"Return To Venice" a Venice Travel Page by AnnS

I first visited Venice in February 2001 and had the best week imaginable. The weather was glorious, I was in wonderful company and the trip just couldn't have been any better.

So for this reason, although I wanted to go back to see more, I was apprehensive because I knew I couldn't better my previous visit and was worried that it would be a disappointment. And perhaps I wouldn't have risked it, had a friend not requested that I take her there. She'd never been and chose it as the venue for our annual December trip together.

Last time I went, I wasn't such a seasoned traveller and settled for the safe option of a package trip. This time, however, I suspected we'd fare better unpackaged as we each wanted our own room and tour operators always stick on hefty supplements for single rooms. Also, we could take advantage of a low-cost flight from our local airport.

So I embarked on one of my Internet 'projects' and found rooms in a wonderful hotel for £65 a night each, including breakfast, and EasyJet return flights for £45 each from London Gatwick. In total, we paid £240 each for 4 days/3 nights, which I thought was very good indeed.

The forecast before we left was awful, with rain expected every day of our trip. I know that's always the risk you take for travelling in winter but I've been very lucky in the past and didn't want my friend's first visit to Venice marred by horrible weather. However, although it was mostly grey and threatening, the heavy rain didn't arrive until about an hour before we left so we managed to do plenty of sightseeing. Also, occasional fog and dull skies made for very atmospheric photographs.

Actually I love Venice in winter, without the crowds and without the canal smells that other people have reported. There were no queues for the sights, we easily got seats on the Vaparetti and very much enjoyed seeing Venice as the Venetians see it.