‘White swan of cities, slumbering in thy nest,” begins Henry Longfellow’s 1876 poem Venice. The idea of a city built on a hundred islets, where the streets are made of water and every necessity of life is transported by boat, has been an entrancing one for generations of travellers.
I had never been to Venice before, but knew enough to avoid it in high tourist season, so we booked our long-planned trip for mid-January. The weather was undoubtedly bracing, but there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the crystal clear air seemed to bring the snow-capped Dolomites, a hundred miles to the north, almost within touching distance. Even in the depths of winter there were enough people about that the streets and canals had a nice holiday atmosphere, but without any sense of overcrowding.
Our flight from Dublin was delayed by more than two hours, and it was getting on for midnight by the time the bus from the airport dropped us off at the Piazzala Roma. We were tired and grumpy and not at all in the right mindset to appreciate the charms of a new city. However, Venice had already begun to work its magic on us by the time we crossed the Grand Canal over the single, dramatic arch of the Ponte della Costituzione.
The moon rises over the Grand Canal.
Grand Canal
A brisk walk along the north bank and across the Canal di Cannaregio brought us to our apartment, which was unprepossessing on the outside, but spotless and roomy inside.
After a good night’s sleep and breakfast in a friendly trattoria, we were ready to explore. South of the Grand Canal, the great thoroughfare that bisects the city in two leisurely curves, and we found ourselves in the ancient neighbourhood of Santa Croce. It is a maze of narrow alleys, peaceful canals and ornate little bridges, dominated by the great Gothic church of Dei Friari and the ornate Renaissance pile of the Scuola Grande.
Further east is the Rialto quarter, historically the commercial hub of Venice and still home to its most famous markets. It is also where you’ll find the iconic Rialto Bridge, the oldest and best known of the four crossings over the Grand Canal. We lunched practically in its shadow, at the Ristorante Terrazza Sommariva. Thirteen-year-old Harry had been looking forward to a real Italian pizza for weeks – and the wait was worth it. Restaurants in tourist honeytraps do not always have to try very hard, but both the food and the service were excellent.
Across the Rialto Bridge some of the most famous sights of Venice await – St Mark’s Square, the spectacular Basilica Di San Marco, the soaring red brick campanile, the Palazzo Ducale and the picturesque island of San Giorgio Maggiore.
While we were suitably impressed by all this, I had promised my bookworm son Harry that we would seek out one of Europe’s quirkiest book shops, the Libreria Acqua Alta.
This is like something out of Harry Potter, with a flight of steps made from flood-damaged hardbacks, a gondola in the middle of the store crammed with books, a back door opening straight onto a canal, and the resident cats staring disdainfully at the customers. I walked out with an old volume on English sporting art under my arm, and will always wonder how it found its way to Italy.
We finished our afternoon with a gondola ride around some of the little canals in the San Marco district. Our gondolier, Enrico, was charm itself. He told us about Giacomo Casanova and Antonio Vivaldi, and softly sang Volare to us as we splashed along the narrow pea-green canals. A nice thing to do while you’re in the city, though not cheap at €90 for a half hour ride.
Gondoliers ply their trade under Rialto-Bridge in the afternoon sun.
Exploring the water
The best way to get around Venice is is by vaporetto, the Venetian public waterbus. There are 19 vaporetto lines that serve the city and the outlying islands. A 24-hour pass costs €25, and we made full use of ours.
After a peaceful Sunday morning walk through the charming and little-visited neighbourhood of northern Cannaregio, we boarded the vaporetto and set off across the lagoon for the island of Burano.
Burano is almost too pretty to be true. The strict laws governing the colour of Venetian buildings do not apply here, and the houses which cover most of the island are painted in a riot of vivid colours reflected in the canals. A couple of hours was sufficient to take in the sights, and our next port of call was the long barrier island of Lido.
Though its heyday as one of Europe’s most prestigious seaside resorts is long past, Lido’s eight miles of beaches still draws huge crowds in the summer months. When we visited, the island had that slightly forlorn, melancholy air that settles over seaside towns in mid-winter. Nonetheless, it was pleasant to walk along the western shore of the Adriatic Sea while the shadows lengthened, watching the flocks of seabirds that skimmed the surface.
As the vaporetto carried us back across the lagoon into Venice, the sun was setting dramatically behind the vast domes of the Santa Maria della Salute, and the gondoliers were busily plying their trade on the glittering waters of the Grand Canal.
It is one of the the most romantic sights in all of Europe, and one that will stay with this visitor forever.
The Libreria Acqua Alta, one of Europe's quirkiest bookshops.
Getting there
Flights for four people in mid-January cost us approximately €550 with Ryanair. Central Venice is easily accessible from Marco Polo airport, by bus to Piazzale Roma, or via water taxi or the vaporetto from the airport docks.
Where to stay and eat
We stayed in Infinite House Apartments in Cannaregio. Our roomy two-bedroom, self-catering apartment cost €630 for 4 people for three nights (bedandbreakfast.eu/en/a/cEK5JmCun4S4/infinite-house-guglie).
The Cannaregio district is an ideal base for exploring Venice, with quieter streets, authentic, modestly priced restaurants, and easy access to both the train and bus stations on the one hand, and the sights of the city on the other.
