Europe Travel
Finally here is my story on Venice, which I traveled to during my Europe tour a year ago. 
One of the city that I love most in Italy is definitely Venice. Venice is an island compo consisting of 118 small islands separating each other by canals. It is sited along Adriatic Sea in Northeast Italy. Not unexpectedly, it is also the most valuable island in Italy, as researches has revealed that Venice is sinking by 5mm each year and by the Year 2050, most parts of Venice would be underwater! In fact, many parts of the city are already sunken into water and long been vacant. When I was there last summer, St. Marco Square, the most tourists frequented landmarks in Venice, was partly flooded in the morning during high tide.
After our trip to Amsterdam, we took the budget Transavia flight to Treviso Airport near Venice. From there, one of the many coaches waiting in front of the airport took us to the Venice Island. We arrived at Piazzale Roma, the only bus station on the island and also the last stop for all road vehicles. After which the whole island is pedestrians only.
How should I describe Venice? Being one of the UNESCO World Heritage city, I was stunned and amazed by the beautiful scenic view of the city when I first visited the island. The whole city is surrounded by sea and splitted by canals. It is a pedestrian only city with the main mean of transportation being all by water way. It is also an old city with most of the great architectures being constructed centuries ago!
We then walked for 15 minutes through the alleys from Santa Croce to the Campo San Polo to meet our hotel agent, and from there she brought us to the apartment I booked in San Polo district. Of course, travelers can also catch a vaporetti (water bus) at the station next to the bus stand and travel by canal to Rialto Bridge water station then walk to the Campo San Polo, which costs €6.50 per trip.
After checking in and settled down, we started our tour around the island, visited the 5 places to visit in Venice. Tourist attractions are mainly concentrated along the main waterway, Grand Canal of Venice.
We first flocked to Rialto Bridge, then to St. Marco Square, San Marco Basilica and Bridge of Sigh in San Marco district. Make sure you bring enough memory SD cards and snap, snap and snap as many photos as you can in Venice. The sky is so blue and clear, the sunlight is so bright and beautiful and your photos would all turn out fantastic and wall paper alike! Though the sun was hot, I could always cool me down by eating Gelato after Gelato!! Each scoop of gelato costs only €1!
We had coffee at outdoor seating of the famous “Florian coffee bar” in the square, listening to live violin music and witnessing the sunset lighting in front of the historical St. Marco Basilica is a real enchanting experience.
At the same time, pigeons were gathering in the square and pigeon feeding is another fun activities going on there.
At night, we had our pizza dinner at one of the restaurant before we hit the road again at night for some fascinating night photo shots.
On the next morning, we decided to walk off the beaten track and explore the residential area of Venice in Cannaregio district. From Rialto Bridge, we walked towards the Santa Lucia train station, admiring the other significant canal of Venice, the Cannaregio Canal.
But I like to explore further into the local lifestyle, by walking further in, away from the tourists spots without the worry of getting lost. There are always signboard showing me the direction back to Rialto Bridge or St. Marco square. Drinking coffee and eating home made pizza with Venetians in any of the local cafe definitely exciting and rewarding.
From the station, we walked back to Santa Croce and San Polo, with another purpose. We clocked the time needed to walk from station to our apartment, so we could assume the same time as needed for us to walk to the train station on next morning to catch our Trenitalia train to Florence!
At night, we cooked ourselves a simple but authentic Italian pizza and pasta which bought frozen from the nearby minimarket.
Click to view full resolution travel photos that I took in Venice via Flickr.
Travel tips1: Venice island is a small but complicated city in layout. Make sure you buy a copy of the beautifully printed map from the Tourism Info Centre for €2 to tour around the island without getting lost in the way.
Travel tips2: Venice island is made up of uneven, not always leveled cobble stoned alleys and bridges, which are slippery when raining. Be extra careful when walking around to avoid accidents happened. You should consider buying a travel insurance, such as the InsureandGo travel insurance so you can travel with total peace of mind.
I love the romantic setting all over Venice especially the Gondola ride along the Grand Canal which definitely will make your stay in Venice a memorable honeymoon trip! The environment there will make you fall in love with whoever travel partner you brought along! So, be careful who your are going to Venice with!
