48 Hours in Venice, Italy

I’m still recovering from my holiday in Italy. It was better than I could have imagined. Traveling during the December holiday kicked off without a hitch on Christmas Day, and was way less stressful than I thought it would be. Venice was unbelievable to see in real life and I am still looking back at my photos surprised by everything we were able to see and just how beautiful the entire city is. If you’re planning a trip to or have always wanted to go, here’s a few things you should know before visiting.

+Getting to Venice

There are several different way to get to Venice. You can fly into Rome or Milan(largest airports) or easily take the train into Venice, which is what we did. Coming from Rome, the train ride to Venice was about 3 hours., from other cities such as Milan, it is a quick one and hour train ride. There are several train companies running out of the train stations in Italy daily, We chose Italotreno.it for all of our travel and were able to book our tickets easily online. Depending on your ticket, you can watch movies, enjoy some snacks or snooze on your train ride into the city. It is also a great way to see what the country side of Italy looks like. Trains leave throughout the day, so you can best schedule the time of day which works best for you. Normally, for me, the best time, is after breakfast, not too long after check out, so I don’t have to carry my luggage around and can make it to the next city before sun down. Once you arrive in Venice, you will have to take a water taxi to your hotel or Airbnb. Water taxi tickets cost about $7 an can be purchased at water station upon arrival.

+Where to stay in Venice

There are several hotels in Venice but we opted for an Airbnb as we wanted to stay close to the Rialto Bridge and have easy access to the attractions we were hoping to see. Looking back, I would have booked my top choice Airbnb, that seemed to be located a little farther from the attractions but was larger with newer features. After visiting the island, you realize it is quite small and you can walk or taxi to every end of the island easily and you do not necessarily have to stay by the main attractions. Venice is an old city, there not many “new” Airbnb’s or hotels, at best they are remodeled, so choose where you will be most comfortable and then walk or taxi to the locations you most to visit.

+What to see in Venice

My best advice when visiting Venice is to just get lost in the city! Honestly. The island is small, you will wander through streets and wind up at the attractions you were hoping to see. Make a list of your must see’s and as you wander you can look up areas you haven’t yet run into and are important to you. We walked from one side to the other, were able to see everything we set out to during the day. After a nice dinner we took a water taxi back to the stop closest to our Airbnb. Easy and much appreciated after a long day of walking and exploring. In one day of exploring we were able to see all we had set out to.

• Rialto Bridge
• Grand Canal
• Ponte dell’Accademia
• St. Mark’s Square
• Palazzo Ducale
• Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute
• Punta della Dogana

+What to eat and buy in Venice

Venice is known for it’s seafood and most every restaurant has a seafood special or fish of the day. If you love seafood this is the place to try it. It’s fresh and you are able to find it most any place you go. Also, the island closet to Venice, Murano, is know for it’s glass making and you can find beautiful glass trinkets and jewelry across the island. This is a great item to buy on the island, as there is lots of items to choose from and for the most part it are small enough to pack and bring back with you. There are many shops, from high end department stores to locally owned storefronts, for you to enjoy plenty of shopping while exploring for the day.

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Truly, Venice is so different than any place I’ve ever been before! The water way system, was amazing to see and understand how it works. Although the island is small, it is dense and there is so much to see. You can easy see everything you need to in a little over 24 hours.