Budapest to Venice: Attractions and Sights other than St Mark's Square

We have been to several places together so far and the travel experience in Venice was one of our most treasured. Getting to Venice from Budapest is rather easy, with many choices of travel modes from trains to planes. That time, we chose a place in Venice that is right next to the historical landark, Scala Contarini del Bovolo.

A beautiful and very charming sight, arranging our stay there was a breeze. Most of the hotels in Venice are expensive. So it seemed you do not really need compare too much. Just choose the most central and you can have fun getting lost in Venice like what many travelers' recommended. We, Z&Z recommend you the same 'getting lost in Venice' is one of the fun things you can do as part of the exploration and discovery.

A medieval city like Venice offers wonderful sights even within its courtyards such as as this one in the San Marco district.

The place we stay is right next to the infamous spiral staircase and it was right in the back alley. Not the easiest to find at first, but it seemed every corners in Venice is like this. In the mornings, we had every opportunity to see many other tourists hunting down this famous stirs. Curious eyes marveling at its beauty - a unique mixed of Renaissance, Gothic and Byzantine styles. The name of this special architecture built in 1499 was after the snail (as in 'Bovolo' in Venetian dialect). So you can clearly reference it to the spiral form that is so graceful for an architecture to be.

With white arches that leads to a landing overlooking the city - bell towers, tiled roofs and domes of Saint Mark. All these well known Venice attractions are worth to check out. It was a pity we were not able to do so when we were there.

If you notice, there are significant contrasts from the quaint roofs of Venice's smaller residential areas to the ornate official buildings and churches.

It was an adventure in itself to find our way to Scala Contarini del Bovolo after the water bus ride. However, we will never forget that the south-west of the Rialto leads to an unforgettable Venetian yet mysterious sight. Of course, there many restaurants, the grand canal, Basilica Di San Marco Venice, Piazza San Marco, Palazzo Ducale, Burano, Murano are the sights that you must not spend a little time with each.

Read more about Budapest to Venice, Italy Why Venice?.

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BNXS
Edinburgh Photographer
MS Paint art

Venice Carnival 2011 - Boat Parade

Having guests quite often from other continents (especially from Asia) we realized that people prefer to explore the surrounding countries using Budapest as a base. I think this is a great idea, and with a new session on this blog, we would like to give you some ideas on how to manage short excursions from Budapest to enjoy the fun carnivals and festivals in Europe.

Venice Carnival 2011 in Venice, Italy

This first video is about Venice, not so much about the carnival. However, it is a beautifully edited video and it is almost showing Venice very correctly, and very professionally. The title of this video is not the best fit, but I think it is worth to have a look, to have an idea and to feel how Venice is like, especially its atmosphere. Then again, being there is totally a different experience - the smell of the place, the small alleys, the maze-like 'getting lost' sense of fun. These are hard to express in words, neither in a video nor on photographs. You got to be there!

It is rather easy to get to Venice from Budapest, there are many options such as by orangeways buses, or by the EN Euronight trains. Click on to read about our train ride experience to Venice from Budapest .

This second video is about the Boat Parade 2011. I love to see these colourful fancy dresses and costumes and on the boat makes it seemed cumbersome but certainly fun! Love those masks too. How can a carnival be without those mysterious looking masks!! :)

Budapest to Venice

Mestre or Venice: Where to Stay

Getting there by the rail from Budapest, it was just a few minutes walk from the railway station. This part of Mestre is very scenic despite it has a different mood being more modern than Venice itself.

Mestre

If you are planning a trip to Venice, we really do not recommend you to stay in Mestre. Mestre accommodations are much cheaper than Venice and this might be a consideration point for some of you. However, it is not Venice. It is where people who wants to escape from the high water and rising damp.

Venice

''May-stray'' as it is pronounced, is connected via a lagoon bridge called 'Ponte della Liberta' and crossing it by the rail leads you to Piazzale Roma. When you get there, request for a free map of the vaporetto routes.

Buy a tourist ticket which are electronic cards which allow unlimited travel on ACTV water and land buses for 12 hours, 24 hours, 36 hours, 48 hours, 72 hours or 7 days, you can choose any of these that is appropriate for your stay in Venice.

Remember to validate your ticket before you travel. You just hold the card close to the iMob electronic cardreader at the entrance to the vaporetto platform until you hear a beep.

Overall, it is a very tourist friendly place. You can easily catch a vaporetto (the water taxi) or the cheaper alternative vaporetti (the waterbuses).

Here's how to make Budapest as the base to travel to Venice or the charming attraction Scala Contarini del Bovolo.