A nice day in Venice – In And Out Slovenia

Hi guys,

I am taking you with me in Venice (->map).

View of the **Grand Canal** from the bridge **Ponte Degli Scalzi**.

This beautiful city is about 140 km away from the Slovenian border.
If you are on vacation in the Karst Region of Slovenia, it should take you 1h30 by car to go to Venice.

Another option is to leave your car in Monfalcone, in the free parking lot that is near the train station and take the train to Venice.
It should take you 1h15 to 1h30 to arrive at the Venezia Mestre train station.
But if you want to go to the old town, you’ll have to stop at the Venezia Santa Lucia train station.
It is very conveniant because once you’ll get out of the Santa Lucia train station,
you’ll see waterbuses (olso called Vaporettos) and Gondolas on the Grand Canal.
The church Chiesa di San Simeone Piccolo (with its huge green dome) will be just in front of you.

View of the **Grand Canal** and **Chiesa di San Simeone Piccolo** when we get out of the train station.

View of the train station from **Chiesa di San Simeone Piccolo**, on the other side of the **Grand Canal**.

With more than 20 million visitors annualy, Venice is the 3rd most visited city in Italy (after Rome and Milan).
Knowing that all too well, I did not feel like visiting places where most of the tourists go.
I wanted to enjoy Venice with my family but at the same time,
I wanted to avoid touristy places like the famous Piazza San Marco (or St. Mark’s Square in English).
But if you have time to visit Venice, you can go see St. Mark’s Square and the visit the Doge’s Palace.
This Doge’s Palace used to be the residence of the Doge of Venice (or Duke of Venice).
Since the 16th, this palace was linked to a prison by the Bridge of Sighs.
Should you choose to visit St. Mark’s Square, I really recommend you to go there early in the morning
or late in the afternoon if you want to avoid herds of tourists coming out of cruise ships.

**St. Mark’s Square** in the morning. We can see the **Doge’s Palace** to the left.

View of the late 15th century **Clock Tower** on **St. Mark’s Square** in the afternoon. The square is already packed with tourists.

View of the **Bridge of Sights** behing the **Doge’s Palace**. Convicts used to cross that bridge on their way to the prison.

Since we only had about 6 hours to spend in Venice, I decided to spend most of the day visiting
the Jewish Ghetto, walking along the pieceful Cannaregio Canal and
to spend time in little gardens away from the crowd so that we could unwind.

We started the day with the Jewish Ghetto.
It is less that 10 minutes on foot from the train station.
I really like this part of the city because it is quiet, the streets are narrow,
there are good bars and restaurants and this district has a lot of charm.
While we were walking in a tiny street, we saw a nice Jewish bakery and it smelled good.
We went inside to buy a few pastries and some bread. It tasted really good.

Jewish Bakery -> **Panificio Volpe Giovanni**.

It is located in a narrow street called **Calle del Ghetto Vecchio**.

Try one of these with almond paste inside. Mmmh, so good !

I recommend you to wander around in the Jewish Ghetto for at least 45 minutes and explore this charming neighbourhood.
I also discovered a gorgeous square named Campo de Gheto Novo near a little canal.

Nice little square near the Jewish bakery.

**Campo di Ghetto Nuovo ->** This is the most beautiful square in the Jewish Ghetto.

View of the bridge **Ponte di Gheto Novo** near the square.

After that, we went to spend time in a nice hidden park named Parco Savorgnan.
This park is located near Chieasa di San Geremia on the other side of Campo San Geremia square.

View of the cathedral **Chieasa di San Geremia** from **Campo San Geremia** square.

View of the square from the cathedral. The tiny alley between the red and yellow buildings leads to **Parco Savorgnan**.

Take that tiny alley , it will lead you to **Parco Savorgnan**.

View of **Parco Savorgnan** after walking through the tiny alley.

Parco Savorgnan is a really nice park and it was bigger that I thought It would be.
There is a large kids’ playground in this park. It was the perfect place for my daughter to play around.
If you visit Venice with kids, I really recommend you to go there with them.

Large kids’ playground in **Parco Savorgnan**.

View of **Palazzo Savorgnan** from the fountain. With 9.500 m2, that’s the largest park in this part of Venice.

View of the park and the back of **Palazzo Savorgnan** (on the other side of the fountain). This palace now house a highschool.

View of the facade of **Palazzo Savorgnan** on other side, right next to the **Cannaregio Canal**.

There is another little garden on the other side of the train station.
That is Giardini Papadopoli. Not as nice as Parco Savorgnan but it is Ok.
There is also a kids’ playground and since there is very few public parks in Venice,
we must not be too difficult and be thankful to be able to find a green space in the old town.

