Dubbed one of the world’s most romantic cities, would we still love Venice in the August heat with two tired kids in tow?
Where we went: Vienna, Venice, Adriatic Coast, Rome, Amalfi Coast, Pompeii, Naples
When we went: July/August
Crammed with canals and vividly awash with terracotta tones, to me, Venice almost has the unreal feel of a theme park.
Despite the dwindling locals and the constant crowds, its charms are totally undeniable. Every inch of it is all-out stunning to the extent that when you are trying to cross a crowded bridge and the person in front stops to take a picture, instead of being annoyed, you instantly want to stop and join them. Every scene is so worthy of capture.
I had visited Venice in my late teens, but it was the first time for the rest of the family. It’s safe to say that every single one of us was smitten, despite being met with rain as we arrived from Vienna on the sleeper train.
In fact, when the rain clouds burned away to reveal the blazing August sun, we instantly missed them. With so much to see, seeking shade was an unnecessary distraction.
While I’ll detail our highlights below, if you take away just one tip, it would be to book waterfront accommodation. There really is nothing like watching the world (and the gondolas) go by. The good news is, with 150 canals weaving their way through the city, waterfront rooms aren’t hard to find.
DO
St Mark’s Square
Keen to tick off Venice’s most famous sights first, we headed to St Mark’s Square, pausing to pose for pics on the busy Rialto Bridge.
Approaching from the bridge to its north, the streets become progressively narrower and jam-packed. Having formed a snake formation and hoping for the best, we were eventually spat out into the square, just as the midday sun revealed itself.
So vast that every one of the thousands of tourists had space to breathe, St Mark’s Square is dominated by both the Basilica and the Campanile cathedral tower at its eastern end and the water to the south.
The square has ample, if expensive, cafes, but we soon realised what it didn’t have was shade.
Sitting on the floor, walls or kerbs is prohibited (whistles are blown!), which can be tricky with hot kids, so during the summer it’s best to visit early or late in the day and when everyone’s well rested. Not in the August midday sun after a patchy sleep on a night train.
(It’s also worth noting that this part of Venice is home to plenty of pigeons and alarmingly bold seagulls. Hold on to those ice creams!)
Palazzo Ducale & The Bridge of Sighs
The queues in St Mark’s Square for the Basilica, the Campanile and the neighbouring Palazzo Ducale were all so big when we visited, that they practically merged in the middle. Having failed to pre-book any of them, it was time to choose a queue.
We opted for the Palazzo, also known as the Doge’s Palace, a decision part based on the promise of its interesting interiors, part based on the fact its queue was partially shaded and peppered with benches.
We paid for our lack of planning with an hour in the queue, but were rewarded with the Palace's incredible inner courtyard, ornate rooms and amazing lagoon views.
The highlight for us was a little less romantic… the self-guided tour takes you past the palace’s underground prison chambers (complete with 700 year old convict graffiti) and across the Bridge of Sighs, known for being the last glimpse of the outside world for those facing prison, or even execution, on the other side. Historical gold dust for morbidly fascinated kids (and adults).
You don’t have to pay the Palazzo Ducale entrance fee to see The Bridge of Sighs from the outside, it’s easily viewed for free from the Ponte della Paglia - itself a historic bridge that crossed the Rio del Palazzo from the Grand Canal side of the Palace.
Vaporetto
Venice’s most prominent means of public transport is the Vaporetto, a network of boat buses that navigate the many waterways to get you pretty much anywhere you need to go.
Catching the Vaporetto is an essential Venice experience in itself. In August, every single one seemed to be packed with a mix of tourists and locals and strictly standing room only.
The ticketing can be confusing, with limited information at most stops. Having waited about 20 minutes for our first Vaporetto to arrive and hoping tickets could be bought on board, it was immediately made clear that they couldn’t.
Unless you are boarding at a major station with ticket machines, we discovered you need to look for the nearest newsstand, where you can buy single-fare tickets, as well as day and week passes.
Murano
Having finally figured out how to get our 24 hour Vaporetto tickets, we felt obliged to make the most of them.
We opted to take the 40 minute trip to Murano, which skirts around Venice before heading across to this neighbouring island.
While many make the trip to visit Murano’s glass factories, we simply enjoyed walking around, taking in the colourful buildings and bridges, happy to spend some time away from the crowds of central Venice.
We shopped for locally-made glass beads and ate at a funny little family run eatery by the main waterway, before braving the busy boat back.
