As part of our anniversary celebration this year Kevin and I spent a little over a day in the romantic city of Venice! I had pretty low expectations of the city as I had a not so great time in Rome. But I was so amazingly surprised. It is truly beautiful at every turn and I could spend the whole day just walking around and eating gelato hehe.

Sights to see

Day 1

I’m honestly very impressed with how much of Venice we were able to see in just a little over a day. So I would recommend 2-3 days as enough time to spend here.

First up, of course all the canals are beautiful and I had to resist stopping at every single one to snap a photo. And luckily, getting around Venice is easy and pretty much everything is within walking distance.

Then, once we dropped off our stuff we headed toward the Rialto Bridge. It gets extremely crowded and is the main area where tourists go. However you can find a secluded little corner to have a picnic with a great view of the bridge here:

So pick up a pizza from Farini’s or any of the other dozens of pizza places, a peach bellini to go — and find this little corner with the perfect view of Rialto Bridge for a picnic!

The third spot is the canal view by the Hotel Saint Moise. The dock is a great place for viewing the gondolieri as they row by. If you’re lucky maybe one of them will sing a song for you! 🙂

Day 2

We wanted to get an early start to the only morning we had in Venice, but kind of failed haha. When we finally got out, we went to St. Marks Square and it was already packed! The photo shows crowds by 9:30AM!

After wandering the Square you have two options: take a gondola ride, or get in line for the Doge’s Palace. We decided to go for the gondola ride and there is a main area where they pickup and drop off riders. It looks like this: Keep in mind a 30 minute ride will cost you 80 euros.

It’s pretty pricey and it goes by quickly. I recommend going the earlier the better because in the afternoon I can see the canals getting congested. But luckily we got there pretty early and had some wiggle room in the canals.

If you decide to go for the Doge’s Palace I definitely recommend getting there before they open. When we walked by there was a line forming already and they open at 10AM.

And finally, once you’re ready to work off all the gelatos you’ve been eating, head to the Scala Contarini del Bovolo. Climb the winding staircase to the top to find the most amazing view of Venice. Admission is 7 Euros per person!

And those are all the places we were able to fit in to one day in Venice! I’m honestly very satisfied with how much we were able to see. In addition to these we found some bomb food options too!

Venice Eats

We caught a fire sunset and it was at Bar Longhi in the Gritti Palace Hotel. Granted it is a bit pricey, but worth it for these views. Of course I ordered myself another peach bellini!

And for our anniversary, we decided to try out Riviera Ristorante per Onnivori. It’s a restaurant with seating right by the canal so there’s a nice breeze while you eat. We decided to go for the prix fixe menu with wine pairing. Check out the beautiful plating!

For desserts we went to Venchi Gelateria, to be honest it was just okay. Definitely think there are better shops out there. We also checked out Pasticceria Tonolo…twice! So you know it was delish!

And that’s all folks! Hopefully this helps you kickstart your next Italian getaway! 🙂

— Raychow

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