"If you read a lot, nothing is as great as you've imagined. Venice is - Venice is better."
– Fran Lebowitz
Venice is one of those places you obviously have to visit at least once. Built around canals and little islands in the Venetian Lagoon, it’s full of beautiful buildings, bridges and narrow streets, and there really is something to look at around every corner.
We did all the things you’re supposed to do on a first visit. We wandered around St Mark’s Square, saw the Basilica and Doge’s Palace, crossed the Rialto Bridge and spent plenty of time just watching the boats going up and down the canals. You can’t go to Venice and not see the main sights, and they definitely didn’t disappoint.
We also spent far too long trying to find the narrowest street in Venice. I’m not entirely sure why we became so determined to find it, but once we’d heard about it, we had to! It turned out to be one of those slightly ridiculous little missions that somehow became one of the highlights of the day.
But actually, we enjoyed the quieter parts much more.
Once we moved away from the main tourist areas, it felt like a completely different place. Quiet little streets, small squares, washing hanging between buildings and canals with hardly anyone around. We spent a lot of time just wandering, taking random turns and seeing where we ended up.
I think that was probably our favourite thing about Venice. There’s so much pressure to see everything, but some of the best bits were when we weren’t really looking for anything at all.
