Six Nights in Venice: A Timeless Italian Romance

Anywhere near San Marco charges triple for a mediocre plate of pasta, we learned that the expensive way on night one. Our hotel room was also smaller and more tired looking than the photos suggested, though the location made up for a lot.

Arriving into Venice by private water taxi with my husband, watching the city rise out of the lagoon, is a memory I will keep forever. The gondola ride down the Grand Canal that same evening as the light faded was impossibly romantic. We also did the cooking class together which turned into the funniest evening of the whole honeymoon, neither of us can cook to save our lives. Burano's candy coloured houses the next day were the perfect quiet contrast to Venice's crowds.

Honeymoon trip and Venice delivered pure romance from the first water taxi ride to the last gondola glide. Highly recommend the cooking class as a fun, low pressure day two activity.

My partner and I have wanted to visit Venice for years and this itinerary hit every note we hoped for. Gondola at dusk, a day trip to colourful Burano, and a cooking class that taught us how to make proper risotto. Six nights is genuinely enough time for Venice if you are not trying to see all of Italy in one trip. Would have loved one more free afternoon just to get lost in the alleys without a plan.

Venice itself was spot on but the hotel let it down. The room looked worn and was noticeably smaller than we had booked, and it felt overpriced for what it was. The gondola and the Burano day rescued the mood.

Booked this for our fifth anniversary and Venice did not disappoint even slightly. The private sunset gondola serenade on the last evening was worth every penny, my wife cried a little.