Day trip to Venice

Last semester, in October, I went on a day-trip to Venice (Venezia in Italian). This city is known in the whole world to be one of the prettiest and most romantic cities, and I really wanted to visit it during my Erasmus. As soon as we got the opportunity, we booked the trip! We decided to go on a Wednesday when we didn't have any classes to make an opinion of our own on this beautiful city that everybody around the world knows and talks about!

I had really high expectations for Venice. This city is known in the whole world for its beauty, so I really expected beautiful buildings and charming streets. I also thought there would be a "special atmosphere", like a little something more that makes everybody love this place. To be clear, I wanted it to correspond to its reputation and have some sort of "magical thing".

We went there by bus (yes, once again, the bus is usually the easiest and cheapest way for us to go to different cities in the north of Italy). It was a three-hour drive to get there, so we left Milan around 6 in the morning and we arrived there around 9am. The round trip cost us about 25€. Once again, the bus dropped us a little far from the city center (as it happened when we visited Genoa, which you can read about here). We arrived in some sort of harbor: there was the possibility to take boats to get to the city center, but in order to not spend too much, and since it was early in the morning and we had time, we decided to go walking. It took us about 30 minutes to get to the main place where most of the tourists arrive.

My first impression when crossing the first bridge to get closer to the center was: “wow! ”. I had seen so many pictures of this place and I really wanted to go, so being there was amazing. The buildings around us looked wonderful, and there were already some boats on the canal that looked huge.

We continued walking and started looking for the main place in Venice, the Piazza San Marco. Walking through the streets we noticed some signs to help us find our way there. They are not so big so you kind of have to keep an eye open and pay attention to find them.

After we walked some more, crossed the Ponte Rialto (which is one of the biggest, prettiest and most impressive bridges in Venice) and stopped to get a breakfast along the way, we finally arrived at the Piazza. Once again, the architecture was really impressive and I thought: “wow, I really am here”.

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We spent some time here and then we started walking around in the streets just enjoying them. The streets are quite small and there are no cars, so it’s really nice to walk there! We got some really beautiful views during this day.

There are many very small streets and it's quite easy to get lost there, so I would suggest having your phone or at least a map with you to know where you're going!

We ended up on this place, which we had seen from the Piazza San Marco and had decided to go to. There is this huge cathedral, the Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute, which is very recognizable. To get there we just used maps to see where we could find a bridge to cross the canal and which way to follow then. It was really quiet there, with less people and very beautiful buildings.

In the afternoon, we went to the Fondaco dei Tedeschi. Located in the center of the city, it’s like a big mall where you can have access to the roof, and from there you get a view of the whole city! The best part of it is that it’s free, so you should definitely go there! Once you get to the roof the visit is limited to 15 minutes and that goes real quick, so make the most of it!

After this, we tried to find the "Support" sculpture. This sculpture was put against a wall along a canal in 2017 and I really wanted to see it before it was gone (although I do not know when or if they will remove it). The artist, Lorenzo Quinn, did this sculpture to make people react on climate change and inform us that if we don’t do anything, Venice will be completely underwater in just a few decades because of the rise of the water.

Our day was coming to an end and we started walking back to the bus station. We did not do a tour on a gondola because there were only two of us and it would have been quite expensive. Usually the price for a ride on a gondola is fixed, and then it’s divided between the people who take part. So for example, if the price is 60€ for a tour, you will pay 30€ each if there’s 2 of you, or only 10€ each if there’s 6 of you. That’s why it was not really worth it for us to do it, although it’s a typical thing to do in Venice and it must be really nice.

Although it was a little foggy when we were there (which is often the case in Venice), I really liked the city and found it very pretty. I intend to go back there for the Venice Carnival, which is taking place from 3rd February to 15th February, so I will probably do more posts about this city!

Even if I had high expectations, this city really did not disappoint me. I didn't really find that something special in the atmosphere but the streets, buildings, canals and gondolas make up something really charming. I also really liked the architecture, especially those typical windows that I find really pretty. Venice definitely is a must-see city in Italy!

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