Our Venture to Venice

Venice will forever have a special place in our hearts as it was the first holiday we went on together. After a failed trip the year prior, I was so so desperate to visit Venice in all of it's charm and history. After joking and being fairly lighthearted with the idea for a while, DM and I actually threw up the deuces and booked our flights with Jet2.com from BHX to Marco Polo.

Transfers

When booking the hotel, location was always, and will always be, a deciding factor. We booked a room in Hotel El Vagon's budget hotel, located in Cannaregio. DM had stumbled upon the rooms on Booking.com and after a little more research, we booked a traditional Venetian room located just a ten minute walk from the Rialto Bridge. Having near to no experience of booking a city break, hotel specifications or really any knowledge of Venice, GoogleMaps proved really important; between our room and the renown Rialto Bridge, we toddled over about fifteen mini bridges, Sephora and the best jazz bar in the world.

We had our trip booked for while and knew that transport INTO Venice may have been a little long-winded, but something that many tourists would be using. We arrived at Marco Polo Airport, which is located on the mainland, with direct links to inner city Venice. With our wobbly suitcases in one hand, and our jackets in the other, we had finally landed on our first mother daughter three- night holiday.

Hotel 

I committed several hours into research our transport from the airport to the hotel, and found the easiest (and probably the busiest according to the queues) was the water taxi. These are larger boats, with a max of about 40 travellers, being dropped off at several Venice ports.







Getting to the hotel was a completely different story; Venice's backstreets are not easily navigated through, especially when asking for help from the somewhat disinterested police. As we were COMPLETE newbies to this whole 'City Break' fad, we did not understand the true god send that is GoogleMaps. We were amazed that even Amazon drivers can deliver to the most remote places in Venice!

After a couple of hours absolutely sweating and in and amongst the height of our frustration, we came across a very familiar looking area.. and BOOM, we had found our Hotel al Vagon. We wanted to pay as soon as possible, and although we were early to the room, they were very accommodating and allowed us to store our bags whilst we mooched for a few hours before check- in.

*Just a side note, we read reviews that explained the key to the room was exceptional heavy and we must carry it with us if we were coming in and out of the room when the reception was closed. Luckily we took bags big enough but the key- and the Venetian heat in July, weighed us down! Opportunities to quench our thirst were seized.










We used our first afternoon to get a feel for the area and the multitude of bridges. As we travelled in July, it was exceptionally hot.We lightly walked around and got a feel for the area. Cannaregio is a popular shopping area full of vintage goods and crafts. There are an abundance of traditional tourist type shops, selling Venetian masks and fridge magnets, but there were many canal side restaurants and opportunities to fill your empty bellies!

Cannaregio is a lovely area and is very central to Venice. Just off our street, there were many restaurants and bars, and lots of opportunity to jump on a gondola if you fancy paying- then- $80.


Here are a few of our favourite pictures:

To keep the cost down, we found it was easier to book and reserve places for the tours at the information point in St Marks Square. We were able to book a 3 hour walking tour and 30 minutes gondola tour for just £50, which is considerably cheaper than jumping on a gondola at the canal side.

The tour was really great actually. Although we were absolutely melting, the tour of the Basilica was insightful. We learnt about the architecture and Bridge of Sighs, in and amongst the information of Venice and Carnival.

Favourite Finds

One of our favourite parts of our Venice trip was stumbling upon Bacaro Jazz bar on the way back to our hotel. This was a super funky bar located just at the back of the Rialto Bridge. Full of both locals and tourists, Bacaro plays a little bit of Amy Winehouse whilst being host to an array of drinks. DM and I took it in turns to buy the rounds and it was the icing to the cake in our final night in Venice.