To my young and naive self, Venice epitomised romance. Gondoliers singing romantic songs in the sunset, candlelit dinners at the side of the sparkling canals, bohemian artists, musicians and writers, pretty little streets; so much to delight the senses. I could barely contain my excitement when my husband announced that we were off to Venice. The day finally dawned, visions of the romantic time ahead of us swimming around my head, my newly practised Italian rolling off my tongue – well I could ask for a table for two, order a drink and say please and thank you at least. We crammed on to the vaporetto (Venetian water bus), the cool air of the water providing a welcome breeze in the hot sun, and headed straight for St Marks Square. Venice suddenly just hit me. No other way to describe it. My senses, instantly aroused with the hustle and bustle, street musicians, throngs of people, heat and most of all the smell. This wasn’t the romantic notion I had nurtured all these years. In my romantic dreams the canals were sparkling blue and not at all smelly, there weren’t hordes of tourists, there weren’t pigeons ...

The summer I turned 16, I spent three weeks studying English in the south coast of England. Of course studying was really just an excuse for the other activities like finding a summer romance. Mine was Italian, and incidentally, he was from Venice. After the course finished, I returned to my native Finland and to the normal life of a small town teenager. Summer generated boredom with long, jobless days, broken by the embarrassingly romantic texts my Italian boy was sending me. The boys I was used to hanging out with wouldn’t be caught dead saying the things he said. Ultimately what he says is: Why don’t you come to Venice for a holiday? I decided to go with a friend, because while I wasn't entirely sure I wanted to see this boy, I knew that I wanted to see Venice. Upon our arrival in Milan we caught a night train to Venice and slept in a small cabin until morning. When it turned light but foggy outside, we arrived in Venice. Stepping out of the railway station at 6am is nothing short of breathtaking. Just seconds earlier, I was inside a railway station. And then… well then ...

As magical as the city of Venice is, La Serenissima doesn’t have the best reputation for eating out. Sure, there are some legendary restaurants such as Harry’s Bar and the Cipriani, but in the whole finding good, good-value food happens more by accident that design. Luckily Venice does have one the country’s great fresh produce markets; the Rialto. Spilling out from the streets underneath the famous bridge of the same name, shopping at the Rialto market is one of the most ‘local’ experiences you can have in Venice. The Rialto market is closely entwined in the city’s history and has occupied its position near the banks of the Grand Canal for almost a millennium. As Venetian merchants established their trading networks across the Adriatic and beyond, the Rialto area became an important commercial hub. And although the Rialto market has reduced greatly in size since Venice’s Golden Age, it still puts on one of the city’s greatest shows. By dawn, large barges arrive carrying fruit, vegetables and fish, which leads to a cacophony of screaming as vendors bargain for the best prices. Huge carts of produce are then hauled to either the Erberia (fruit and vegetable market) or the Pescheria ...

I was 15 when I travelled to Venice by a hydrofoil from Umago in Istria, where I was on a seaside holiday from my native Serbia. It was a day trip, and the ticket was pre-paid, but it was still a fantastic feeling of freedom. Previously, I’d only been to a few countries with my parents, but I had not been allowed to travel abroad alone before. So I felt privileged to make this first foreign trip ‘on my own’ in the old way (almost like Argonauts!) aboard a ship (even though mine was much faster than theirs!) and to reach one of the world's most unique cities, once the ‘Queen of the Seas’, by water, and not overland. Venice is a miracle. Few other cities remotely resemble it, but none outshine its uniqueness in the beauty of its palaces, the richness of its paintings and sculptures, and the most ornate, bizarre cathedral in four different styles. Equally unique, and bizarre, is the manner of navigating (literally) its locales. Stockholm, Amsterdam, and Bangkok also have an aquatic abundance, but they also have either many more bridges or are not completely built at roughly the same time around the banks of canals. ...

I would return to Venice because it's like nowhere else in the world, and it may soon be gone. While the rest of the world has changed and modernized, Venice has remained the same. Sure, now people have computers and cell phones, but the true Venetian lifestyle lives on. Old Italian women hang their clothes on lines over narrow alleys and canals. Kids cautiously play soccer next to these canals, making sure not to kick the ball into the water. While wandering down alleys in perfect silence (there are no vehicles), you can almost imagine that it's long ago, when Venice was not a part of Italy, but a powerful city state. It's like something out of a fairytale when you see a gondolier drifting down a canal or hear a busker playing an accordion at dusk. My trip “It looks like a map!” I remark of what I can see of Germany in the early morning light. We're starting to descend, almost at the Frankfurt Airport. I'm so excited, I can barely sit still. I'm thirteen, and it's my first time in Europe. I get on our connecting flight to Venice, and as we fly over Switzerland I catch a glimpse ...

