In between our trip to the Netherlands and the Vicenza jewelry show, we had a day to spend in Venice! I always love going to Venice – it is the perfect city to just wander around, look in all of the shops, and find some great food. I thought I’d share some details with you about our trip, so you can get an idea of what a day in Venice looks like!

Here’s a photo from last year in Venice – how can you not fall in love with it?!

We landed in Venice pretty late, and we grabbed a water taxi from the airport to the city. There are different transportation options including the Waterbus which is more cost effective, but it was late, we were tired, and had lots of luggage, so we opted for a water taxi. The water taxi ride was about 20 minutes and it dropped us off right by our apartment. Here’s the story on that…

Usually when we travel, we stay in hotels or with family or friends in the area if we are in the US. When we started doing research for our trip to Venice, even though it was a little bit last minute, the hotel rates were outrageous!! Another issue is that we knew we wouldn’t be getting into Venice until around midnight, and leaving the next night around 7pm. So if we booked a hotel, we would get there late, have to check out in the morning, and have no “home base” for the rest of the day. When you’re tired and jet lagged, that doesn’t sound like a good option! Okay I know I’m rambling, but wait until you hear where I’m going with this! On Booking.com, they have some options that are fully furnished apartments or condos. We booked one in LA a few months ago and it was great!! So we decided to try it in Venice! It was less than half the price of a hotel, so we booked it for 2 nights (even though we only slept there for 1), so that we’d have it to use during the day! It turned out to be the best thing ever – it was centrally located, spacious, clean, and the owner was incredibly helpful! If you ever see these options on Booking.com and are hesitant, I would highly suggest giving them a try!

We checked in, and needed some food! It was almost midnight, so the options were pretty limited, but we walked to the Rialto Bridge area (only a 5min walk), and grabbed some pizza. Then of course we had to enjoy a midnight gelato! I got Lemon and Katie got Tiramisu.

Delicious! Then we went back to the apartment and crashed.

In the morning, I took a few minutes to admire the view from the apartment. I mean, look at this!!

Then, I met David in St. Mark’s Square (he flew from Philly overnight). We dropped off his luggage, picked up Katie and decided to grab something to eat. We found a cute restaurant just steps from our apartment (I don’t remember the name though!), and all got some great pasta.

Then we spent some time taking photos of upcoming treasures because can you think of better scenery than Italy?! I can’t wait for you to see them….. we’re talking amazing wraps and super chic handbags just to name a few 🙂 In the meantime, here’s a sneak peek at a new crossbody we’ve been working on!

By this time, it was mid-afternoon and we decided a water taxi ride on the Grand Canal would be fun. It was a beautiful day – hotter than usual for this time of year (it was in the mid-80s), and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky! The Grand Canal was bustling with water taxis, water buses, and gondolas. It was such a fun ride and so nice to see so much of Venice. The water taxi ride lasted about 45 minutes and we saw the Rialto Bridge, the Basilica of Santa Maria della Salute, the Venice Casino, lots of gorgeous architecture, and some smaller canals too.

If you want to watch a video of our ride on the Grand Canal, you can see it here!

Then, it was time for a power nap! 15 minutes later, we were ready to head out on another adventure. One of my favorite things to do in Venice is just wander and look down all of the cute side streets and canals, and into the courtyards. Here’s a charming scene we found near our apartment – so pretty!!

As we wandered, we decided to stop for “dinner.” I use that term loosely because in Italy, you typically can’t eat dinner at a restaurant before 7:30. But we found a restaurant that was open! David and Katie had pizza, and I had this amazing Risotto with langoustine, truffle, and a scampi-like sauce. Once again, I did not take note of the name of the restaurant. So sorry!

After dinner, David and Katie enjoyed some stracciatella gelato, and I had a frozen lemonade. It was already time to pack up and head out. We needed to go to to Piazzale Roma to meet our ride to Vicenza, so we grabbed another water taxi, enjoyed a short ride at sunset, and said “Ciao” to Venice! It was a beautiful day in a beautiful city and I’m glad I could share it with you.