Two weeks ago we went to Venice. As every year we organize a winter trip and considering how crowded is Venice the rest of the year, we thought it would be a fantastic option. We visited the city without doing any queue in any tourist hotspot and we could see and take photos of San Marco square with no tourists in it! No cruises, cold and humit air and a special atmosphere full of mistery and romance among the winter mist of the lagoon is what we found. Put an extra ingredient: Christmas Time.
We took over 800 photos in three days and we cannot share all of them, but we have decided to show in this post something that surprised us in this travel: the colors. Venice in winter is usually surrounded by mist due too the humidity of the lagoon and the cold air that gets stuck there. So, misty and cloudy sounds like our photos should be all grey. But not, colors are found everywhere.
There are two things you can do in Venice and won’t cost you extra money. These two activities are, in our opinion, the first two must-do activities in the city: crossing the Grand Canal with a Vaporetto, the typical public transport in Venice, and getting lost among the canals, narrow streets and lovely bridges.
The bus from the airport took us to Piazzale Roma, the main entrance to the city. From there we took the Vaporetto number 2 towards San Marco square. So yes, the first thing we did was to navigate all the Grand Canal. And after that, we went for lunch and got lost in the narrow streets. And by getting lost we did one of the best discoveries in our trip, we found a book store full of old books in a street not wider than a person. The book store was like a labyrinth with the books inside a bathtub, in a gondola and in their backyard, where they are hit by the rain and the humidity of the canal behind the wall. Actually, they are used as steps of an improvised stair towards an observatory deck with views to the beautiful canal.
And colors are also found in Burano where every house is painted in a different color, as you can see in the top photo of this post. Burano is one of the 4 islands you have to visit in the lagoon if you want to leave Venice with a good idea of what it is. Prepare your bucket list: Venice, Murano, Burano and Torcello.
Venice: The masterpiece.
Murano: Industrial appearance and home of the Murano glass.
Burano: Small coloured village.
Torcello: The rural Venice with the most beautiful gold pantocrator in the world in the Santa Maria Assunta basilica.
And of course, never leave an Italian city without eating pasta and pizza! In Venice it is also typical to mix the pasta with fish and seafood. In a future post we will recommend some special restaurants to eat. It can be done for a good price if you know where to go.
Now we know why Venice is so famous. We left the city saying: “This is the most beautiful city we’ve ever been to”. Yes, probably the most beautiful city of the world.
I have been to Venice twice. Those two visits have been in July so, you can imagine how full it was. And, that was many years ago. I do not want to think how it is now in summer. I can use some of that winter peace and quietness. Would love to walk around without worrying about the crowds. #TheWeeklyPostcard
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This has been our first time there and we neither know how it is in summer, but I guess that some beauty of the city is lost when crowds go to Venice. Thanks for your comment 🙂
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I plan to visit this summer please can you recommend accommodation
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Hi! of course! we stayed in Saturnia International Hotel. Here you can see our review in Tripadvisor. We recommend it. https://www.tripadvisor.es/ShowUserReviews-g187870-d233931-r554451163-Hotel_Saturnia_International-Venice_Veneto.html#CHECK_RATES_CONT
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I love Venice! We’ve been there six times, but it’s always worth a visit.
#TheWeeklyPostcard
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Six times! Wow This has been our first time there but we are sure we’ll come back at some point. It is so unique… Thanks for your comment 🙂
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Despite being surround by fog in the winter, you seem to have had good weather! I remember how vibrant everything was and would love to go back! Thanks for linking up with #TheWeeklyPostcard!
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Yes! At least it didn’t rain. We had aqua alta the first day, but it was interesting to see the city with aqua alta. Thanks for your comment 🙂
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I love color and it looks like an amazing place, the bookstore appeared to be quite a find. #TheWeeklyPostcard
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Yes! I am sure this book store must be in some tourist guides but it wasn’t in ours. Definitely it is a worthy place. However, I hope it remains unknown for most of the people, so it can mantain its uniqueness and it can be a game for tourists to find it. Thanks for your comment 🙂
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I loved Venice and I went in the summer when it was crowded. It’s definitely a place I want to go back to and I think you have the right idea of going in the winter. Thanks for sharing on #TheWeeklyPostcard.
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Definitely it was not crowded the first week of January. However, I am sure that one week before, for New Year’s Eve it was impossible to book a room in the city. We always try to avoid crowds haha Thanks for your comment 🙂
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I have never been there in the winter but it looks good in your photos
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At least it was not crowded 😊 I think this is the greatest advantage if you go to Venice in winter. Thanks for your comment!
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