Here at Holiday Velvet we often get asked about where you can leave your luggage whilst you are waiting to 'check in' to your apartment or after you have 'checked-out'. Whilst you can always ask the owner directly if they are able to look after your bags for a few hours, left luggage facilities still exist at many major train stations and other transport hubs. These days, most of these facilities run on an automated locker system (gone are the days when you checked in your bag in as you would a coat in a nightclub). Remember that they may fill up at peak periods. Rome When arriving at Termini Station on the Leonardo Express train from Fiumicino airport, you can leave your baggage in the ‘piazza’ on the lower-ground floor (follow the ‘Deposito bagagli’ signs). It’s open 6am-midnight, 7 days a week. Venice ‘Deposito bagagli’ is available at Santa Lucia Train Station (open 6am-midnight daily). Cooperative Trasbagagli is a private company that will not only store you luggage for you, but take it by boat to your place of accommodation, saving you schlepping bags over the bridges and canals. They have two offices in Venice; one at the Piazzale ...

Ponte di Rialto is the most magnificent bridge in Venice and one of the finest in Italy. The area around the Rialto Bridge is very much the heart of Venice and to roam the romantic streets while licking delicious Italian ice cream is an experience that cannot be beaten! There are a few ice cream vendors in and around the Rialto area and one of the most popular and best is La Boutique del Gelato which is on the corner of Calle Paradiso and Salizada San Lio. La Boutique del Gelato is considered to be the best place to buy ice cream in the Rialto area of Venice and probably in the whole of the city. Simply, the quality of the ice cream is superb and is complemented by an extensive choice of flavours and the generous size of the scoops. There are one or two ice cream sellers in Venice who sell ice cream cones that hold little more than a couple of hearty licks, whereas La Boutique del Gelato is considered to be reasonable value bearing in mind the amount of business the ice cream shop attracts especially in the summer months. La Boutique del Gelato is open ...

The centre of Venice comprises six regions and one of them is called Dorsoduro which lies south of the Grand Canal and includes the Island of Guidecca. There are numerous attractions to be found and explored within Dorsoduro and below is a brief list of suggestions. • Accademia Gallery at the edge of Dorsoduro is one of the finest exhibitors of Venetian art and its history, with masterpieces on display by Titian, Tintoretto, Giorgione, Veronese, Bellini, and Tiepolo. • The Peggy Guggenheim Museum exhibits contemporary works of art and a superb selection of paintings for the 19th century. The museum is on the bank of the Grand Canal and from the gardens there is a stunning view of Venice. • Santa della Maria Salute Church is one of Venice’s most iconic landmarks. The church marks the entrance to the Grand Canal and was built to give thanks to God by those who had survived Europe’s plague which killed more than one in three Venetians. • Ca' Rezzonico is a baroque Palazzo with beautifully preserved frescoes and antique furniture. It is on the Grand Canal near the Tiepolo and by one of the last remaining producers of gondolas. • It may ...

The San Marco district of Venice is where visitors to the unique city will find world-famous fashion designer shops featuring names such as Laura Biagiotti, Armani, Camiceria, Dolce & Gabbana, Prada, Valentino, Ceriello, Cima, La Perla, and Kenzo. If you choose a holiday rental in San Marco Venice the shopping opportunities are endless. Laura Biagiotti is at 2400 Calle de le Ostreghe, where you can buy designer clothes that are both stylish and practical. The shop in San Marco offers a superb selection of clothes to suit all occasions and the attendants are welcoming and helpful. Giorgio Armani is located at Calle Goldoni 4412, San Marco, and offers distinct and brilliant designs that offer quality at affordable prices. For those people accompanying shoppers, there are comfortable sofas on which to recline and admire the latest outfits that are being tried on. Camiceria is located at Calle Vallaresso, 1340, San Marco, and is the city’s leading maker of shirts women’s blouses, gowns, dresses and pyjamas. Dolce & Gabbana in San Marco is located on Calle Vallaresso, 1314, and offers world-renowned designs of women’s clothes. Prada is located at Campo San Mois, 1479, and is one of the largest of the Prada shops ...

One of 6 districts in Venice, Cannaregio is the northern section of Venice and lies between the Grand Canal and the lagoon. East / west, it goes from the famous Rialto Bridge to the railway station and in between it offers some lovely bars, cafés and restaurants within a popular residential neighbourhood. Looking around the unique city of Venice, it is best to be on foot, although Cannaregio is on the waterbus route that goes along the Cannaregio Canal and the Grand Canal. The main tourist streets in Cannaregio are Lista di Spagna and the broad Strada Nova where there is a McDonald’s, complemented by souvenir shops and market stalls. To the north of Cannaregio are three canals running in parallel and, to the south, along the Fondamenta della Misericordia there are attractive bars that buzz with classic Venice excitement. There are many places to visit in the Cannaregio district and top of your list should be Ca' d'Oro, which is one of the most beautiful of the palaces that overlooks the Grand Canal. Other exquisite places to visit are legion, but to name just a few it is definitely worth seeing: • Santa Maria dei Miracoli, which is at the eastern end of Cannaregio and ...