HOW TO TRAVEL IN ITALY: 24 HOURS IN VENICE ON A BUDGET
Water canals, tight knit alleyways filled with gondolas and musicians, I can see why Venice exudes a romantic charm. As a first timer in Italy, you probably want to do the standard Italian tour—Venice, Florence, and Rome—so here’s a guide to 24 hours in Venice on a budget.
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I am not one to recommend people visit the most “popular” and touristy destinations in Italy because most of the times they are not the best that Italy has to offer. But I do recognize that they are after all in high demand. Unfortunately, many of these destinations are no longer what they once were. They have been ruined by tourism or are suffering from an overcapacity of tourists, not allowing locals to go about their daily lives or live in their hometown. That being said, I understand that (like I myself had) there is an innate desire in you to visit these wonders everyone else speaks of. So if this is your first time in Italy and you want to do the standard Italian tour of Venice, Florence, Rome, Capri etc. before expanding your horizons to the jewels of the Lake Region, Sicily, Tuscany and Puglia, then here is your 24 hours in Venice on a budget.
There are two ways to visit Venice. You can follow the influx of 20 million tourists clogging the streets taking the usual everyday route our you can create your own path and discover a more beautiful less cookie cutter Venice. Pat and I will always prefer the latter and will show you below that there are ways to enjoy the city’s main attractions and beyond.
WHERE TO STAY 24 hours in Venice
If on a budget, we recommend you stay in an Airbnb right outside the city. Pat and I stayed in Marghera. There are bus stops almost everywhere that take you to Venice at Piazza Romana and stop by every 10 to 15 minutes. You’re only 10 minutes away from Venice city center so it’s the perfect location for a day trip away from the hustle and bustle of tourists. It will save you hundreds of dollars in hotel stays and offers you a quiet look into local life outside of Venice’s waterways.
MORNING: Piazza San Marco, Doge’s Palace, St. Mark’s Campanile, Vaporetto to Isola di San Giorgio
FIRST STOP: PIAZZA SAN MARCO 24 hours in Venice
Piazza San Marco, or St. Mark’s Square in English, is the main Piazza of Venice. The image you probably have in mind is the famous beautiful Basilica di San Marco, Basilica of St. Mark, next to the royal palace. Pigeons take over the piazza as tourists feed them bread crumbs here and there. This is the most important square in Venice and is rich in political history. Laws were decreed in the square, executions and religious ceremonies were held, royal families lived in the royal palace and the government used the square as it’s primary location. It’s here that you will spend most of your time delving into the history of the various palaces, towers, and Basilica’s the in the square.
SECOND STOP: DOGE’S PALACE 24 hours in Venice
We pre-booked a 1 hour 15 minute “Secret Itineraries” tour for 15 euro each (we got the student discount at the time). Regular price is 20 euros and there are 3 daily English tours. The tour covers the rooms and chambers where some of the most important aspects of Venetian administration were carried out. Hidden offices, courtrooms, and Venetian Republic prisons, the palace gives you an insight into old Venetian culture. You’ll see everything from large and brightly lit courtyards to damp, dark, and cramped detention cells where they used to keep prisoners. It’s truly a mix of rich and happy Venetian architecture mixed with a dark and morose history.
THIRD STOP: ST. MARK’S CAMPANILE 24 hours in Venice
St. Mark’s campanile has a very interesting history. For those who are afraid of heights, this is something that you shouldn’t be afraid of. When you get to the top, the entire campanile is enveloped in bars so there is no way for you to fall out or stick your head through them, and the ledge is so thick you can’t see directly below you, just straight ahead. The entrance only costs 6 euros and the view from the top is worth it. St. Mark’s Campanile was originally used to celebrate the Thursday before Lent. The Doge and Lords would send an acrobat to the top for entertainment and have the acrobat walk down a tightrope to a boat in the Basin or to one of the Doge’s rooms in the palace across for the campanile. Aside from the acrobat, few were permitted to go to the top of St. Mark’s campanile during this time. You either had to me be a distinguished guest or Galileo, who in fact used it to demonstrate his telescope to Lords and study the sky. Foreigners were completely prohibited from reaching the top of the campanile, for fear that they would figure out the layout of the city and attack it and its ports.
FOURTH STOP: A VAPORETTO TO SAN GIORGIO MAGGIORE 24 hours in Venice
There are plenty of vaporetto’s or water buses that take you from Venice to it’s neighboring islands. With only one day to spare in Venice, we decided to make a quick trip to the most important island directly across from St. Mark’s Square—l’Isola di San Giorgio (pictured above with a view from St. Mark’s Campanile). The trip is very quick and it’s only 10 euro round trip. Once on the island, the church and monastery that dominate it occasionally have very cool public art exhibits going on so take a look around. While inside, head to the top of the bell tower for another breathtaking view of Venice.