Biennale
While I won’t dwell on the beauty of the Venice Biennale, as by its nature, it’s only on every alternate year, I will say that if you can time a trip to coincide with it, do.
The scale of the exhibition's many pavilions is hard to imagine in advance, with something to tempt every type of art lover.
But much of its beauty for me is its setting in the lush Giardini della Biennale.We honestly could have not entered a single pavilion and would have still had a lovely time just roaming around these attractively grand gardens.
The Paradiso cafe at the Giardini entrance lives up to its name. A place where waiters magically appear with cold watermelon on a hot day and worthy of a visit for summer summer shade, even if there’s no Biennale.
EAT
Pasticceria Dal Mas
If you are on the hunt for breakfast in Venice, you had better bring your sweet tooth.
We started each day with treats from Pasticceria Dal Mas in Cannargio, found on Rio Terà Lista di Spagna, the main route from the Santa Lucia station into the city’s key sights.
There’s plenty of choice (seemingly all sugary), but you have to be quick to decide what you want. The team here waste no time working their way through the constant queue and locals enjoy their coffee and pastries immediately, stood at the service counter.
Hesitate and you might miss your turn (and no-one wants to miss out on these treats).
Very Good Pizza
Having seen how busy the city was, we were worried that pre-booking might be essential, even at more casual restaurants.
But good things come to those who wait, well good pizza at least… Tired on our first evening we headed for a bustling run of restaurants by the scenic Ponte dei Tre Archi.
Drawn to the straight-up marketing of a place called VERY GOOD, which had the ideal combination of pizza (for the kids) and Fritto Misto (for the adults) on the menu, we were told we could wait by the restaurant wall for one of the canalside tables to become available.
Turnover was quick, thanks to the abrupt but efficient service style and we were sat at a table by the water just in time for sunset.
I would recommend this whole run of restaurants for the view and atmosphere alone. While I cannot speak for the food quality at every eatery, ours was exactly what we’d hoped for from our first night in Italy, great produce, simply but deliciously prepared.
Da Rioba
The brief for our second evening was the reverse of the first. It was my husband’s big birthday and we wanted a hint of white table cloth and formality. We needed somewhere that delivered on both location and quality.
Research into places that combined stunning canal-side seating, critically-acclaimed dishes and most importantly, the ability to actually booked a table on email, led us to Da Rioba.
It didn’t disappoint. Dishes were just the right side of fancy, showcasing local produce elegantly, but without fuss. While their signature Spaghetti with Green Beans and Clams was so simple and perfect it somehow made standard Spaghetti Vongole offerings seem a bit brash, they were also happy to create a straight up pasta pomodoro for the fussy child.
The best bit was that the children had to sit still and pinned to their seats throughout, for fear of falling into the canal behind them. A serious added bonus.
Stay
Like in many other popular tourist cities, the self-catering accommodation in Venice seems to be predominantly run by letting agencies, rather than individuals.
Realising we were unlikely to get the preferred airbnb experience of staying with an individual host and benefiting from their local tips, we decided to go location, location, location.
Our apartment sat right on the Grand Canal in a palatial old building accessed off one of Cannergio’s old squares through a warren of small streets.
While it wasn’t perfect (a modern kitchen - not as clean as I would have liked - seemed quite at odds with the antique-inspired bedrooms and there was an intermittent hum of building work elsewhere in the block), its windows opening out onto the Grand Canal made it quite possibly the best place we have ever stayed.
The children enjoyed hours of waving at passing Vaporettos and gondolas and the views were so good it was genuinely hard to feel motivated to leave the apartment, even with all of Venice on our doorstep.
Amazing Panorama On Grand Canal
Other Properties on My airbnb Wishlist
La Terrazza di San Marco - Luxury Apartment
Apartment Sisila - Palazzo Raspi
Rialto Bridge Big & Venetian w/ Lift - Travel Sustainable
While in reality we took some time on the Adriatic Coast to decompress between cities, that’s a story for another time (likely to be titled something along the lines of ‘10 Reasons Why I Love Eurocamps’), but for the purposes of this platform, up next is Planes, Trains and Automobiles: Part 4: 48 Hours in Rome, followed by Part 5: The Amalfi Coast, Pompeii & Naples. Then, it’s on to The Japan Plan, a booking and planning tips special ahead of our big Japan trip (did I mention we were going to Japan?!).
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