They say a holiday can make or break a relationship, so make things easy by choosing Venice.
This city essentially does all the hard work for you. Venice is often considered one of the most romantic cities in the world, with its charming canals, historic architecture, and intimate atmosphere.
You’d be hard pressed to want to break-up after a trip to Venice. Its landscape has sent poets, artists and composers into raptures for centuries, and on every corner there’s literature, art and inspiring architecture dripping from the walls.
It’s virtually impossible not to get swept up in romanticism of Venice. In fact, being somewhere like Venice is a sure way to solidify any relationship no matter how new or old.
After dating for only a couple of months, my now boyfriend, Alex, and I decided to go somewhere to together, and we chose Venice for our first trip away together.
Well, we’re still together so it didn’t have any adverse effects!
Since we loved exploring the alleyways and museums together, I thought I’d share with you some highlights, paricularly if you’re looking for a romantic getaway.
Here’s a romantic travel guide to help you plan a memorable and enchanting experience in Venice:
Romantic guide to Venice
Tips on how to travel well together
For some, a holiday can be the first time you really spend a great deal of time together. You’re in each others shoes day and night.
New things which you had never noticed about each other might appear, it’s like being held up against the glare of the sun, for all the finer details to be magnified. Cracks may erupt and flaws might surface…
There are usually two common responses when this happens:
1. You end up liking that person even more for these so-called imperfections.
2. You can’t believe you didn’t noticed them sooner, if you had, you definitely wouldn’t be on holiday together!
So needless to say, there’s a lot of pressure riding on your first holiday. Hopefully you’ll all experience the first situation, but if you feel like you need space, just communicate it, don’t leave your partner in the dark.
When it doesn't exactly go to plan...
It’s normal to want everything to be perfect but that usually never happens. At least not for me, and the first night of my trip was going to be no exception after Alex was introduced to my allergies.
After a perfect first day of exploring Venice by foot, we headed back to the hotel to freshen up before going back out for something to eat. I decided to have a shower and used some of the shower gel provided by the hotel. However, about twenty-minutes after being in the shower, my nose started to tingle, and within 20 minutes’ it had massively swollen up. I must have been allergic to the shower gel.
What’s more, the embarrassment I felt heightened the throbbing sensation on my nose, and my eyes started to feel itchy too. Soon enough my nose had doubled in size and my eyes looked like two curled up baby mice. Pink, weird and weeping.
“The vision of perfection” said Alex, bringing some light relief to the situation.
Well, needless to say our first night in Venice wasn’t a resounding success. Our plans of a romantic meal were thrown out of the window, and replaced by a rather dubious takeaway meal which Alex fetched and brought up to our hotel room. I didn’t want to go out and he respected my wishes.
Luckily, after taking over the advised amount of anti-histamines (which I’m not advising anyone does) I awoke to find my face was back to normal, and no more time in Venice was spent hiding indoors – even when the heaven’s opened…
The only flaw I really noticed about Alex on our first trip together, was his complete and utter inability to read maps.
He could hold it upside down and it would not make the least bit of difference. And what would he say my flaw was? Probably that I like reading maps too much. He was always huffing and puffing every time I stop to look at the map. He liked the idea of getting lost in Venice, and to be honest, so did I sometimes. There’s something romantic about it, eh?
So, with my map in hand, here are some of the things we got up to in Venice:
Discover art at the Guggenheim
It might be small, but Peggy’s museum is perfectly formed with a lovely sculpture garden and rooms filled with some of the greatest artists of Modern Art.
Read more: Exploring Venice and the Guggenheim
Indulge in the food and wine
I fell in love with all the cicchetti bars dotted around the city, inside these places you can buy a glass of house wine for only €1, and these wines are complemented with a delicious array of Venetian style tapas.
When you’re after something more substantial, I would avoid the restaurants around St Mark’s Square, where you’ll pay a premium. Instead, opt for one of the lovely restaurants with a canal view. The setting is much more intimate and the views more scenic.
If you’re into Romantic Poets, then why not head over to Caffe Florian inside the Piazza? It’s so old that Lord Byron himself drank there!
The Leonardo Da Vinci Museum
If you’re not sure what to expect, this museum concentrates less on his art, and more on Da Vinci’s scientific discoveries.
Loads of his ideas have been reconstructed into life-size models to give you an idea of his visions – one of these include a flying machine! If you’re after his art, then you may be disappointed, but if you’re into his inventions then I recommend you waste no more time loitering outside.
You can have a go on lots of his inventions too, which makes it a great place to go with children. This place should ignite your sense of wonder for thinking outside the box – it’s something Da Vinci did all the time. He was a true visionary!
Roam around the side streets
If you roam around and get lost in the maze of Venice, you’re sure to stumble across quirky little pieces of art and small exhibition spaces.
And the rest...
Where we stayed in Venice
Alex and I stayed at Hotel Saturnia & International Venezia which I’d recommend to anyone. It’s located just 5 minutes’ from St Marks’ square but since there are no cars in Venice it was very quiet at night.
You can walk to all the main tourist attractions by foot, and the canal is nearby if you need to get a water taxi or boat. Perhaps best of all is the inviting and cosy atmosphere which has been cultivated over 5 generations to ensure the long running of this lovely hotel.
10 Responses
How sweet! Time to find mysel a boy to drag traveling with me 😛 But in all seriousness, that’s CRAZY about your allergy! And his response was priceless 🙂 Glad you had a great trip! Italy has always had my heart.
Haha snap! That’s the main reason why I have a boyfriend – they’re good for dragging around countries! 😀
Well I’m sure you have no problems attracting them… the only problem you must face is never being at shore for long enough!!
Wow! Romantic Getaway with Justin Bieber? 😉
Love two last photos. You look cute together.
Haha he’s put on two stone since these photos, so hopefully any likeness to Justin Bieber has been wiped out! 😀
The first time I went away with my wife was to Hull – more romantic than you might think! But if we could have afforded it at the time, it would have been Venice definitely. Did you have drinks at Florian? We paid €30 for two glasses of Pinot Grigio there. You don’t get prices like that in Hull!
I’ve been meaning to go to Hull for years, but just haven’t got round to it! It’s not far from me at all!
Sadly not, I had intention to but the price put me off – especially after I had been basking in my €1 glasses of wine! No, no, you definitely don’t get prices like that in Hull!
You two are adorable! I’m delighted to hear that you can actually buy drinks for 1€ – I thought Venice was so expensive! What time of the year did you go?
I’m forwarding this post to the boyfriend right away – maybe he takes it as a little Valentine’s Day inspiration 🙂
Yes, there are lots of places to get drinks for 1 or 2 Euros! Or if you have your own bottle, there are places where you can get them filled up for really cheap! There are still places that are very expensive, especially around St Mark’s Square – but as soon as you move away from there prices become much more reasonable i.e. big pizzas for 5 Euros.
I went in October… but I think the best time to go would be late Sept. for better weather.
Hehe, boyfriends need a little direction sometimes 😉
Holiday trips can change your mood completely. A good one can cheer your life and get you closer to your buddies. Choose a good destination and you are halfway through to have a great a trip.
Ahhh Peter, I could not have put it better myself!