LUNCH BREAK 24 hours in Venice
Hit one of the many bars, what we Italians call “cafés” around Venice. Save your money on a canal for dinner. Pat and I stopped by for a quick toast and Cappuccino in an alleyway far from the hustle and bustle of St. Mark’s Square. Toasts are a common lunch cuisine in Italy and accompany your typical panini. They usually are melted cheese with some sort of ham. A cappuccino may be necessary at this point if the jetlag is starting to set in!
AFTERNOON: RIALTO BRIDGE AND GRAND CANAL, EXPLORE THE MANY CANALS OF VENICE, APERITIVO, CICHETI AND DINNER
FIFTH STOP: RIALTO BRIDGE AND GRAND CANAL 24 hours in Venice
Any time you step over the Rialto bridge..it will be packed with tourists, no matter what time of day or night. If you’re lucky squeeze your way through the crows and take a picture of the Grand Canal below. Rialto bridge is the most popular of the 4 bridges in Venice because it is the oldest. It’s hard to miss due to it’s famous arch’s and the mobs of people trying to squeeze across it. But it is a necessary passage that you can’t escape if you plan to move from San Marco to San Polo district. Once across, take a stroll down the picturesque Grand Canal. It’s flooded with restaurants and hotels but it gives you a little taste of la dolce vita.
SIXTH STOP: EXPLORE THE MANY CANALS OF VENICE
As much as I’d love to tell you that their is a must-do itinerary when visiting Venice, once you’ve visited the essentials it’s time to take a few hours and explore and savor the city in your own way. Get lost in the maze of alleys and canals, follow streets and music that appeal to you and trust me, somehow, you will still make it back to St. Mark’s Square. In the end, that’s where all the masses of people go. Whether you NEED to buy that piece of famous Venetian Murano glass or you HAVE to buy that Italian leather made wallet (cough cough…Patrick—and FYI, he stills uses that wallet to this day 4 years later and it is still in perfect condition!), get lost in the stores and adorable city of Venezia!
SEVENTH STOP: APERITIVO
And now for the good stuff…FOOD! No trip to Venice is complete without tasting the local cocktail and cuisine. Every dinner in Italy starts with a good Aperitivo, or pre-dinner snack and drink to prepare and cleanse the palette. This can happen any time between 4PM onward and 11AM onward for lunch. The 2 most famous aperitivi and cocktails in the region are the Bellini and the Spritz.
The Bellini is named after the pink color a Giovanni Bellini painting had. The drink is a mix of a white sparkling wine and white peach pulp whipped in a blender. The result is a sweet but not too sweet, peachy thick cocktail. It was one of Ernest Hemingway’s favorite cocktails. At times you’ll notice that certain bars put a twist on the Bellini. There is the Bellini Rossini, which has a strawberry base, and Bellini Tintoretto, a pomegranate base. Both are named after famous painters and composers. The Bellini might be the most famous Venetian cocktail in the world, but surprisingly it is not the most consumed by locals. Welcome the Spritz.
You’ll find different variations of the Spritz across the board, but their is one rule that each Spritz has to abide by to be a Spritz. And that’s that the color has to be a red-orange tint. The original Spritz is made up of white wine, Prosecco, sparkling water or seltzer, and an orange slice. According to your tastes, the Spritz will either have Aperol, Campari, Cynar or Select. The most classic is the Aperol Spritz. The term Spritz derived for when the Austrian’s occupied Venice and would demand that bartenders delute their wine by “spritzing” it with some water.
EIGHTH STOP: CICHETI
It would be a sin not to accompany your Spritz without cicheti, the name for typical Venetian appetizers offered at various bars and bacari, or taverns, around Venice. This is best done around the Rialto markets. It’s typical to wander around the market and taverns and do a sort of bar crawl or cicheti crawl.
NINTH AND LAST STOP: DINNER
Dinner in Venice is quite frankly…very expensive. Especially if you want to eat on a canal. HOWEVER, it is not impossible. After walking around for quite some time following our cicheti, Patrick and I stumbled upon a restaurant Trattoria Sempione that offered a decently priced meal right on the canal. It was hard to snag one of the only 5 tables right on the canal, especially without a reservation, but Patrick and I got SUPER lucky! The main meals ranged anywhere from 20 to 50 euro and we managed to order a decently priced bottle of wine to end our amazing day in Venice.
So there it is, your 24 hours in Venice on a budget. Although I am not a fan of these tourist spoiled cities in Italy, they truly are beautiful..and it’s hard to deny that. You might not experience the true local Venetian culture in the heart of the city, but you can move away from the cookie cutter travel guides and immerse yourself in the Venetians true traditions by exploring the cities various allies and canals.
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