Last Updated on November 1, 2023 by Tori Pines
We made it to Venice!! We spend the day getting to Venice and exploring this unique place. Continue reading my Italy Travel Journal below for all of our adventures!
Travel to Venice
We spent the day traveling from Florence to Venice and then getting to know Venice a bit. It was a very exhausting and not so fun day but we made the most of it. We decided to get a taxi to the train station because our suitcase broke in the travels from Rome…it’s been a wild ride and I look a little silly dragging around a pathetic broken bag, but it’s been kind of funny, we made it work!
The train ride was about 2.5 hours and was an easy ride. Our very large suitcases even fit in the overhead spot on the train. I’m not sure they’d fit on every train but it worked on this one. We definitely had the biggest bags of the whole train car…whoops.
We got to Venice. When you step out of the train station, the beautiful island and water views hit you immediately. We jumped in line to get vaporetto tickets, waited about 30 minutes there, then another 45 or so to get on the correct water bus. And then about 45 minutes to get to our station!! It was so crowded and took forever so we were not thrilled.
If we could do it again we 100% would have gotten a water taxi but it is what it is. I recommend you do it if you can afford it!! We did get 48 hour vaporetto tickets so we can use them for the whole time we are here.
Checking in to the Gritti Palace
We got to our hotel, we are staying at the Gritti Palace, very close to St Mark’s Square. We got this room for an insane deal, literally 90% off since my sister works for Marriott, but normally it’s incredibly expensive.
If you collect Marriott Points, then you can use points to stay here too which would be a much better option! And it’s insanely gorgeous, but we feel super out of place here. We can’t even afford a drink at the bar, but it’s a beautiful place to stay and we are super lucky to be here!
We showered and got ready to explore. We wanted to go over to Murano and Burano since it was a beautiful day but the line for the vaporetto to get there was sooooo long. So instead we decided to find a place for lunch.
Lunch at 6342 A le Tole
We wandered as far as possible away from the tourist area and happened upon 6342 A le Tole. It was amazing! We were blown away with the pastas. They were both very fresh and the sauces were perfect, the shrimp was unlike any other, it was so fresh and buttery and we loved it.
We basically just wandered the whole rest of the afternoon, got gelato at Gelatoteca Suso which was amazing and much sweeter than some others we have had.
Dinner at Ai Promessi Sposi
For dinner we had reservations at Ai Promessi Sposi which I had heard great things about, and two of my favorites recommend, Rick Steves and Katie Parla. We showed up and were very underwhelmed by the menu but we decided to stay and give it a shot. It ended up actually being really great, a little different than we are used to but very delicious still.
We walked back to the room and are heading to sleep! We are excited to visit the other islands tomorrow and hopefully the rain isn’t too bad! Ciao for now!
Make sure you read the Day 8 Daily Journal next, and please be sure to read through all of my Italy travel resources to help you plan the perfect vacation.
