There is no city in the world quite like Venice. I spent an amazing 3 days in Venice walking through the streets, boating through the canals and wearings masks to celebrate Carnivale 2018!
1. Visit during the Venice Carnival
What is the Venice carnival anyway?
The Venice carnival takes place every February, and ends 40 days before Easter. It is a time filled with all kinds of unique Venetian traditions, and most importantly - Venetian masks!
Why does everyone wear masks?
The history of Venetian masks seems to be quite varied - they were used for hiding identities, social status, health protection, or just because.
Where should you buy your mask for the festival?
While there are tons of (cheap) masks available from stands throughout the streets, I highly recommend getting a locally-made Venetian mask from one of the most famous and original shops - Ca Macana.
We found our perfect, handmade masks here and wore them all weekend!
What events did we get to see?
We checked out the Best Mask Competition, the Parade Festa delle Marie, and the night party in San Marco square!
2. Build your own Walking Tour of Venice
Venice is very walkable, and one of the best parts of visiting Venice is getting lost in its many tiny streets. You never know what you may find hiding around the corner...
We walked all the way from our home village of Cannaregio through to San Marco and Dorsoduro.
Some of the sights along the way included...
The Grand Canal
Piazza San Marco
Rialto Bridge
Rialto Market
Bridge of Sighs
The Doge's Palace
Strada Nova
On our first night there, we found a great (few!) restaurants for (a few!) dinners in Dorsoduro, and ended the night with a little light night music - some Venetian strings, by Vivaldi.
3. Take the Water Bus vs. a Gondola
The coolest part of Venice is its intricate canals, and the most expensive part of Venice are the gondola rides through it!
Of course it would be an amazing experience to take a gondola, but if you want to save some money, transit through the canals using the very affordable water bus.
There are lots of stops and you can still get the water views of Venice, without the price tag. Just make sure the stop near you sells tickets - as not all of them do!
It was also great to take the water bus through the night, when Venice glows in the water's reflection.
4. Sleep in a Quiet Part of Town
My home village for the weekend was Cannaregio part of town, also known as the 'Jewish Ghetto'. I booked an apartment on Airbnb, which is probably the best option to stay in this part of town as there aren't many large, touristy hotels.
It was so refreshing to wake up in a quiet part of town, watch the locals get on with their day, and eat at local restaurants.
And if I looked reallyyyy far in the distance, I saw mountains...... something I never knew you could see from the islands of Venice.
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