Welcome to Venice, Italy! In this post we will be discussing, places to stay, eat, and experience life in this one-of-a-kind, engineering marvel that is Venice! As well, we have a few local & general travel tips and recommendations, a local recipe and we’ll be talking the how, when, and why of one of our favourite Venice photos. For more information on the top things to do and experience, and a detailed 4-day itinerary, please check out our posts, “Top 8 Things to do in Venice, Italy – Explore and Experience” and “4-Day Itinerary for Venice, Italy – How to Make the Most of Your Time”. Let the planning begin!

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1. Places to Stay in Venice:

Hotels in Venice

Depending on how long you’re staying and how many people you’re travelling with, Airbnb or VRBO, might be right for you. They are great for anyone, but especially for groups or families as there is usually more space, with room to relax as a group and a kitchen. When we are looking for a place to stay, we check location, price, and reviews. We also use these trusted travel sites, www.expedia.ca and www.hotels.com. Here are some suggestions to see if any pique your interest, but there are a lot of accommodations in this city to choose from, so have some fun with it, if you start early there is no stress, just excitement in the process! Check out these below, they are some of the places we’ve stayed or have come highly recommended. Keep in mind, if you’re flying into Venice and taking the bus, (the #5) or dropping a rental car off on the island, you’ll be arriving at Piazzale Roma, in Santa Croce, if you’re coming by train you’ll arrive at S. Lucia Station in Cannaregio and if you’re coming from the airport by a vaporetto you arrive at the F. te Nove stop at the other end of the Cannaregio district, near the Castello district.

New Independent Apartment on S. Rocco Frari: This Airbnb, renovated 2-bedroom; 2-bathroom apartment is located in Dorsoduro. It has a 4.98 out of 5 rating, free Wi-Fi, luggage storage, a washer and dryer (which is a rare find), full kitchen, living/dining, and the entrance is in a quiet courtyard. It’s a 10mins walk to Piazzale Roma, 15mins to the Rialto Bridge and 20mins to St. Mark’s Square. This is where we stayed multiple times and really enjoyed our stay, it was clean, comfortable and renovated with venetian charm. The host is very kind and helpful. This place is great for 2 couples or a family. We highly recommend.

Ca’ San Giorgio Relais & Suites – Located in Santa Croce, close to the San Polo district. It has a 9.8 out of 10 rating. It’s a 10 mins walk to Piazzale Roma, 9 mins to the Rialto Bridge and 16 mins to St. Mark’s Square. There is free WI-FI, luggage storage, breakfast included, has a roof-top terrace, courtyard, and nice venetian décor.

Ca’ Dei Proverbi Suites – Located in the Cannaregio district. They offer free WI-FI. luggage storage, A/C, breakfast available, non-smoking, 24-hrs airport shuttle (for a fee). It has a 9.4 out of 10 rating. It’s a 19 mins walk to Piazzale Roma, 5 mins to the Rialto Bridge and 10 mins to St. Mark’s Square and is near the Casino. It is designed in an interesting venetian décor.

Gondola’s Nest – Located in the Dursoduro District. This is a VRBO new listing, is a 1 Bedroom apartment, with a kitchen, free WI-FI, A/C, and Smart TV. It’s a 10 mins walk to Piazzale Roma, 22 mins to the Rialto Bridge, and 20 mins to St. Mark’s Square. Great for a couple, nice to come back and relax in.

Stay City Aparthotels Mestre – Located at Via Ca’Marcello 8L in Mestre on the main land, it is a 6 mins walk to the train station, then an 11 mins ride on the train to get to the S. Lucia Station in Venice. It has a 9.2 out of 10 rating. It has free WI-FI, A/C, 24hrs fitness centre, breakfast is available, they have laundry facilities, luggage storage, a small kitchen, and restaurants nearby.

2. Places to Enjoy some great Food including Cicchetti:

Gelato at Gallonetto’s

Lasagna at Bacaro

Delicious Mushroom Pizza

Pasticceria Tonolo

Barozzi Bakery

We typically don’t make reservations, unless there’s an activity included with the food, like a Show or a food tour or there is something really special about the food or location. We find that if you make reservations, it dictates the pace of your day. We like stopping when we’re hungry or when we see a place that piques our interest. That said, here are a few suggestions of what Venice has to offer, all we enjoyed and recommend. We do read reviews as well, we think it’s important, especially the negative ones to see what people are complaining about, but we’ve learned over the years to “take them with a grain of salt” not every restaurant can be perfect every time and some people just like to complain. We like to make sure there are more good reviews then bad and read what the issues are, sometimes it might be something that doesn’t concern us. This city is known for seafood, like sardines, cod, and the lagoon’s black goby fish, as well as mixed fried seafood balls, risotto, the famous Bellini peach flavoured cocktail and cicchetti, (small bite-sized portions often consisting of seafood, meat or vegetables served on bread or polenta or deep fried), a must try during your stay.

