How To Visit Venice On A Budget

Venice is often referred to as “the sinking city” – a statement which is true, but there is also no major rush to visit before it’s too late, Venice has been sinking for the last 1,000 years.

However, at the time they built the city, there was no such thing as global warming or tourists, so they never prepared for raising water levels and the 20 million visitors that would crowd the small islands some 1,000 years later …

But they are working on it, since Venice needs to be saved – it’s beautiful, unique – and also a money-making gem.

Venice has in a way become a victim of its own popularity, it’s such a beautiful and unique place, but it comes at a price – a high one…

Before I went there I had heard about the exorbitant prices, the crazy amount of tourists and the feeling that nobody lives there anymore – like a ghost town …

Well – you know us, we stopped blindly believing in what we read online a long time ago.

You realize that people online love to exaggerate, and even if they were right about some things, there is always a way to get around those things and still have a great time …

Here is a list of things we did to save money while at the same time making the most out of our visit to Venice:

• We avoided the expensive hotels by staying at a cheaper one in Padova, a town 20 minutes away from Venice, using our InterRail passes to take a free train to Venice for the day.
• We avoided the big tourist crowds by starting early in the morning – at this time the streets were close to empty, and you could enjoy the melancholic alleys and quietness of the town – alone.
• We came here before the big tourist season, and the locals hadn’t fled the town, the kids were still playing football in the squares – the town was vibrant and alive with Italian flare.
• We avoided the expensive Gondolas and Vaporettos by simply walking – it’s about compromising, and the Gondolas didn’t seem to be worth 79 Euro for ONLY an hour…
• We avoided the expensive food by eating away from the touristy areas – a full-sized pizza for only 3 Euro was what we had for lunch.
• A cappuccino at St Marco’s square costs a whopping 9 Euro, while a few blocks away it costs 2.5 Euro.
• An ice cream went from 2.20 Euro to 1.10 closer to the train station 5 minutes away.

You get the idea – it’s only expensive if you can’t be bothered to look around – so take that time, do a bit of research since Venice really can be enjoyed by anyone on any budget – as long as you make a bit of an effort!

Share your thoughts - have you been to Venice? What did you think of the prices?