The view from our AirBnB window! Don’t worry…. no one can peep in… We stuck our heads out the window to get this shot. We loved staying on a small canal!

Venice

Go to Venice, check into your hotel or Airbnb, and Waze the nearest playground. I dare you. What you will find? There are none! The closest are on the mainland. I asked a resident of Venice, “Well, where the heck have kids played around here these past millennia?” And the answer, “In the squares, streets, and around the tourists of course!”

Venice is the romantic dream.. The epitome of Italy: gondolas, gondoliers singing “O sol o mio..”, canals, St.Mark’s Square… Romantic it is! Kid-friendly- not so much, (in American standards, of course.)

I took this this award-winning shot, just as a major storm was rolling in over Venice at dusk. It was magical and pituresque…. (but our kid was freaking out with the approaching lightening and thunder!)

Stay.

Before you get to Venice, you need to park. Somewhere. (Because you can’t drive around Venice, silly!) There’s a 100 parking lots near the port (Porto Marghera). If you’re going during the busy summer months, it’s best to reserve a spot ahead of time. Try the ParClick in Porto Marghera. Then a block walk to the ferry, also called “Vaporetto” that will cart you over to Venice. (I recommend reserving these tickets ahead of time as well online, during the busy summer months.) Here’s the link water buses of Venice to get over there (and then water taxi around).

Prices of hotels are high in the summer in Venice, and because we were looking for a bit of extra space and a kitchen (having a kid in tow), we opted for a B&B here, which was a great choice! We stayed at a lovely canal-view Airbnb right in the heat of Venice. We were not on the Grand Canal (which would have been quite busy and noisy, but rather a small, less traveled canal, perfect for the occasional gondolier who would paddle by, perhaps once an hour.) Kitchen was perfect, and AC unites greatly appreciated, as it was definitely hot and humid in July. (Make sure you have an AC unit wherever you stay, if its during the summer months!)

Be ready to walk everywhere in Venice. Water taxis are relatively cheap… but its really the novelty… and those romantic 2-person gondolas run about 80 euros a person! Definitely more fun to walk through the narrow streets with their old shops and cafes.

Our kiddo loved the beautiful handmade masks in the stores that lined the streets of Venice.

Eat.

Venice was one of our last stops on our 2-week trip, and by the time we made it here, I think we were over Italian food, as I cannot recall any memorable restaurants, except one for the view (over-looking the Grand Canal). We made quite a few meals in our AirBnb to avoid the lines everywhere, and the prices were of course, jacked up in this pricey city-island. The only unique memory my hubby has is that we joined friends for dinner in the Ghetto Embracio, and our host had horse-meat for dinner (quite common across Italy). It was also dreadfully hot during our short stay here, and so gelato 2-3x a day was not uncommon for us! (Have fun trying to find restaurants with AC, as there are far and few!)

Play.

No playgrounds here! We made it work…. the old fashioned Venetian method of taking your kid to a “square” with other kids, grabbing some cool gelato, and letting them run around, chasing the pigeons.. (i.e. Saint Marks’s Square!) Our daughter loved petting and feeding the local cats and meeting up, playing tag with other kids from around the globe. We did take a day trip out to Murano Island- where they are known for blowing beautiful glass! Gorgeous stores and mom and pop glass blowing businesses dot the island with snack shops and small restaurants are tucked in between. It was quite hot that day, and with little shade, we recommend the sunscreen, hats, and lot of water and gelato if you’re there in the summer months!