How to do Venice in a Day // Day Trip to Venice
Back in February, I studied abroad in Florence, Italy and while I was there we took a day trip to Venice! We took the train an early Saturday morning, spent the day there, then took the train back to Florence. The trip took about three hours and had two changeovers. The ride wasn’t too bad, to be honest, I slept most of the way there and back. The only part of the ride that bothered me was going through all the tunnels because I had a head cold and my ears kept popping! One thing about the train is that you have to make sure to keep up with your ticket and sit in the correct car-class because they will come by on your ride back and have to scan your ticket to make sure you did not sneak on the train!
Things to See:
When we arrived in Venice, we had a snack then took a water ferry over to the Rialto Bridge area and walked to Saint Mark’s square to see Saint Marks Basilica and the carnival since we were there during it. We stopped and bought carnival masks on the way and learned about the history of the carnival from a local vendor. At the carnival, we saw a show going on and many people dressed for the occasion. It wasn’t quite what I was expecting, but I am happy I was able to experience it! We didn’t make it over to Burano, where the colorful buildings and glass blowing is, but I know that’s another popular area to see!
Gondolas:
Gondolas will not be hard to come by in Venice. Most of the rides are a flat rate of $80 and can be split between up to six people I believe, but you can also negotiate prices with the vendors and convince them to come down on the price. The lowest rate we were able to get was $60 for the three of us so don’t give up if you’re not willing to pay $80! I regret that we didn’t end up riding a gondola because I feel like it is the main thing you think of when you picture Venice.
Roof Top Views:
One of the best things we did in Venice was to visit the rooftop of Fondaco dei Tedeschi. We wanted to see Venice from above and have a good photo-opp, so we googled rooftops near us and headed that way. When we got there we noticed that workers were asking about reservations and appointments for the roof, which we didn’t have, but my roommate can literally get us into anything (no kidding, one night out we couldn’t get into a club because our names weren’t on the list and 10 minutes later she literally had a free table). She told the guards we were with the tour group ahead of us and despite it being glaringly obvious that we weren’t, we got in! We had a time limit while we were up there, but it was worth it!
Sunset:
We ended up riding the ferry back to the train station during sunset and it was definitely the most beautiful sunset I saw during my time abroad. The ferry is only around $12 so we decided to ride it again instead of the gondolas and the sunset really made it worth it.
Difficulties:
Despite the countless times we got lost trying to get back to our apartment in Florence, navigating Venice on our own was the most we struggled the entire time abroad. I don’t know if we had bad service in alleys between the buildings or if the canals confused our phones, but Google maps and Apple maps kept turning us around and rerouting. Venice is literally a floating city, which causes you to run into more issues than you’d expect. Trying to venture across Venice by walking is a difficult task, especially when you’re not beside the large waterway the ferries take. Even when you are, you come to dead ends you didn’t expect. Utilizing the ferry and having a strategic plan on where you are going is definitely the easiest way to get around.