Pizzeria Trattoria All’Anfora– Located in Santa Croce at calle Largo dei Bari 1223, open 12:00pm to 3:00pm and 6:30pm to 10:30pm, but closed on Wednesdays. There is indoor and outdoor seating, and a courtyard. This is our go to pizza place when we’re in Venice, delicious, great potions, and very reasonably priced.

Cantina do Mori– Located in San Polo at Calle do Mori 429, near the Rialto Bridge, in business since 1462. Open 8:00am to 7:30pm Monday to Friday and 8:00am to 3:00pm Saturdays, closed Sundays. We were introduced to this great find through our food tour, so comes highly recommended. It’s great for the traditional Venetian Cicchetti.

Cantina do Spade – Located at San Polo 859, open from 10:00am to 3:00pm and 6:00pm to 10:00pm every day. Another great food tour recommendations, offers traditional cicchetti, light bites and great wine, in a cozy atmosphere.

4. Pasticceria Tonolo – Located at calle San Pantalon 3764, open 7:30am to 8:00pm Tuesday to Friday, 7:30am to 6:00pm on Saturday, 7:30am 1:00pm on Sunday and closed on Monday. This was our favourite bakery, amazing pastries, croissants, cakes, coffees and more. This was our go to place in the early morning!

La Nuova Perla Ristorante Pizzeria – Located at via Giuseppe Garibaldi 1645 in Hotel Ca Formenta, open 11:00am to 11:00pm every day. This is in the Castello District, with seating inside and outside with views of the lagoon, great at sunset. They have great pastas, pizzas, seafood and vegan options.

Bacaro –Located in Santa Croce at calle Largo dei Bari 1107A, open 11:00am to 10:30pm every day. They have great seafood, pastas, pizzas and steaks. There is indoor and outdoor courtyard seating, very enjoyable.

Panini e Vini da Babbo– Located in Dorsoduro at Sestiere Dorsoduro 3059, open 7:00am to 11:00pm every day. They serve great sandwiches, salads, charcuterie and wines, Great lunch spot right near Campo Santa Margherita.

Gelateria Gallonetto Artisan – Located at Salizada S. Lio 5727, open 10:30am to 10:30pm every day, but open to 11:00pm on Friday and Saturdays, in business since 1985. This is an authentic and delicious gelateria, even though there are a lot of gelaterias in Venice, this one is well worth a try.

Salumeria – Roby & Giusy – Located at San Polo 1597. This Deli is great for charcuterie and was one of our delicious stops on our food tour, so comes highly recommended.

3. A Few helpful local tips, Recommendations and more:

Restaurants in Venice

Venice City Pass 24hrs or 72hrs vs ACTV Daily Vaporetto Pass (1,2,3 or 7day passes) are they worth it?

Travellers are always asking this question, and for good reason. The answer is not clear cut and can be confusing it really depends on how many museums you plan on visiting or trips on the vaporetto you plan on taking. Let’s look at the city pass first, this pass offers skip the line for some of the main attractions like the St. Mark’s Museums, Doge’s Palace, plus 11 other museums, including the glass museum in Murano and the Lace Museum in Burano as well as hop on hop off public transportation on the Vaporettos, including the lines that go to Murano, Burano and Lido. The 24hrs pass is about 99 euros and the 72-hour pass is about 135 euros. The 72-hour pass would give you more time to enjoy the museums, if you’re planning on exploring most of them, (trying to see all in one day with the 24-hour pass, may be difficult). If you’re not planning on going into these museums or you were only interested in the ones at St. Mark’s Square, the City Pass may not be worth it, you can also look at Viator or Get Your Guide for museum deals. If you think you may like to explore the grand canal and one or more of the museums, you could combine these activities and just get the 24-hour city pass, the skip the line feature and shear convenience you get with the pass adds value as well.

Or if you don’t have the time or the interest in going into the museums you could simply get the ACTV 24-hour vaporetto pass (25 euros) and do the Grand Canal, as well as visit Murano and Burano in one day, like we suggest for day 2 of our 4-day itinerary. This is something you should look into once you’ve finalized you itinerary and know what you want to see.

**Whatever pass you decide on, don’t forget to validate it, read the instructions, as some require a one-time validations and some require more.**

Food Tour:

One of our favourite things to do in any city is a food tour, it’s a great activity to do at the beginning of your visit, that way you can get restaurant recommendations from your guide and taste what the city has to offer to see what piques your interest. Not only do you get to try some of the great food from the area, but you learn a bit of the city’s history as well. In Venice, we did this Food Tour and loved it.

Tourist office:

One very helpful thing to do when you first get to any city is to check out their Tourism Office. If you’re staying in a hotel, they often have a rack with lots of brochures and tourism books and maps, which is great and this might be all you need, but if you’re staying in a vacation home, they might not have as much information available, so locating your nearest tourism office is always a good idea. They can provide city maps, brochures on things to do, have information on tours and answer any questions you might have, making your stay more enjoyable. In Venice there is a Tourist office (Ufficio Informazion e Turistica) at Santa Croce 456D, they are open, every day from 7:00am to 8:00pm. Check them out at veneziaunica.it. If you’re going to spend some time exploring the Veneto while you’re here, this is also a great place to get more information.

