Where to stay in Venice on a budget?
The next stop of our Italian viaggio was Venice after Florence. It was our tenth day of non stop travelling and we were damn exhausted. We of course booked a train from Firenze Santa Maria Novella stazione (Florence central) to Mestre station of Venezia as flight tickets were horrendously expensive.
Venice had been my dream city as long as I can remember. I mean I first got this city's beautiful glimpses on a Discovery Kids Show. I was 11 years old that time. The boy who was featured in the show, was of the same age. He was a rich kid; I mean he had a house by the Grand Canal and had a private bot to navigate the waters. Of course these things became apparent to me when I grew up. They had spaghetti for dinner and the famous Venetian Carnival was shown. Those things got etched in my mind and I had wanted to visit Venice ever since. When I actually got the opportunity to visit this historical city, I missed the actual joy of staying beside the canals. I still don't know which is the best neighborhood to stay in Venice.
We always choose city centres for our hotels while travelling. Also you know my love for swimming pools. Finding a city centre hotel with a nice pool within our budget becomes very tough. And when you are looking for properties in expensive places like Venice, it's a gruelling task to find such place! The famous Hollywood movie The Tourist was shot in Hotel Danielli. Hotels in San Marco could be just dreamt of. So we had two options. Either opt for a lavish Mestre Venice hotel or go for a dingy place near the canal at triple its price! It was a really tough choice. There were not many things to do in Mestre.
When my partner showed me the pictures of Camping Village Jolly, I immediately fell in love with the vast grounds and the myriads of activities. I asked him to book the place then itself and did not bother to look for other places. Of course he tried explaining me that Marghera in Mestre is not the Venice I had been dreaming for years. But who cared? Me the map reading challenged did not understand how far it was. When we reached the railway station of Venice, I realised we were on other side of the river in another island.
The journey was seemingly endless; unlike a Kolkata to Guwahati flight which is just an hour and 15 minutes. There was a long train ride (5 hours) and then a long bus ride followed by half an hour of walking with heavy luggage. Well what had happened could not be reverted. However the village itself was so beautiful that it made me forget all the problems in my life!
We stayed in a wooden cottage for the first time. It was like I was living in some other city which had no connection with Italy whatsoever! As much as I would have cherished gazing at the canals at night; I loved every moment spent in Marghera. Although it was very brief as we were in 'Real Venice' 90% of our waking time! Nevertheless I am unsure where to stay and where not to stay in Venice! It's totally what you want in the end!
9 comments
Stunning are all the pictures awesome location to visit.
ReplyDeleteI am so sad that I didn't know about this a few months ago when we went to Venice. Thanks for sharing!
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Great tips, I love Venice, beautiful picture
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Ah I'm so jealous!!! Venice looks so beautiful! Wishing I was there right now!!
ReplyDeleteXO, Jessi
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looks like a great place to stay!!
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http://anoddgirl.blogspot.com.au
Thanks for sharing!<3
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It was probably the smarter option to find a place to stay outside of Venice, because the Camping Village looks huge! It looks like you got the best of both worlds -being able to spend the day time in Venice and then being able to relax in this spacious place afterwards!
ReplyDeleteNice to see this part of Venice and your honest story about your long and arduous but scenic trip. I would love to do this too as I love travelling but I don't think hubby would have the patience to travel so long in the road haha. Can't wait to see more of your travels.
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Enjoyed your travel story with wonderful pictures... :-)
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