Intro
If you love to travel, and you always wanted to go to Italy, then Venice must be the first place to visit! It is one of the most beautiful and romantic places where you can explore, enjoy very tasty Italian cuisine, and have a chance to ride the famous Gondola which is an amazing experience. Despite how expensive it is for one ride, it is truly worth it, and is the best way to appreciate the architecture and design around Venice.
It is amazing how they built, and live by having water surrounding all over, and main transportation is by a boat.
Time Zone
Time Zone in Venice is Central European Standard Time.
Always account for the time zone when you travel to Italy, if you are traveling from United States or any other country that requires more than 5 hours flight then you have to be prepared to be a little bit of a jet lag, so plan accordingly and make sure you get a lot of rest, because you’re going to need it.
Language
It is Italy, so the language is Italian, but it was really nice to see that all of the places we went to all spoke English, so it was not really and issue not knowing the native language. It is polite to ask if they speak English before you just start talking though.
We did not use it at the time, but there are free translate applications that you can download on your phone that can be handy in case you get lost.
Transportation
There are a few ways to get into the city. You can take a train, bus, cab, or go the traditional way and get a boat, which I think is the best experience. Either way, the destination is the same 😊.
One thing I wanted mention, that if you rented a car and coming to Venice, there are rental places in the city so you can very easily drop off the car there and go about your day, that what we did when traveled from Rome to Venice, it was a very easy and pleasant experience.
Hotels
My husband and I did not stay at a hotel, instead we found a nice apartment which was a little more expensive than a hotel room, but it was so much better experience, plus it had a kitchen which was a nice to have.
The owner was super nice and gave us advice on dining places that I will get to next.
Dining
My advice on dining will be to find places away from the famous and crowded places.
Trust me, all of the fancy restaurants that are situated near iconic places are most expensive and not as good, small owned places a lot more fun and food is just so much better, plus it’s great to support small businesses so they can grow and continue serving their community and tourists, the food is amazing in Venice!
Currency and Exchange
Italy uses Euro, and if you are using cash and need to exchange currency, make sure to find the place where you can do it safely and with the best exchange rates.
Avoid airports and train stations for currency exchange, and it is big no no and here is why. Because airports and train stations know that you are in need of local currency to take a bus or catch a cab, they are offering unfavorable exchange rates, stay away from them, I would suggest to use your credit card whenever you can and make a currency exchange someplace else, official place, of course.
And the best place to get currency exchange is at an ATM or a local bank, the currency exchange rates will be more favorable to you so you can get more money out of your currency that you came with.
