City trip to Venice - romantic holiday or just a tourist trap

Once to Venice, a must-see holiday destination. A romantic trip for couples. Or is this city trip just a tourist trap these days? 

This year was my first time in Venice. It's always a must for me, you should visit this famous city once in your life. The anticipation was huge, but was it worth it? Would I still say after the day that it is a must? Or was I rather disappointed? In this article, I would like to tell you what my day was like, whether I would recommend this „Venice city trip“ to others and what my impressions were.

The journey to Venice

Was the journey over the marvellous bridge complicated, what is the best and easiest option for reaching Venice? There are plenty of options. By public transport, bus and tram or take the wheel yourself and opt for a car or bike. I've had experience of travelling by bike, but also by bus. Which of these two options did I personally prefer and which would I choose?

Bus

We travelled by bus from Lido di Jesolo to Venice. The first difficulty is that if you don't travel much by public transport in your own country, it's not exactly easier in a foreign country. Make sure you allow enough time to buy your ticket. Do you want a return journey or just a single journey, are children, senior citizens or babies travelling with you? This can all take a little longer, depending on how well you speak the local language or how well the ticket seller can speak German. Finding the right bus can also take some time. So it's better to arrive a little too early than too late.

Once you have overcome these initial difficulties, you are as good as at your destination. Now it's just a question of time, as the bus has other stops, the journey is of course more time-consuming than travelling by car. Nevertheless, I would always prefer the bus or public transport to the car. As soon as you start travelling by bus, you can switch off and relax. And when I look at the traffic on the bridge to Venice, travelling by car would be far too stressful for me.

Bicycle

My clear favourite. We did the whole thing with our Cycle tour - from Salzburg to Jesolo connected. There is an extra cycle path, you don't have to deal with all the traffic and, to my surprise, there was a yawning emptiness on the cycle path and you could really enjoy the ride. I can't say whether this was only dependent on the day or whether the cycle path is generally less used. In Venice, you are no longer allowed to ride your bike and you are also not allowed to push your bike - there are signs everywhere saying that you will pay a €100 fine for this offence. There is also a solution for this, immediately after the bridge there is a „bicycle underground car park“ with plenty of spaces where you can lock your bike in secure boxes. Costs approx. 10€ for 24 hours. For me, this is definitely the most relaxed and beautiful way to get to Venice.

A trip to „Venezia“, a city holiday - what were my impressions?

Venice is a beautiful old city. The narrow streets and the ageing buildings are bursting with charm. The view from the Rialto Bridge on the Canale Grande and the Gondoleros, was a very special place for me as an amateur photographer. The large, expansive main square, St Mark's Square or Piazza San Marco is simply marvellous. As you can see, I love city trips, beautiful old buildings and the countless alleyways. So if you have a thing for old cities, you will definitely get your money's worth here. As far as prices are concerned, the further you go towards St Mark's Square, the more expensive the whole experience becomes. I wouldn't recommend going directly to the main square for coffee and cake. For me, however, this was not a major drawback, as there are plenty of alternative options and you are not forced to consume something in Piazza San Marco.

My conclusion - Why a one-off visit to Venice is absolutely enough for me.

I was really flashed by the Venice city trip, both positively and negatively. It was a great experience to see this beautiful old city once. So why is a one-off visit enough for me, even though I haven't said a single bad word about it so far? Quite simply - the enormous crowds. Venice is completely overrun and loses so much of its charm as a result. Just getting from A to B in pairs takes a lot of time, let alone if you're travelling with a dog or pushchair. You really have to queue for every photo at a beautiful or well-known spot because it's almost impossible to take a snapshot without crowds of people. I would say once in Venice is enough. For me, it was really nice despite all that, as the city itself is well worth seeing. So a holiday destination that you MUST see, a romantic getaway for couples or a pure tourist trap - I would say a bit of everything.