After our arrival to London, we were soon off to our next destination – Venice! It was a nice, short flight (2 hours) and it had great views flying over the Swiss and Italian Alps. 

Once you land and collect all your items, you have the choice of either: taxi or bus then a Vaparetto, or catch the Alilaguna Water Bus straight from the airport and get off at your closest stop. We chose the latter. For one way it was 15€ each as we were staying on the main island, and you can purchase tickets either from the manned ticketing booth at the dock or a machine that is in operation 24/7. Now, anyone who knows me knows how terribly sick I get when on boats, and even though it was bouncing on the dock, Luke assured me once we were moving it would be fine and I wouldn’t feel a thing…. He was VERY wrong! 

Once we boarded and they took out large suitcases to a designated spot on the boat (depending on our stop), we managed to nab a seat at the front of the boat by a window. Soon, we were headed for Venice! Even though it was extremely rocky due to the amount of water traffic heading there, the view was spectacular. You catch glimpses of Venice you wouldn’t if you went via taxi or bus. Alas, the waves and rocking were too much for me after the 45 odd minutes of moving, so we got off at the second stop in which was at F.te Nove and meant to be a ten minute walk to our hotel (Dimora Dogale). For those who haven’t been to Venice, and take suitcases, you are in for a hell of an experience. Poor Luke ended up having to lift two large suitcases over every. Single. Canal to our hotel, there were so many bridges to go up and down it was insane. That plus the humidity in Italy, we were both tired very quickly, not to mention lost in amongst all the narrow walkways as our European sim cards decided to not properly work in amongst all the tall buildings too. 

We finally made it to Dimora Dogale, only to find we weren’t staying in the building on the canal, but a different one about 5-7 minute walk away. Thankfully the gentleman checking us in helped carry one of the suitcases there and also up the flights of stairs (as our room was on the top level). The room wasn’t Venetian style as displayed on Expedia, but it was a simple room which was more preferable in our opinion. The shower was huge and a big welcome after the lousy London one, and bed was super comfy, plus there was a lot of room to move around in this one. There was also a mini fridge and TV. 

After having a quick shower, we decided to head out to try and locate a highly recommended pasta place I had seen on a lot of YouTube clips before our trip. From our hotel, it was a five minute walk in the maze that was Venice and let me tell you – WOW! The queue was going out the door and it was so easy to order from. The guy at the register spoke English and the pasta was incredible. We ventured back here another two times during our two nights in Venice. 

After dinner, we began to explore Venice some more, where we eventually ended up in the Piazza San Marco and let me tell you, you MUST visit here at nighttime, in the video, Luke’s face says it all.
There is live music, not too many people, and the way it is lit up transports you to another time. It was a magical place to visit. We stayed and watched some musicians play, grabbed a gelato each and went for a stroll along the water before heading back to our room for the night. 

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The next morning, we stumbled across a busy cafe – Farini – and the food was great! On the first morning I ordered a Quattro Formaggi pizza with spremuta d’arancia, with Luke going for “Salami pizza and latte”. Then it was off to see some of the sights of Venice. First stop was the Rialto Bridge where we made some video calls back home for the impressive views. 

On the way to the Ponte dell’Accademia, I managed to stumble across yet another Disney store. Naturally, I had to go in! 

Once we got to the Ponte dell’Accademia, the views here far succeeded that of the Rialto Bridge in our opinion. 

Then it was a short walk to the main thing Luke saw off in the distance and had to get to; Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute. It was an impressive building, and after 2.5kms of walking, we took a breather on the steps watching everyone go about their business for a short while. 

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After making our way through the maze that is Venice, we were back in Piazza San Marco before having a bite to eat at Dal Moro’s (again) and then having a snooze in our room before another nightly adventure, of pizza, gelatos and getting lost. 

We were off early the next morning to make the long walk with our luggage to the train station (2.2km trip with two large suitcases plus carry on luggage, a thirty minute trip turned into over an hour of travel time) with a bite to eat at Farini again, but this time it was a croissant crema for me which was the most amazing thing I had ever had in my mouth. After breakfast we made it with plenty of time to spare at the train station before heading to Florence. 

Would we visit Venice again? Most definitely! Venice was a beautiful and magical city and highly recommend adding this on anyone’s bucket list of must visit locations in the world!