Expat Travel Mom

We finally gave Venice the trip it deserved, eight years after skipping it entirely on our big Italy road trip, this time without kids, and with friends along for it. I think it was other people's feedback that kept us away all these years, "too touristy", "too hot", "overcrowded", "cruise ship hell", and so on and so forth. It just didn't sound fun, especially with little ones all those years ago. But boy were all those people wrong. I think they just picked the wrong time to go, not sure.

A Detour Through Bologna

We flew from Valencia to Bologna first, purely a scheduling thing, but we didn't mind at all. We took a couple of hours to soak back into a city we'd visited eight years earlier, quiet and quaint, holding one of our favorite memories with our kids from that trip. We had an incredible meal at Il Moro Ristorante, an artichoke Parmesan salad, bolognese, wine, and a limoncello sorbet to finish, and just wandered, admiring the doors and architecture Europe seems to specialize in.

From Bologna, we took the Italo train to Venice, splurging on business class, smooth, quiet, easy, with an almost unbelievable number of crop fields rolling past the window the whole way. Pulling into Venice was a pretty magical and surreal moment. 

Arrival

We grabbed a 7-day vaporetto pass, which was a pretty spectacular "welcome to Venice" ride. We then made our way through the quieter parts of the city, you can't help but take photos of everything (I apologize in advance) to our Airbnb, hearing mostly Italian around us rather than English (which some blogs had mentioned all they heard was English and were disappointed). The place greeted us with genuinely steep, crazy stairs (think Dutch stairs), but the view made up for every one of them. 

We ended our very long first day at Il Mercante, a cozy wine and spirits bar where the music pulled you in while you watched the bartenders work with real precision. A perfect first night.

Burano

Getting to Burano took a water taxi and a solid 45 minutes, but it was completely worth it. Known for fishing and lacemaking, and insanely bright colored homes, deeply rooted in craftsmanship and history, we let ourselves get properly lost down its alleyways. I found myself wondering what color I'd paint my house if I lived here, and I honestly couldn't decide, because once I think I knew, I saw another I loved.

We ate at Trattoria da Romano, an Anthony Bourdain recommendation dating back to the 1800s and still run by the same family, five generations in. The staff showed us his old table, shared the guest book with us, and even let us watch the kitchen's famous risotto toss in person. The calamari was impossibly fresh, and the Go Risotto lived up to everything we'd heard, creamy, exactly as described. Afterward, we followed our waiter's sister to the bakery where she worked for traditional Bussola cookies, and just soaked in the color everywhere we turned.

One practical note on getting around: the vaporetto multi-day pass is genuinely worth it if you're island-hopping, but nobody warns you about the seasickness. If you're prone to it, bring your medication, even just standing on the bobbing docks waiting was enough to set me off. Grab the outdoor seats at the back if you can.

Churches and a Wander Through the Back Streets

We visited the Chiesa dell'Assunta, no words needed, some places just speak for themselves, and stumbled onto a Daniel Arsham art exhibition while wandering the back streets, exactly the kind of thing you only find by not having a plan. 

Honestly, the best thing to do in Venice is simply wander. Get lost. Watch how locals actually live, where they shop, how garbage collection works on water, how commerce moves along the canals. Every turn revealed something as beautiful as the one before it, and four nights in, it still hadn't gotten old.

We also tracked down the famous "hidden" bookshop everyone talks about, and found a line out the door, staff now directing traffic and everyone funneled the same direction, a bit more of a show than the discovery it once was. Once inside, though, the selection, Italian and English both, was genuinely impressive, and the quirkiness still came through even with the crowds.

Basilica di San Marco and a Caffè Quadri

The Basilica di San Marco needs no introduction either. Practical tip: book tickets ahead in high season, we scanned a QR code on arrival and booked a later entry time, well worth doing. And dress accordingly, we watched several people turned away for tank tops and short shorts.

We also finally understood Quadri properly, thanks to an old episode of Remarkable Places to Eat, where host Fred Sirieix explains the café's white bow tie versus black bow tie system, seniority that can take ten-plus years to earn. Sitting outside runs about €10 for a cappuccino, but the real move is walking up to the bar side and standing, same history, same atmosphere, a fraction of the price. I chatted with a waiter in black tie who'd worked there over 20 years, next to his white-tie colleague, only two years in. Sitting where poets and artists once sat, even standing at the bar, was worth it just for that.

More Basilicas, and Amazing Food

Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari might have been our favorite of the whole trip, Gothic from the 1330s, filled with genuinely impressive artwork. 

We also had two more Bourdain-chased meals: Ristorante Al Covo, family-run, where the owner Cesare and his Texan wife Diane welcomed us like old friends, Cesare sharing his own memory of meeting Anthony Bourdain in person. We had pasta with clams, fried fish and shellfish, vanilla gelato with licorice, and strawberries with mint, all impossibly fresh. We learned afterward that Somebody Feed Phil had filmed there too. 

And Cantina Do Mori, another old Bourdain stop, a little tucked-away, easy-to-miss place, worth seeking out regardless.

Then, completely unexpectedly, genuinely excellent American barbecue at Atled Meat Lab, of all places to crave brisket and pulled pork. Good food is good food no matter where you find it, and we hadn't had proper barbecue like that in years living outside the US.

Friends Join, and 19,000 Steps

Friends caught up with us partway through, and we logged over 19,000 steps that day. We visited the Guggenheim, Peggy Guggenheim's personal collection set right on the water with indoor and outdoor garden space, so absorbing we didn't realize we were closing the place down until staff kindly told us it was time to go. 

We wandered the Giardini Reali near San Marco, genuinely lush and green for a city built entirely on water, and stumbled onto two working shipyards, called squeri, 17th and 19th century operations still refurbishing gondolas by hand, we got lucky enough to catch them mid-work on a morning walk.

Three Strange, Wonderful Stops

Three finds worth calling out on their own: Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo, a restored 15th-century palace with a spiral staircase, also a filming location for Orson Welles' Othello. The house where Mozart once stayed during Carnival season. And Palazzo Dario, an architectural marvel with a genuinely dark reputation, nicknamed the "House of No Return" for a long, strange history of misfortune among its owners.

More Food, Because This Is Venice

A few more meals worth remembering: Il Refettorio, higher-end, every single flavor carefully executed, a calm break from the general rush of the city. 

Bar All'Arco, a Somebody Feed Phil find with a menu that changes daily depending on what's fresh, mozzarella and anchovy converted me on the spot, and the soft shell crab was outstanding. 

And Gelato Fantasy, the one place we found with proper sugar-free gelato, chocolate rich and creamy enough that the hunt was worth it.

Farewell, Venice

Looking back, we did an entire road trip through Italy back in 2016 and skipped Venice entirely. Now we understand exactly why that would have been a mistake to force in. Venice has a reputation as a city for day-trippers rushing through, and with only a day, that's genuinely all you can manage. With four nights, we wandered, we strolled, we actually talked to people. It was lovely, and it needed every bit of that time to feel earned.

Some cities you visit. Venice, we finally understood, is one you have to actually stay in.