We’ve posted on the blog before about how to spend a day in Venice, but this time we’re recapping what we actually did with a day in Venice when we were there at the end of June!
From a gondola ride to a food and wine tour, we tried to have the right blend of activities and free time in the city and we think we did alright on that front!
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A day in Venice
Rick and I got into Venice early so we had a full day in the city to explore before heading off the port for our Croatia and Greece cruise. We got in Friday evening, around 4, and took the bus from Marco Polo airport to our hotel. We were able to stay awake long enough for some Welcome-to-Venice drinks, courtesy of our hotel, a seafood dinner, gelato, and watching the city lights turn on before collapsing into bed back at our hotel.
Exploring the city
On Saturday, our full day in the city, we started the day with breakfast at the hotel before heading out toward Piazza San Marco. We had no actual tours or anything booked for our first morning in Venice so we could stroll down whatever picturesque alleys we wanted to and simply enjoy the city without worrying about being on time for anything.
We meandered along, checked out souvenir shops, and I took a billion photos as we made our way toward the tourist destination. We enjoyed the views in Piazza San Marco but then found this charming little park right around the corner to cool off in the shade.
Gondola ride
I know it’s touristy as hell but I also don’t care. The one thing I wanted to do in Venice with Rick was a romantic gondola ride!
We opted for the experience that cost 100 euro that included the Grand Canal and some of the side canals and it was worth it. It was a nice 30-minute ride as our gondolier told us about the city and his family as his dad was a gondolier too!
Italian wine tasting
After our gondola ride, it was time to get a light snack and of course, some Italian wine! We stopped at All’amarone Vineria and I tried the From White to Red wine flight and Rick treated himself to an aperol spritz.
We also ordered some cicchetti, Venetian tapas, and got ourselves a cod dish that was served with bruschetta. I thought it would remind us of being in Lisbon, only to find out it’s a very traditional Venetian cicchetti dish! It was Baccalà mantecato, which is cod blended with olive oil and whipped up and then spread on bread.
Afterward we headed back to our hotel and I made a stop for some gelato, salted caramel this time!
After a little sugar pick-me-up, we stopped at a wine bar to buy some bottles as we could each take a bottle of wine with us onto the ship and then stayed to enjoy a glass of wine as we still had some time to kill before our evening out. We stopped at Cantina Arnaldi and sat outside and it was lovely.
Venice food tour
We dropped off our wine at the hotel and changed as it was time to meet up for our food tour of Venice with Devour Tours. We opted for the Venice at Sunset: Cicchetti, wine and food tour. Our tour guide was Barbara and she was delightful. She grew up in Venice and took us to her favorites that she’s been going to since she was a kid.
We sampled the cod dish we’d had earlier in the day and another crostini covered with shrimp and onions paired with an aperol or Campari spritz. Next, it was time to indulge in some Prosecco, prosciutto, cheese, and bread. Then it was off to an osteria for some red or white wine, I opted for red, and that was paired with these amazing Italian grilled cheeses, one was stuffed with cheese and anchovies, the other cheese and ham. I actually preferred the anchovy one!
After that it was time for many people’s favorite dish in Italy: pasta! We had a traditional pasta with an onion-based sauce or you could get pesto and I had red wine, Rick ordered white, and we swapped wines halfway through. Our last stop was on the water and we were treated to some nocciolata gelato paired with a shot of gin.
It was a fantastic food tour and we could not have asked for a better guide as Barbara was friendly, fun, engaging, and super easy to talk to.
After our food tour, we stopped at one more wine bar but this time it was more to wait out the little rainstorm that came over the city!
All in, we had a very relaxing and romantic day (and a half) in Venice and we can’t wait to go back again some day.
Tell us what we need to do next time we find ourselves in Venice – hopefully for more than just a day next time! Leave your suggestions in the comments or over on our YouTube video.
