VENICE : 10 THINGS TO DO

10 THINGS TO DO IN VENICE

1. Go early in the morning to San Marco and visit the Basilica. It's always full of tourists, but you have to do it! It's free to enter the Basilica, but you have to pay for certain sections if you want to see more. We decided to visit the treasure for €3 and the terrace for €5. It's really worth it!

2. Get lost in the streets of Venice! To truly understand this unique city, you need to get lost in its labyrinth of streets and bridges. It's another world and lifestyle – no cars, only your feet and boats. It's simply incredible.

4. Visit the bookstore, Libreria Acqua Alta. This is an atypical place with a huge book collection displayed inside boat shelves. You can also walk on a book staircase and sit outside surrounded by book walls. It's the kind of little gem we love to discover when we travel.

6. Eat in an Ostaria. This is a typical Venetian bar/tapas place. You drink wine and eat cicchetti, which are little tapas served on bread. You can find many ostarias around the Rialto Bridge (a bridge you should cross even if it's super touristic!). We recommend the Osteria Dai Zemei. But be prepared – they are usually crowded and small, so you might have to stand. The cicchetti are really good but a bit expensive, around €2 per piece. So, we started there and finished at a place called FARINI that sells pizza! It's really cheap for Venice and really good! I recommend it for those on a small budget! 

3. Take a gondola ride! We know it's really cliché and expensive (€80 minimum), but it's a symbol of Venice! It's something you'll likely do only once in your life. We did it during lunchtime and were able to negotiate the price a bit, but it wasn't easy; we only saved €10. It's so relaxing that the 30 minutes went by quickly – a lovely moment.

5. For sunrise, climb the Scala Contarini del Bovolo. For €7, you have access to the art gallery and can go to the top of the tower. At the top, you have an amazing view of Venice. It was also relatively quiet – no queue and only two other tourists when we arrived. So, we really enjoyed the view, the place, and its peacefulness.

7. Take the "bus boat" (vaporetto) to experience Venetian life. In Venice, boats are the primary means of transport. A one-way ticket costs €7, which is quite expensive. So, if you know you'll take the boat more than twice in a day, take a day pass that costs €20. During our two days, we spent one day walking and used the day pass on the second day, which also allowed us to visit the islands of Murano and Burano.

8. Visit a Murano glass-making workshop. Murano is very close to Venice by "bus boat" (vaporetto). We advise you not to go too late because the workshops close around 4 pm. You can pay around €3 for the entrance to see the glass masters working – it's really impressive, and you can ask questions. In the town, there are also many shops where you can buy these wonderful glass creations.

9. Visit Burano, the colorful town. Burano is on the same "bus boat" (vaporetto) line as Murano; it's the next stop. We were positively surprised by Burano. It's a really cute town full of colorful houses and canals. It's also famous for its lace. We highly recommend you visit it!

10. If you are there at the right time, you can go and check out the Biennale of Venice. We had the chance to be there during this art event. Our favorite creation was "Building Bridges" by the Italian artist Lorenzo Quinn.

P.S.: We would recommend our hotel even if the view and bathroom weren't amazing. It was well-located, really affordable for Venice, and decorated in Venetian style. It's El Graspo De Ua.