"Venice - The City of Marco Polo" a Venice Travel Page by MikeAtSea

Every time I visit Venice I am torn apart if I should like it or hate it. Yes it is architecturally unique, being a city solely comprising of channels, gondolas and bridges. Yet on every visit I find Venice a tourist trap, with exuberant prices charged and thousands of tourists being pushed from one side of Venice to the other.

The sights that make Venice famous are Piazza San Marco, the Rialto Bridge and Academia. The charm of the old times can at times be found when one leaves the standard tourist routes of all visitors who move from the main parking areas close to Piazza Roma and San Marco on the other side. The city is reached by two ways, the first one is via the bridge that connects Venice with the mainland in Mestre, or the way we arrived by ship.

Having been in Venice a number of times I enjoy it most in the evening or at night. Most of the tourists have left and you can stroll along by yourself. On a full moon lit night the sight of the Palace around Piazza San Marco are simply magnificent and one can imagine the old days, when balls were held with the typical Venetian masks – the days when the wealth made Venice the number one place of trade in the Adriatic Sea.

One of the simple was to explore the city is by water bus, since the public transport here moves also into the canals. The tricky part is if you move from a hotel along the canals to the airport in Mestre on the mainland, you have to move first by water and then by land. One of the beautiful ways to explore the city is to take the Waterbus along the Grand Canal.

Compare prices first when you dine and wine. A glass of wine close to Piazza San Marco may set you back USD 20, and trust me it resembles something what in other countries hobos would drink under a bridge. Yet again if you time it right Venice with its architecture and unique waterways can be one of the most enchanting cities in the world.