.
You MUST explore on foot. Don't panick when you become lost, which you almost certainly will, there are delights to be found in numerous discoveries to find until you get yourself back on track. Yellow street signs on buildings show the way to San Marco, Rialto & Accademia. Just slip away from the crowds, down alleys and across bridges, and you will soon lose yourself in Venice's backwaters. Go to Castello, Cannaregio or Dorsoduro, Sestieri.
Go to St Mark's Square either early in the morning, before the day-trippers arrive, or at night, when they have left. After dark, the lights and the music add a new ambience to this enchanting place. Fast food aside, if you are on a budget, don't eat within stone-throwing distance of the popular tourist venues. Instead, find the places where the locals eat to get a real sense of Venice, you will also save so much more money this way!
The Peggy Guggenheim Collection is extremely popular and worth a visit. Even if modern art isn't for you, there is a lovely sculpture garden and a terrace in front, where you can sit and watch the comings and goings of the Grand Canal.
I hope you'll find these travel tips helpful, just because the city of Venice is known to be hopelessly romantic; it's not just for couples, even as a solo traveller there is still plenty to do and see so don't be deterred when travelling alone.
Make sure you arrive in style by taking a water taxi from the airport. It's expensive, at about €100, but if you are with friends or agree to share, €25 or less per head is well worth it and you'll be dropped off at the nearest landing-stage to your hotel.
If you're staying for three days or more, invest €33 in a 72-hourACTV smart card. Unless you intend to sit in your hotel all day (why would you!?) you will save money over buying single tickets and it's much easier, you simply validate your ticket by passing it over the reader as you enter each landing-stage.
Don't go for the most expensive hotels, unless you intend to spend most of your time there. There are much cheaper hotels in Venice which serve as perfectly good bases! There is no shortage of gondoliers touting for your custom and, for a special occasion with a special friend, a gondola ride down the Grand Canal is unforgettable. If the gondola rides really are out of your price range you can cross the canal by traghetti - gondola ferries - for just 50 cents.
You MUST explore on foot. Don't panick when you become lost, which you almost certainly will, there are delights to be found in numerous discoveries to find until you get yourself back on track. Yellow street signs on buildings show the way to San Marco, Rialto & Accademia. Just slip away from the crowds, down alleys and across bridges, and you will soon lose yourself in Venice's backwaters. Go to Castello, Cannaregio or Dorsoduro, Sestieri.
Go to St Mark's Square either early in the morning, before the day-trippers arrive, or at night, when they have left. After dark, the lights and the music add a new ambience to this enchanting place. Fast food aside, if you are on a budget, don't eat within stone-throwing distance of the popular tourist venues. Instead, find the places where the locals eat to get a real sense of Venice, you will also save so much more money this way!
The Peggy Guggenheim Collection is extremely popular and worth a visit. Even if modern art isn't for you, there is a lovely sculpture garden and a terrace in front, where you can sit and watch the comings and goings of the Grand Canal.
I hope you'll find these travel tips helpful, just because the city of Venice is known to be hopelessly romantic; it's not just for couples, even as a solo traveller there is still plenty to do and see so don't be deterred when travelling alone.
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