Moving Day - Florence to Venice

Really sad to leave Florence, it is an amazing place. We also had a great hotel that was right in the middle of the action, so it was easy to walk everywhere. But now on to Venice.

The first mistake I made is booking our ticket to the wrong station in Venice, instead of going to the main station, we got off early and had to get a cab into town. Ironically our hotel is only a ten minute walk from the station we should have gotten off at. Nothing a $25 cab ride couldn't fix. 

The next thing you need to know is that most of Venice is inaccessible by car, so you need to take a water taxi if you have a long way to go. You can get an all day pass for the water taxis for 20 euros, which is worth it if you have several places to go. If you don't have too far to go, walking might be a better idea as the taxis are slow and the lines are long.

To get started you should get on a water taxi bound for San Giorgio Maggiore, an island just east of Giudecca. The landing is right in front of the 16th-century Benedictine church that is beautiful inside and for 6 euros you can take an elevator up the bell tower for some amazing views of all of Venice. There is a very ritzy hotel right below the church which made me a little sad when I saw how the super rich live, but it's hard to stay sad, with such an amazing view.

If you can, take the water taxi through the Grand Canal, it's a great city tour for the price of a taxi ride. There are hundreds of beautiful buildings and you will not be disappointed.