A Romantic Short Break Holiday in Venice

Looking for a romantic holiday destination? There are lots of romanic places, especially in Europe, and Venice is no doubt one of them.

This city essentially does all the hard work for you. Venice is often considered one of the most romantic cities in the world, with its charming canals, historic architecture, and intimate atmosphere. 

The Venetian landscape has sent poets, artists, and composers into raptures for centuries, and on every corner there’s literature, art, and inspiring architecture dripping from the walls.

It’s virtually impossible not to get swept up in the romanticism of Venice. In fact, I’m convinced being somewhere like Venice is a sure way to solidify any relationship no matter how new or old.

After dating for only a couple of months, my boyfriend, Alex, and I decided to go somewhere together, and we chose Venice for our first trip away together.

 Well, we’re still together so it that’s saying something.

Since we loved exploring the alleyways and museums together, I thought I’d share with you some highlights, paricularly if you’re looking for a romantic getaway.

Here’s a romantic travel guide to help you plan a memorable and enchanting experience in Venice:

Holiday in Venice – the romantic guide

For some, a holiday can be the first time you really spend a great deal of time together. You’re in each others shoes day and night. A bit daunting, right?

New things which you had never noticed about each other might appear. It’s like being held up against the glare of the sun, for all the finer details to be magnified. Cracks may erupt and flaws might surface…

There’s some truth to the common phrase, ‘a holiday makes or breaks a relationship’.

So needless to say, there’s an element of pressure riding on your first holiday. However, just remember, if you feel like you need space, just communicate it, don’t leave your partner in the dark. 

Tips on how to travel well together

• Listen – give space when needed and don’t sweat the small things.
• Compromise – do you have different interests? If so, find a way to make that you both get to do what you want. Maybe you can choose one thing you want to do, followed by something that your partner wants to do. Maybe you choose where you want to go for dinner the first night, and you partner gets to choose where to go for dinner the second night. You get the idea.
• Don’t overthink – be in the moment. I promise you’ll experience and feel more. In other words, go with the flow.

When it doesn’t exactly go to plan…

It’s normal to want everything to be perfect but that usually never happens. At least not for me, and the first night of my trip was going to be no exception.

Alex was introduced to my allergies.

After a perfect first day of exploring Venice by foot, we headed back to the hotel to freshen up before going back out for something to eat. I decided to have a shower and used some of the shower gel provided by the hotel.

Big mistake.

After about twenty-minutes, my nose started to tingle, and within ten minutes’ it had massively swollen up. I must have been allergic to the shower gel.

What’s more, the embarrassment I felt heightened the throbbing sensation on my nose, and my eyes started to feel itchy too. Soon enough my nose had doubled in size and my eyes looked like two curled up baby mice. They were pink, weird, and weeping.

“The vision of perfection” said Alex, bringing some light relief to the situation.

Well, needless to say our first night in Venice wasn’t a resounding success. Our plans of a romantic meal were thrown out of the window, and replaced by a rather dubious takeaway meal that Alex had fetched and brought up to our hotel room. I didn’t want to go out and he respected my wishes.

Luckily, after taking over the advised amount of anti-histamines (which I’m not advising anyone does) I awoke to find my face was back to normal.

Thankfully, no more time in Venice was spent hiding indoors – even when the heaven’s opened…

When it rains in Venice, it really rains. Bring a raincoat just incase, otherwise you’ll have to buy one of these plastic covers like Alex lol.

Discover art at the Guggenheim

It might be small, but Peggy’s museum is perfectly formed with a lovely sculpture garden and rooms filled with some of the greatest artists of Modern Art.

Read more: Exploring Venice and the Guggenheim

Indulge in the food and wine

During my holiday in Venice, I fell in love with all the cicchetti bars dotted around the city. Inside these places you can buy a glass of house wine for only €1. So cheap! These wines are complemented with a delicious array of Venetian style tapas. Honestly, I could have spent my whole holiday in Venice just going from one cicchetti bar, to another.

When you’re after something more substantial, I would avoid the restaurants around St Mark’s Square. You’ll pay a premium. Instead, opt for one of the lovely restaurants with a canal view. The setting is much more intimate and the views more scenic.

If you’re into Romantic Poets, then why not head over to Caffe Florian inside the Piazza? It’s so old that Lord Byron himself drank there!

The Leonardo Da Vinci Museum

If you’re not sure what to expect, this museum concentrates less on his art, and more on Da Vinci’s scientific discoveries. I wouldn’t exactly call this romantic, but Alex had fun nerding out at all the inventions.

Loads of Da Vinci’s ideas have been reconstructed into life-size models to give you an idea of his visions. One of these includes a flying machine! If you’re after his art, then you may be disappointed, but if you’re into his inventions then I recommend you waste no more time loitering outside.

You can have a go on lots of his inventions too, which makes it a great place to go with children. This place should ignite your sense of wonder. This dude could really think outside the box. It’s something Da Vinci did all the time. He was a true visionary!

Website: www.leonardoavenezia.com

Roam around the side streets

If you roam around and get lost in the maze of Venice, you’re sure to stumble across quirky little pieces of art and small exhibition spaces.

And the rest…

Where we stayed during our holiday in Venice

Alex and I stayed at Hotel Saturnia & International Venezia which I’d recommend to anyone.  It’s located just 5 minutes’ from St Marks’ square but since there are no cars in Venice it was very quiet at night.

You can walk to all the main tourist attractions by foot, and the canal is nearby if you need to get a water taxi or boat. Perhaps best of all is the inviting and cosy atmosphere which has been cultivated over 5 generations to ensure the long running of this lovely hotel.

Final thoughts

They say a holiday can make or break a relationship, so make things easy by choosing Venice.

Where was your first holiday together?