Our first stop of our honeymoon was Venice, Italy. If you haven’t been, please add it to your bucket list! It is such a unique place. We flew into Venice 3 days before our cruise was departing from there to give us the chance to explore the city. I’m highlighting below where we stayed, what we ate, and where we visited. I highly recommend familiarizing yourself with the transportation system in Venice before you go since it’s made up of only waterways (no roads!) There are several options for getting around, including public and private transportation. We used the public transportation (vaporettos), as the private water taxis can be expensive. We also printed a map of Venice and marked the airport and hotel before we left so we could easily see which vaporetto we needed to take.
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Where we Stayed:
Hotel Saturnia & International Venice: We stayed 3 nights at the Hotel Saturnia and really enjoyed it! The room was nice and clean, and the price was reasonable compared to other hotels we looked at. The front desk staff was friendly and always willing to help you locate where you wanted to go and which vaporetto to take. This hotel had complimentary breakfast which was nice (not all hotels have this). They even gave us a bottle of champagne when my husband told them we were on our honeymoon. Below is the view from our room at Hotel Saturnia.
Hotel NH Collection Venezia Palazzo Barocci: After our cruise docked back in Venice, we stayed 1 more night due to our flight not leaving until the next day. We decided to splurge since it was our last night of our honeymoon and got a different hotel. Hotel NH was located on the Grand Canal and had all of the amazing qualities you would expect for a hotel in this price range. However, they did not have complimentary breakfast. If you’re able to splurge and stay on the Grand Canal, this hotel was very nice!
What we Ate:
Not even ashamed to admit that we ate pizza or pasta for every meal…. what else would you do in Venice, or anywhere else in Italy? We did our research beforehand and found a few really good spots to eat.
Pizzeria L’Angelo: This place was so good that we ate here twice. They only offer takeout pizza, but after walking around all day it was nice to get a pizza and bring it back to the hotel room. They have a large variety of pizzas and calzones.
Ristorante Pizzeria al Vaporetto: We stopped here for a quick lunch during a day of exploring. We ate pizza of course, but they had other items on the menu. It wasn’t too crowded and the staff was friendly.
Farini: It’s hard to choose but I would have to say that this one was my favorite! I ordered the speck and brie pizza and I haven’t thought of pizza in the same way since lol. They have other menu items as well including coffee, breakfast items, and bruschetta. But seriously the pizza is so good!
Where we Visited
When we first arrived in Venice, it was late in the afternoon. After we checked into the hotel we walked around Piazza San Marco and did some sightseeing on our own. We decided that since we only had a short time to visit Venice, it would be beneficial to book a tour and learn the most we can. We booked this tour through Trip Advisor – Small Group Venice In a Day with Basilica San Marco and Doges Palace plus Gondola Ride and highly recommend it! It was a small group of less than 20 people so you could hear the tour guide very well. Our tour guide was very knowledgable and we learned so much about the history of Venice that we wouldn’t have learned on our own. At the end of the tour, our tour guide told us his biggest piece of advice was to take some time to get lost in Venice! So that evening we did just that. We walked around the streets without a true destination and honestly it was so fun! So here are the top places in Venice you need to visit!
- Piazza San Marco (St. Mark’s Square)
- Basilica San Marco
- Doges Palace
- Take a Gondola Ride
- Rialto Bridge
- Grand Canal
- Bridge of Sighs
- Murano, Burano, & Tortcello (I have a separate post coming up about these islands off of Venice)
If you’re planning your honeymoon, I highly recommend Venice, Italy! It was such a unique place to visit and was also very convenient to board our cruise from here. If you’re thinking about taking a cruise, read more about ours linked HERE. Although this isn’t currently the best time for traveling, you can always refer back to my travel posts linked HERE when we are all able to travel again!
The chambray joggers that I wore all day exploring Venice are SO comfortable and perfect for traveling! I seriously pack them on every vacation. They are only $15 – link is HERE. Also, my shoes are only $45 in some sizes right now – link is HERE.
Looks beautiful!