For many years now I have heard from various people that Venice is a relatively expensive place to visit. Bearing this in mind I had always been sceptical to stay a few days in Venice therefore decided that whilst I was in Milan I would take the opportunity to take a day trip there.
So lets rewind a little. I booked our train tickets from Milan Central to Venezia St. Lucia through Trainline and the entire length of the journey lasted about 2 hours and 25 minutes (perfect amount of time to get naps in). A return for one person on the train cost £23.60 and the trains were amazing!! They were super clean, super comfortable and really easy to navigate. I do recommend getting to the train station about 20-30 minutes before your departure time just to allow yourself to find the train platform at a more relaxed pace. The best feature of Italian trains were that they had plug sockets so you don't have to worry about a dead battery at the end of the day.
1. Have breakfast at Pasticceria Tonolo
If your on a budget whilst in Venice then most restaurants that you'll encounter are take out and this breakfast place was just that. Another heads up would be to have some cash on you as a few places I encountered had no card machines or the minimum spend for card would be 10 euros. I opted for the veggie brioche and the best part was I was able to choose my filling from a variety of flavours. I ended up going with the vanilla cream and never looked back. If anything whilst being in Italy it had definitely enhanced my sweet tooth.
2. Visit the St Marks Basilica
St Marks Basilica is one of the most iconic tourist attractions in Venice and I can see why. This beauty of a building has been constructed so elegantly that everyone has to visit. It is situated in the main square where there's a lot of hustle and bustle going on. Entry to go inside is completely free and simply requires joining a queue where the wait will be typically around 10-15 minutes (if the queue looks daunting I still recommend joining). Although I have no pictures of the inside (that's because you are not allowed to take any) its such a beautiful place to sit for 10-20 minutes and admire the paintings and architecture.
3. Walk around (with no agenda)
Taking a walk with no agenda or going to a certain destination or tourist attraction is literally the perfect thing you can do whilst simultaneously coming across the best hidden corners and canals that Venice has to offer. Although we tried to google map our way round Venice to get to certain destinations we often ended up taking a wrong turn and it worked out for the best. We got to really soak up parts of Venice that were less congested.
4. Have gelato at Boutique del Gelato
Now we can all agree that getting gelato is the most important part of the day right? For me I wouldn't rest until I got my daily dose of gelato because it was THAT mind-blowing. For those in Venice on a hot summers day you HAVE to visit boutique del gelato and as you can see from the picture this place was heaving. It's a small little place where you literally grab your gelato and off you go. This is where your change of euros comes in handy because this is yet another place that does not accept card.
5. Go on a boat ride
Now you're probably thinking when in Venice you have to go on a gondola, it's like a Venice thing to do but the reality was it was a pricey half an hour ride for just 80 euros. Being students and most importantly on a budget we could not justify paying for a gondola ride that was going to be over in the blink of an eye.
However on our stroll near the waterfront we noticed that Alilaguna island tours had put up a special offer for the day advertising a 4 hour boat tour to visit the surrounding islands for only 20 euros. We didn't think twice about this bargain and grabbed the opportunity to visit Murano, Burano and Torcello. We ended up doing this island tour around midday still allowing us to have ample amount of time to tick everything off our Venice bucket list. My favourite island had to be Murano where all these houses were so colourful and vibrant with every house painted a different colour.
All the islands that we visited allowed us to get a more authentic feel for Venice and actually enabled us to catch glimpses of locals living their daily lives as well as getting away from the mainstream congestion in central Venice.
6. Get lunch/dinner at Dal Moro's fresh pasta to go
Although I don't have any amazing pictures of this place or my food you have to add this to your Venice food list. From one fellow food lover to another you will have no regrets about eating here. Like most places in Venice this is another grab and go place and was the best option before our train back to Milan. Not only was this place delicious but cheap which was a win win. You choose the type of pasta you would like and then customise it with the sauce of your choice. I contemplated taking one back to our Air BnB but the owner had specifically stated that this was to be eaten there and then otherwise the whole experience of this pasta would be ruined. I truly couldn't think of a better end to our time in Venice.
And there you have it ladies and gentlemen my guide to one blissful day in Venice and who knew you could fit so many things in. If you do ever get round to going to Venice (which I suggest you do soon because who knows how long Venice is going to be around for) let me know if you tried out any of my suggestions :)
For more pictures follow my instagram: _davinderkaurr
