San Marco Square in Venice, Italy: A Basilica, A Campanile and A Clock

If you are a first-time visitor to Venice, Italy, and are wondering where to start when touring around this fascinating city, my recommendation is to begin in the iconic Piazza San Marco - also known as Saint Mark's Square - a wide, open-air plaza surrounded by many of Venice's key attractions. From the square, you can easily access the famous Basilica di San Marco, the towering Campanile, the unusual Astrological Clock, along with many museums, including the Doge's Palace.

In fact, you could easily spend a couple of days exploring what San Marco Square has to offer!

When we visited Venice, Italy in October of 2018, we only had three days to experience the entire city, and so we chose to spend just one day in San Marco Square. This post will focus on our tour of the Basilica, the ride up to the top of the Campanile, and the Astrological Clock. To read more on the Doge's Palace, you will need to read my future blog post about it.

Cruising the Canals: A Gondola Ride through Venice, Italy

One of the most iconic activities to participate in when visiting beautiful Venice, Italy is undoubtedly floating through the narrow canals and waterways on a graceful gondola. Seeing Venice from the seat of a boat gives travellers a view of the city that can't be seen from just strolling the streets.

In October of 2018, I was lucky enough to find myself in historic Venezia, and of course, made sure that I had the chance to ride in a gondola at least once during our stay.

If you were ever wondering, "Is a gondola ride worth the cost?" or "Are gondola rides just cheesy tourist traps?", I beg you to take the time to read this post in order to help you answer those questions.

Riding the Rails: Train Ride from Vienna to Venice

I am a proud Canadian, loyal to my country, in love with its beauty, aware of its size and the variety of landscapes it boasts from coast to coast. Because Canada is so big, travelling from one province to the other, or from Canada to its neighbouring nation of the United States, either requires a multi-day road trip or more commonly, a few hours flying time.

Hopping from place to place via train is not something you do in Canada.

Which is why, when we visited Austria in October of 2018, I was more than ready to ditch airports and car rental shops in favour of cruising to Venice, Italy on a smooth and sleek Eurorail high-speed train.

If you've never travelled around Europe by train, then I highly suggest (next time you find yourself hopping from one European country to the next) that you give it a try.