‘White swan of cities, slumbering in thy nest,” begins Henry Longfellow’s 1876 poem Venice. The idea of a city built on a hundred islets, where the streets are made of water and every necessity of life is transported by boat, has been an entrancing one for generations of travellers.
I had never been to Venice before, but knew enough to avoid it in high tourist season, so we booked our long-planned trip for mid-January. The weather was undoubtedly bracing, but there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the crystal clear air seemed to bring the snow-capped Dolomites, a hundred miles to the north, almost within touching distance. Even in the depths of winter there were enough people about that the streets and canals had a nice holiday atmosphere, but without any sense of overcrowding.
Our flight from Dublin was delayed by more than two hours, and it was getting on for midnight by the time the bus from the airport dropped us off at the Piazzala Roma. We were tired and grumpy and not at all in the right mindset to appreciate the charms of a new city. However, Venice had already begun to work its magic on us by the time we crossed the Grand Canal over the single, dramatic arch of the Ponte della Costituzione.
The moon rises over the Grand Canal.
Grand Canal
A brisk walk along the north bank and across the Canal di Cannaregio brought us to our apartment, which was unprepossessing on the outside, but spotless and roomy inside.
After a good night’s sleep and breakfast in a friendly trattoria, we were ready to explore. South of the Grand Canal, the great thoroughfare that bisects the city in two leisurely curves, and we found ourselves in the ancient neighbourhood of Santa Croce. It is a maze of narrow alleys, peaceful canals and ornate little bridges, dominated by the great Gothic church of Dei Friari and the ornate Renaissance pile of the Scuola Grande.
Further east is the Rialto quarter, historically the commercial hub of Venice and still home to its most famous markets. It is also where you’ll find the iconic Rialto Bridge, the oldest and best known of the four crossings over the Grand Canal. We lunched practically in its shadow, at the Ristorante Terrazza Sommariva. Thirteen-year-old Harry had been looking forward to a real Italian pizza for weeks – and the wait was worth it. Restaurants in tourist honeytraps do not always have to try very hard, but both the food and the service were excellent.
Across the Rialto Bridge some of the most famous sights of Venice await – St Mark’s Square, the spectacular Basilica Di San Marco, the soaring red brick campanile, the Palazzo Ducale and the picturesque island of San Giorgio Maggiore.
While we were suitably impressed by all this, I had promised my bookworm son Harry that we would seek out one of Europe’s quirkiest book shops, the Libreria Acqua Alta.
This is like something out of Harry Potter, with a flight of steps made from flood-damaged hardbacks, a gondola in the middle of the store crammed with books, a back door opening straight onto a canal, and the resident cats staring disdainfully at the customers. I walked out with an old volume on English sporting art under my arm, and will always wonder how it found its way to Italy.
We finished our afternoon with a gondola ride around some of the little canals in the San Marco district. Our gondolier, Enrico, was charm itself. He told us about Giacomo Casanova and Antonio Vivaldi, and softly sang Volare to us as we splashed along the narrow pea-green canals. A nice thing to do while you’re in the city, though not cheap at €90 for a half hour ride.
Gondoliers ply their trade under Rialto-Bridge in the afternoon sun.
Exploring the water
The best way to get around Venice is is by vaporetto, the Venetian public waterbus. There are 19 vaporetto lines that serve the city and the outlying islands. A 24-hour pass costs €25, and we made full use of ours.
After a peaceful Sunday morning walk through the charming and little-visited neighbourhood of northern Cannaregio, we boarded the vaporetto and set off across the lagoon for the island of Burano.
Burano is almost too pretty to be true. The strict laws governing the colour of Venetian buildings do not apply here, and the houses which cover most of the island are painted in a riot of vivid colours reflected in the canals. A couple of hours was sufficient to take in the sights, and our next port of call was the long barrier island of Lido.
Though its heyday as one of Europe’s most prestigious seaside resorts is long past, Lido’s eight miles of beaches still draws huge crowds in the summer months. When we visited, the island had that slightly forlorn, melancholy air that settles over seaside towns in mid-winter. Nonetheless, it was pleasant to walk along the western shore of the Adriatic Sea while the shadows lengthened, watching the flocks of seabirds that skimmed the surface.
As the vaporetto carried us back across the lagoon into Venice, the sun was setting dramatically behind the vast domes of the Santa Maria della Salute, and the gondoliers were busily plying their trade on the glittering waters of the Grand Canal.
It is one of the the most romantic sights in all of Europe, and one that will stay with this visitor forever.
The Libreria Acqua Alta, one of Europe's quirkiest bookshops.
Getting there
Flights for four people in mid-January cost us approximately €550 with Ryanair. Central Venice is easily accessible from Marco Polo airport, by bus to Piazzale Roma, or via water taxi or the vaporetto from the airport docks.
Where to stay and eat
We stayed in Infinite House Apartments in Cannaregio. Our roomy two-bedroom, self-catering apartment cost €630 for 4 people for three nights (bedandbreakfast.eu/en/a/cEK5JmCun4S4/infinite-house-guglie).
The Cannaregio district is an ideal base for exploring Venice, with quieter streets, authentic, modestly priced restaurants, and easy access to both the train and bus stations on the one hand, and the sights of the city on the other.
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