Whoever been there before would definitely go back for more. I’m certainly one of them… – Travel Feeder, your ultimate photo travel guide to Europe
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There are many attractions worth every traveler’s visit in Venice. Venice is a big city of Italy consists of 6 Borough including the historic island, Lido island, and other 4 in the mainland. If you have just a few days to explore the city, try concentrating on the main historical island, as it is where most of the tourist attractions are located. Instead of rushing endlessly, it would be more fun and memorable to stay on just the Venice Island and explore it to the fullest, especially by walking.
Venice, often enough being referred to the historic island, is a relatively small but highly frequented pedestrian island consists of 6 administrative districts. One can walk from one end to reach the other in half an hour. So if you know which district is best to explore Venice, you would certainly enjoy your visit to Venice. Here are the top 5 places to visit in Venice Island, if limited time and budget is your concern.
- San Marco – One of the 6 districts of Venice island, San Marco is definitely the most heavily touristed area of Venice with many popular attractions among tourists, or tour groups, which include the iconic St. Marco Square, St. Marco Basilica, The Bridge of Sigh, and San Giorgio Maggiore church across the Grand Canal, to name a few. No vacation travel to Venice would complete without visiting San Marco. There are too many hotels, restaurants and shops in the area to feed your soul.
- San Polo – The smallest districts, San Polo is one of the oldest parts of the city, having been settled before the ninth century. It has been the site of Venice’s main market since 1097, tourists can spot numerous shops selling Venetian products from leather, bakery, gelato to Venetian masks. The prominent tourists feature of San Polo is Rialto Bridge, which connects San Polo to the eastern bank of Grand Canal and San Marco district. San Polo is also a great area to stay in Venice with much cheaper accommodation but relatively close to main attractions as well as the main St. Lucia Rail and Piazzale Roma bus station.
- Santa Croce – Santa Croce is another district occupies the north west part of the Venice main island. Piazzale Roma at the North end is the last stop for any road vehicles to the island, with the only car parks and bus station found on the island. Towards the south eastern part of the island, tourists can explore the older part of the city with various historical architecture and churches that iconize the Venice. Staying in this area is near to catch your early trains to other part of Italy and is also cheaper than the rest of the island.
- The Grand Canal – Being the most important access from mainland to the city centre of Venice, Grand Canal is the largest canal found on the island, stretching from the main Santa Lucia railway station at North West to the San Marco Square at South East. It is also the route of Venice water taxi and water buses connecting the various main parts of the island. Taking a water bus from one spot to the other for can let you admire the facade of those beautiful buildings lining along both sides of the canal. Visitors can also find lots of Gondola along the canal.
- Cannaregio – Cannaregio is the 2nd largest district of Venice island occupying the whole Northern bank of the Grand Canal. It is also where most of the local people staying in Venice Island nowadays. Apart from the touristic route from the Santa Lucia station to the San Marco Square along the side of Grand Canal, going off the beaten track into the residential area elsewhere can let you explore the insight of the city culture where you can find and experience the local markets, shops as well as restaurants for the local people. Main attractions in the area include the second largest canal besides Grand Canal, the Cannaregio Canal, Ponte Delle Guglie, the main bridge crossing the canal, and the Venetian Ghetto, the Jews community in Cannaregio area is also worth a visit.
All above photos were taken with Nikon D60 attached with Tamron SP10-24mm Ultra Wide Angle lens. Click here to view more travel photos of Venice. These are actually 5 areas of interest in Venice island. I’m not targeting to any single travel attraction here as exploring Venice should not be limited to landmarks or icons such as St.Mark square or Bridge of sigh only. Travelers must explore Venice by areas as a whole to appreciate the true culture and history of this City of Romance of Italy, and trying the various local foods on the island is also a must of your travel in Venice. – Travel Feeder, your ultimate photo travel guide to Europe
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One of the most prominent feature that you will notice in Venice is these Venetian masks, which can be seen everywhere in shops in Venice.Venetian masks is a century old tradition in Venice which was popularised from the Carnival of Venice, which held 40 days before Easter each year. These masks are used traditionally to [...]
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