View of **Giardini Papadopoli** from the **Bridge of Constitution** (or **Ponte della Costituzione**).

**Giardini Papadopoli ->** This park is located near the **Bridge of Constitution**.

Local kids playing in the kids’ playground, in **Giardini Papadopoli**.

For those of you who might choose to walk a bit in and around this park,
I recommend you to walk a little bit further toward a church named Chiesa di San Nicola da Tolentino.
There, you’ll find an university -> Universita Luav di Venezia.
Go inside and you’ll see a large and beautiful courtyard behind the walls of the university.

Take that bridge **Ponte dei Tolentini** to go toward the church.

**Chiesa di San Nicola da Tolentino ->** Beautiful church with its early 18th century facade, on the other side of the canal.

Courtyard of **Universita Luav di Venezia** (near the church). Go there and wander around.

It is always good to walk around and explore but it also good to stop in a nice spot to eat and drink.
There are plenty of bars, cafés and restaurants in Venice. I recommend you to avoid restaurants that are
located in touristy areas such as Piazza San Marco. Unless you hate your money, do not go there to eat or drink.
I wanted to find a restaurant in a quiet place away from the crowd.
We choosed to go eat in a nice little familial restaurant along the Cannaregio Canal.
The name of the restaurant is Trattoria della Marisa. They cook simple food but it tastes good.
I took the menu of the day and I paid about 15 €.
I really like eating along the canal and I liked the fact that many locals and workers
go there to have lunch every day. It feels so much better than eating in a restaurant with only tourists seated at tables.

“**Cannaregio Canal**“-> Nice canal to take a stroll, have a drink and relax.

Terrace of the restaurant **Trattoria dalla Marica**, along the **Cannaregio Canal**.

The food is simple but very tasty and not too expensive.

Only drawback for this restaurant, there’s no toilets for guests.
But there’s a solution for that little problem.
About 150 meters away from the restaurant, along the canal, you’ll see an University called Universita Ca’ Foscari Venezia.
Go inside the building and you’ll find free toilets. Easy Peasy !

**Universita Ca’ Foscari Campus Economico**, just 150 meters away from the restaurant (along the canal).

Go inside if you need to go to the toilets for free.

For those of you who might have more time to visit Venice but still want to avoid the crowd,
I recommend you to go walk around the area of the Venitian Arsenal.
This beautiful place built in 1104 is a complex of former shipyards.
We went there a couple of years ago and it is really worth a visit.
It is about 3 km away from the train station and 900 meters away from “St. Mark’s Square”.
From the train station, you can go there on foot (35-40 minutes) or take the waterbus/Vaporetto to go there.
If you are lucky, you might see the changing of the guard ceremony in front of the main gate of the Arsenal.

**Arsenal of Venice** and the **Bridge of the Arsenal**.

Changing of the guard in front of the **Arsenal**.

Before leaving Venice, get lost in the rambling streets of the city and find places where local people hang out.
For me, that is the real Venice : Old, authentic and away from tourists.
Go where locals go, away from the hustle and bustle of tourist attractions and I garantee you …
You’ll have a ball in Venice and you’ll see the real Venice.
The Venice where locals have a drink outside with friends in a little courtyard after work
or the Venice where local kids play around in a non-touristy square after class.

Local kids playing in a square, in the **Santa Croce** district of Venice. The real Venice.

If you stay at least 2/3 days in Venice,
I recommend you to take the waterbus (or Vaporetto) to go visit the islands of Burano, Murano and Torcello.
Should you choose to stay more than 3 days in Venice (or nearby), I recommend you to take the train in Venice
and go on a day trip to visit Verona (less than 1h30), Udine (less than 1h30) or Trieste (about 2h00).

My tips for Venice:

1/ Go visit the “Jewish Ghetto”.
2/ Buy jewish pastries at “Panificio Giovanni Volpe”.
3/ Wander around on the square “Ponto di Ghetto novo”.
4/ Take a stroll in “Parco Savorgnan”.
5/ Take a stroll in “Giardini Papadopoli”.
6/ Walk along the “Grand Canal”.
7/ Walk along the “Cannaregio Canal”.
8/ Go eat lunch at “Trattoria dalla Marisa”.
9/ Walk in the courtyard of “Universita Luav di Venezia”.
10/ Go walk around the Arsenal of Venice.
11/ Take the waterbus/Vaporetto to get around Venice.
12/ Take the train to go to Venice.
13/ Go visit the cathedral “Chieasa di San Geremia”
14/ Wander around in “St. Mark’s Square”.
15/ Visit the “Dodge’s Palace”.
16/ Visit Venice in winter (much less tourists).
17/ Stay 2/3 days to see most of it.