Venice is the type of place where you check your wallet at the water's edge — or is it? Luckily, Venice can be affordable — you simply have to do your research before you go. Give Venice a little more time, and a little less money, and she'll be an affordable investment in magical holiday memories. Here's how to stay on budget in one of Europe's most expensive cities:
Eating on the cheap
Rule number one: avoid
all restaurants with a menu in six languages, a picture menu of the food or a special tourist menu. Instead, look for busy eateries with no tablecloths, a hand printed Italian menu written on paper and stuffed in an A4 plastic sleeve, and one where there are at least one or two dogs curled up under the tables (which means the locals eat there). One of the best places is
Antica Birreria La Corte (on Campo San Polo near the Rialto Bridge) with a plate of pasta or pizza and a glass of wine coming in at under $14 a head.
If you're okay with eating standing up, try the cicheti, a Venetian version of tapas served at local bars on the island. At Allo Vedova in the Cannaregio district, you can have fist-sized polpette meatballs that will set you back $2, while a tiny glass of house wine poured from a ceramic jug will set you back $0.70 cents. Yes. You read it right: a glass of wine for just fifty-euro-cents.
Breakfast at your hotel can be an expensive indulgence. Instead, pop into the local cafe and sip an espresso at the bar for $1, while a pastry will set you back little more than a $1.35.
Finding a bed
Some will argue you have to stay out of
Venice, in the
Mestre, to get a decent hotel rate, but picking your season and time of year is the main key to sleeping for a sweet price. The low season tends to be from November until just before
Carnevale in February/March. Sundays can be a cheaper option than Fridays and Saturdays, and even some high-end hotels have great stay-for-four, pay-for-three deals. If you're in a group, renting an apartment is an affordable option; particularly as you can also self cater. There are also a good range of B&Bs in the more residential neighbourhoods available, most for under $160 per night.
If you are desperately cash-strapped, consider camping at the Lido, which has sites from an incredible $9 to $16 per night, per person. Just be warned that certain youth bus companies use it as their base during the warmer months, and there's a 99% chance you'll be surrounded by drunken kids on their first European adventure.
On the water
Taking a gondola might seem like the thing to do when in
Venice, but you'll pay for it dearly, with most places charging from at least $110 for a 20-40 minute glide through the water.
Instead, take a vaporetto to tour the Grand Canal at public transport prices. A 60 minute run will cost you $9, or you can buy a three day pass for $45. Hop on at Piazza Reale, and get to the front of the queue to nab the front seats with the best view (it will fill up). If you do get a pass, be sure to check out the other islands in the lagoon including the Lido, Burano and Torchello, mainly during the week when they are less crowded.
If you have your heart set on the gondola experience, take a traghetto across the canal. Set up in awkward pockets where there are no bridges for locals to cross, you pay around $1.30-$2.60 to be rowed in a group across the canal to the other side (just don't sit down — this is a stand-up thing).
However, the best Venetian water experience comes at a bargain p50rice: take a two hour Venetian rowing lesson with Jane Caporal and actually learn how to row a traditional Venetian prawn-tail boat down the canals, just like the gondoliers do for just $68 (with a discounted price of $55 per person if you go with a friend).
Entertainment
If you head to the nearby island of
Murano, most likely you'll be herded the second you step off the ferry into a warehouse to see a glass blowing display, a very impressive skill practised for centuries in Venice. Of course you'll exit through the gift shop, but that doesn't mean you need to buy anything.
St Marks Square is filled with overpriced cafes fronted by string quartets and brass bands. If you sit down at one of the tables, expect a massive surcharge, but there's nothing stopping you from standing back and enjoying the music if you hang out at the back.
But some of the best entertainment comes from doing very little at all in Venice. Give yourself a few days to explore the less touristy neighbourhoods such as Castello, Dorsoduro and Cannaregio, and get lost in the labyrinth of laneways, tiny canals and bridges that remain unmarked on most maps. Venice is particularly quiet at night, so be sure to roam the streets then to avoid crowds and soak up the atmosphere of this incredible city on the sea.
The writer stayed as a guest of the Luna Baglioni, Venice: www.baglionihotels.com