Using Points:

Whether it’s Airmiles, Aeroplan, hotel chains, or credit card points, collect them religiously and use them for travel!! We have stayed in some amazing places using points, some we normally wouldn’t have even looked at because of the price, we’ve used points for flights and rental cars too. They are so satisfying to use, but you have to get to know what is a good value and what isn’t. For example, if you’re using Airmiles for flights, the points cover the flight cost and you pay the taxes, so generally the taxes cost us in the range of $200, which is reasonable, but if we fly to Europe from Canada, the taxes were over $700, (we were told this was because their airport taxes were higher) we were shocked, it didn’t make sense to use the points for that, so you have to get to know how to best work you’re points, but once you do, you’ll be hooked!

Start your off Day Early:

Start your day off early, this will always be our suggestion! When we say early, we’re talking 6:30/7:00am, but we know that’s not for everyone, so just get started as early as you can and always keep in mind open/closing hours and open/closing days for the attractions that you really want to see. If there is something you really want a photo of without people in the shot, start there! For more information on the advantages of getting up early, check out our post “Three Significant Reasons to Get Up Early, while Travelling”.

Speaking the Language:

For some people speaking different languages comes easy and for some, it does not, I’m the latter. Although it’s not easy, we always make an effort to learn at least the pleasantries when we’re travelling. It’s one of our many favourite things to do! We also carry a language pocketbook with us, and we have google translate on our phones! We also like the free language app, Duolingo for some fun!

Phone service:

When travelling in Europe we use Hippocket Wifi, but they also service Canada and the United States. They are based in France, but you can simply order it online and they ship it directly to you 3-5 days before you leave for your trip. It comes with a small carrying case, charger, (including a car charger if needed) and an addressed, stamped return mailing envelope, so you simply drop it off in the mailbox at the airport before heading home. The great thing about this is that if you are traveling with other people, you can all use it and share in the cost. You can have up to 8-10 users at the same time. If you have multiple users, I recommend getting the unlimited options, as the 1GB/day option may not be enough. The unlimited works out to be approximately 7.00 to 9.00 euros per day, including all shipping. It’s a great option, check it out here!

**Any pricing, opening/closing hours and days listed here are as of Nov. 2025 and are subject to change, so be sure to check before you go. I like these websites: for all your current information, venicelover.com and visitveneiza.eu.

4. Our Fav Photo from our time in Venice, Italy:

Well, it’s hard not to take a beautiful photo in Venice, I mean really, it’s stunning sights no matter where you look, canals, bridges, amazing architecture, the gondolas, and just the rich colours everywhere. We were up early this morning to explore St. Mark’s Square before it got crowded and to check out the sunrise in this location, well worth it. Jaw dropping views everywhere you looked. We took dozens of photos, as the sun came up, the sky kept changing colours, it was gorgeous! But if we had to choose just one photo, which we do, this is it, the gondolas on the lagoon near St. Mark’s Square at sunrise! In this photo, there is a lot to look at, but it all seems to work well, in the centre is that pretty old lantern in the water, with the iconic gondolas surrounding it, as well as the typical Venetian poles in the water, in the background you can see the island of San Giorgio Maggiore with its church and Bell tower, which all of that on its own is beautiful, but then adding the colours of the sky with the clouds, just makes it that much more magical! The only edits we did was to darken it just a little, which deepened the colours of the sky. Check out our post on the Top 3 Spots to Experience Sunrise in Venice, Italy.

5. Venice Recipe:

Bellini Cocktail

How to Make the Famous Bellini Cocktail: This delicious peach flavoured cocktail is refreshing and perfect all year round. It was originally made in 1948 by Giuseppe Cipriani a bartender and owner of Harry’s Bar, who was commissioned to do so in honour of a famous Venetian painter Giovanni Bellini, it’s quick and easy to make, and can be made regular or frozen. If you’d like to experience a Bellini from the experts, check out Harry’s Bar at San Marco 1323 Calle Vallaresso, or make it yourself!. How to Make the Famous Bellini Cocktail, Venice, Italy.

6. References:

Focus on the Journey

All of this information, research and suggestions came from our own experiences we had while exploring this magical city. As well, we spent countless hours reading travel books like, DK Eyewitness, Top 10 Venice, DK Eyewitness Venice & the Veneto, & Rick Steves Italy, as well as multiple Travel blogs and Venice tourism websites like, venicelovers.com & visitvenetia.eu all very helpful. We also received recommendations for our Food Tour guide, that we appreciated.

7. The Wrap up

Doorway in Venice

Doorway Reflections in Venice

We hope these tips and recommendations help you plan an amazing adventure filled with new experiences! Don’t forget to try new things, talk to the locals, indulge in traditional foods, people watch, enjoy nature, speak a little of the local language, but most of all, focus on the journey!

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Thank you,

From, Wild Meadow Studio

Where we: Focus on the Journey,

By: Beth de Verteuil

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Tips & Recommendations, Your Travel Guide to Venice, Italy

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