Recently, I got a new job with my company and was told that I would need to attend training prior to my actual start date. Surprisingly enough, the freaking training was in Italy!  I was super excited because, at the time, I hadn’t been outside of the US (besides Mexico and Canada… and Germany, where I was born and lived for only 2 years).  I, of course, chose to stay over the weekend and explore Venice!

                                   

 

I’m a huge foodie, but for whatever reason, the couple days I was in Venice, I didn’t eat much.  Breakfast was complimentary at the hotel I stayed in (and it was super tasty).  For lunch, I was grabbing small things on the go since my day was packed with site seeing.  Dinner!  I did have dinner though.  And, needless to say everything I ate was freaking awesome!

 

BIRRERIA PEDAVENA

This place was 1 block away from St. Marks Square and is open late.  While walking down the street looking for food, the greeter asked me dine there offering free limoncello!  I hadn’t tried any yet, so of course I ate there, and lucky for me the food was amazing.

 

 

RISTORANTE AL QUADRANTE

Because I had such a early flight out, I opted to stay 1 night in a hotel close to the airport.  It was late when I got there and when I was looking for dinner, not much was open but Ristorante Al Quadrante was in walking distance and the hotel staff recommended it.  This place was very good, but warning: the portion sizes are huge, I ordered way too much!

 

 

 

 

Full disclaimer, while in Venice, I was totally focused on doing as much as possible in the little time that I had there.  I was also focused on doing it on a budget and this started with my accommodations.  With that being said, when searching for a place to stay during my trip, I looked for the place that was the least expensive but in the good location.

 

Somewhere, I’m pretty sure it was on YouTube, I read/heard that Agoda was a place to find good international accommodations at a discount.  After searching the site for days, I came across Locanda Armizo.

 

 

 

 

This place was kind of in the middle of everything and during my visit, the rate was only $61.68 per night including taxes.  I was good with that!  Now if you’re use more extravagant accommodations, this is not the place for you.  But, if you just need a clean, safe place to lay your head, it could work.  Another good option is a hostel.  My co-worker stayed in this one and it seemed pretty cool, it’s also not really in the heart of everything, but if I did it again, I would probably stay there.  Besides, you’re only spending a few hours there anyway!

 

*Sidenote: I stayed in Best Western Titian Inn Hotel, Venice Airport my last night in Venice.  I wouldn’t recommend it only because it is so far from the city’s center, but if you are okay with the long ride into town, this is a good option.  Unlike the Best Western’s I have seen in the States, this one seemed brand new with really nice modern rooms!

 

I don’t really go out much so when I say play, I really mean “things to do” and as I said before, I was just trying to see as much as possible in the few days that I had.  Usually when I’m planning to go on a trip, I head to Pinterest (mainly) or YouTube and search for the area that I’m visiting, including the words “must do” or “must see” in the search.

 

After I find all the places that are worth seeing or things worth doing, I find the locations on Google Maps and save them as “Want to go”.  After tagging all the places I want to go, I download the map to my phone so that I don’t have to use data while navigating to those places.  This also helps me with planning my day.  I typically visit places in close proximity to each other or get me around the city and back to my final destination in the most efficient way.  I know that’s too much for some, but that’s what works for me… if I didn’t do it, I’d go crazy.

 

Below is a map of the places I visited and a few others that I would have loved to but didn’t have the chance.  The top few things I would say do is to  1. visit St Mark’s Square  2. Take a gondola ride (water taxis are a good budget friendly option, but not nearly the same experience) and  3. Buy something leather!