Hello my dear readers,
Have you ever been to Italy? If yes, I guess you did not miss Venice 🙂 and if not yet, remember that Venice is a must see city, at least once in a lifetime!
For me there’s no other city in the world like it!
Visiting Venice is truly an experience in itself: a journey through time and an immersion in the lagoon. This splendid floating city on the water was created on about 120 islands formed between 150 canals and connected by over 400 bridges. Here is hiding a cultural and artistic heritage among the most beautiful in the world: the elegant buildings on the Grand Canal, the delicacy of Palazzo Ducale overlooking the San Marco square, the grandeur of the Basilica and the bell tower of San Marco, but also the small artisan shops and picturesque colorful houses, the tradition of Murano glass and Burano lace, a romantic gondola ride or an aperitif in a cozy bar overlooking the sea.
In visiting Venice, you must first of all take into consideration that you are about to arrive in a city built on water, in which the circulation of cars, motorcycles, bicycles, skates and even scooters is prohibited. Isn’t it this wonderful? To go to work, to school or just for a lunch, Venetians use the water, their main public transport system are ferries and boats. However, they can’t reach every part of the city and the best way to get around in Venice is on foot! Walking is certainly the cheapest, fastest and healthiest way to get around the city, really getting into the local everyday life and discovering the most secret architectural views of Venice… because in Venice it’s also worth getting lost!
Speaking of boats and canals, how can I not tell you about the gondola, the sinuous black boat that runs between the canals? Don’t miss a ride with the gondola, because you will see the city from another perspective, you will slide under the low bridges, you will hear the lapping of the water, you will discover the vocabulary of the rowers and if you are lucky, your gondolier will entertain you with amusing anecdotes and stories from the past. In short it is a fantastic emotion that you can only live it in Venice!
But let’s get to the point: Venice is so beautiful and rich in culture and tourism that choosing what to see and do can be really difficult.
Some things that you must include in your visit list are: Palazzo Ducale, one of the greatest testimonies of the power and wealth achieved by the Serenissima, Basilica di San Marco, San Marco square, visit Murano e Burano islands. Since usually are very crowded, is always better to book your tickets online in advance, so that you can avoid the waiting time and enjoy it.
After daytime visits, if you want to appreciate Piazza San Marco in an even more magical way, I advise you to go back at dawn or late in the evening, when the crowd clears up considerably and the square will appear in all the splendor of the ‘most beautiful living room of Europe ‘, as Napoleon called it.
Venice is a real paradise for photography lovers: art, glimpses of water, buildings and details of everyday life that seems to belong to a distant past are such a source of inspiration, that we often forget about the people around us!
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Venice has plenty of accommodations of any kind, of any price and of any style. Maybe you should avoid the center, crowded streets, lot of tourists, small and expensive rooms. Entire Venice is a historic center and the must-see places are scattered everywhere so you may choose various accommodations even if are not really in the center of the city.
When is the perfect period to visit Venice? Venice is universally recognized as a jewel of architecture, art and engineering, built on foundations subtracted from the water of the lagoon. It is also the city with the highest density of masterpieces per square kilometer, which teems with commercial activities among the narrow streets: crafts, cuisine and music, just to name a few. This particularity that makes it unique in the world, of being “built on water”, does it affect the period of visit by tourists? The truth is that in Venice it is high season all year round, with its peak in Spring, between Easter and June, and between September and October.
The climate of Venice is moderately continental, with cold and wet winters and hot and sultry summers, the presence of the Adriatic Sea influencing the temperatures.
The best months for good weather in Venice are April, May, June, July, August, September and October. On average, the hottest months are July and August, and the coldest months are January and February.
If possible, I suggest to visit during the Venice carnival around end of February, the most famous and well known festival.
The typical Venetian cuisine is closely linked to the sea and navigation. Not only fish-based dishes, but often characterized by the aromas and spices of the Orient where the commercial exchanges of the Serenissima were intense; or again, many dishes rediscovered today arise from the need for food preservation and the prevention of scurvy during long sea voyages.
For several years now, the most popular tips about Venice are those for the bacaro tour. The Venetian aperitif is now universally known and various advices on the Venetian taverns have invaded the web. The bacari, the typical Venetian taverns, are located in every area of the city but the best are located around the Rialto Bridge and in Cannaregio: from stop to stop you will taste delicious ‘cicchetti’ accompanied by a good glass of wine, or the typical spritz, the Venetian aperitif par excellence, a mix of prosecco, aperol or campari and seltzer.
The bacari of Venice, are places similar to a bar where Venetians linger before returning home after work, or the restaurant in which to enjoy a bite during your lunch break, or the cafeteria where you can take the first morning coffee, or the company meeting place, or the place of confidences among friends, in short is the perfect place where to enjoy good food and drink in good company.
A stop or more in bacari will be a must for you while visiting Venice. You have by now understood, these taverns are the favorite place of the Venetians and that perhaps are the places that more represents them.
And whom of you, before returning home, does not think of bringing a piece of this wonderful experience back home? You will surely be interested in those types of products that only here you can find, such as handmade masks, Murano glass or even some typical sweet.
Planning a trip to Italy? Venice will not disappoint you!
Join me next time and discover a very easy but super delicious Venetian recipe: Folpetti alla veneziana or Venetian-style baby octopus.
Thank you all for reading!