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After a very quick flight from London Standsted (1 hour and 40 minutes) we arrived at the Airport in Treviso which is about 16kms from the centre of Venice. Buses chartered by RyanAir take passengers onto the station in Venice where you can catch a train, bus or ferry to wherever it is you are going.<br />

Welcome to Venice!

Chris Jack
2006-02-28 18:34:38

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After a very quick flight from London Standsted (1 hour and 40 minutes) we arrived at the Airport in Treviso which is about 16kms from the centre of Venice. Buses chartered by RyanAir take passengers onto the station in Venice where you can catch a train, bus or ferry to wherever it is you are going.

Waiting at the wharf for the next ferry I briefly felt like I was back in Sydney. I guess it was the peak hour vibe with its mix of local workers all desperate to get home after a tough day mixing with an increasing tide of newly arrived tourists also keen to get to their destinations.

The hotel I am staying at is old (like everything here I guess) but very comfortable and very very quiet.

It is squeezed in between several nice delis and bars. Its called the Hotel Alycone and although I have read some mixed reviews on the internet, I have no reason yet to complain about the facilities although the guy on the front desk could be a little nicer and think about his customers rather than himself.

I'll say this much for him, he looks very impressive with his crisp white Armani Shirt
(jumper permanently across his shoulders) Gucci jeans, olive oil skin and Hollywood smile - if only his service matched his look!

Venice is a very expensive city so don't expect to come here and have a cheap holiday however if you are prepared to hunt around there are plenty of choices for accommodation.

Similarly food and drink is not cheap, though if you head away from the main drag around the Grand Canal you can pay less for coffee and food. I managed to have a couple of capucinno's this morning and paid only 1.4 euros for them. A coffee in the Piazza San Marco will cost you on average 4 euros. And as in Spain, its cheaper to stand in a bar than to sit.

This morning I completed the Original Walking Tour of Venice where most of the time was spent standing still and for 20 euros I think I could have found a better way to spend my money. In fact you discover more of Venice if you buy yourself a guide book (such as Timeout's Venice, Verona, Teviso and the Veneto) and bravely charge off into the maze that is the city of Venice.

After the tour I went and had lunch at Trattoria alla Madonna a very nice restaurant with quick service, unpretentious yet delicious food (offering many of the local specialities such as eel and spider crab) and very friendly staff.

The tratorria is located very close to the Rialto Bridge and has been feeding locals for generations. It has a reputation for being very busy however when I got there the place was pretty quiet. If you do want to have a nice meal that is reasonably inexpensive by Venice standards I suggest you seek it out.

This really is a lovely city that exists purely for the tourists. In fact there are only 64 000 Venetians living here (according to my tour guide) yet there seems to be a million people on the streets and nearly as many riding boats in the canals. Every year another 2000 Venetians leave this great city because it is getting far too expensive for them to live here. Such a shame.