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- Traveling doesn’t have to break the bank
- How to save money when visiting Venice
- Let’s start with the biggest savings…
- Bucket List Item #1 – Riding a Gondola Down the Grand Canal
- Bucket List Item #2 – Eat Gelato
- Bucket List Item #3 – Overlook the Canal while Eating Pasta and Drinking Wine
- Bucket list item #4 – Sip Limoncello After a Delicious Pasta Dinner
- Bucket list Item #5 – Piazza San Marco
- Bucket list Item #6 – Rialto Market
- Transportation
- Get lost in Venice at Night
- Average Daily Spending
Traveling doesn’t have to break the bank
You don’t have to spend all your Euros on one trip. There are many different avenues of travel and what I like to call, travel personalities.
Are you the type of traveler who is admit about wining and dining in luxury? Do you always need to stay in five star hotels? Do you always take a taxi/Uber everywhere when you travel? You know, the type of traveler who blows their whole travel load on one big extravagant trip once a year or even maybe once every couple of years. Well, then this piece probably isn’t for you unless you are looking to change the way you look at traveling.
I’m talking to my fellow travelers who are in it for the quantity over comfortability. The ones who aren’t afraid to get down, dirty and a bit uncomfortable all in the name of exploring, learning and growing.
It doesn’t matter any which you slice it, there will always be cons and pros to cutting costs when it comes to traveling. Let’s get to the brass tax…
The question you have to ask yourself is, what are you willing to compromise based on how much money you are saving?
Recently, Max and I took a quick and spur of the moment trip to Venice. Anything spur of the moment for us is going to be accompanied by a budget of sorts. Hell, what am I talking about, ANYTHING is accompanied by a budget if Max is involved.
If you have ever met Max, you know his life revolves around excel spreadsheets, budgets and organization. If you’ve ever met me, you know I couldn’t be any more opposite of Max’s inherent need to always have order and organization. When we travel, we meet in the middle.
Before jet-setting off to Italy I had this crazy idea to ask our friends and family to be a part of formulating our bucket list! This idea came to me at around 3am a couple nights before our departure, as of course any good idea must present itself at the witching hour.
Via social media, I put our travel plans in the hands of family and friends. I asked anyone who had ever thought about, dreamt about or read anything about Venice to tell us what they would do in this beautiful city!
I wanted to bring their ideas to life!
We were not disappointed with the many responses!
How to save money when visiting Venice
After arriving at Marco Polo airport we took a quick bus to where we would be staying.
Accommodation in Venice differs greatly. Not to anyones surprise, the closer you are to all the action the more expensive your accommodation.
Right smack dab in Venice the prices of hotels/hostels ranged from $96-$496 per night.
On the outskirts of the city prices were much more to our liking.
Let me tell you, do NOT sleep on a good hostel stay.
I don’t care how old you are, what you saw in a movie or what Sally the influencer said on TikTok about it but hostels are for EVERYONE! It’s an affordable way of traveling!
During our stay we saw people from all walks of life staying at our hostel. From families, younger individuals, older individuals, much older individuals, couples to large groups.
Let’s start with the biggest savings…
The average price for a hotel in Venice is $144 a night in the high season.
We stayed at AO Hostel Venezia Mestre in a private room. The cost was $61.75 per night.
Not only was it an exceptionally well priced stay, but they also offered some extremely fairly priced goodies at the hostel bar such as 4.50€ ($4.60) Aperol Spritz, 3.90€ ($3.98) glasses of wine, 2.90€-4.20€ ($2.96-$4.29) draft beer, 2€ ($2.04) coffee and loads of other reasonably priced drinks!
The hostel also offered a variety of delicious meals and snacks such as pizza for 5.90€ ($6.03), spaghetti alla carbonara for 7€ ($7.17) , fresh fruit salad for 5€ ($5.11) and many others at overly affordable prices! Additionally, they also offered a full European style breakfast for an additional 8.90€ per night.
Total cost of accommodation: $129.49
Savings: $155.51
Bucket List Item #1 – Riding a Gondola Down the Grand Canal
While this was top on my list of things to do in Venice, upon arrival, we quickly realized this dreamy experience that I had romanticized for years wasn’t at all that dreamy. It was none other than an enormous tourist trap.
The cost for the gondola tours was 80€ ($81.94) for a 30 minute ride. The ride was an already predetermined route which in turn, didn’t really leave much time for exploring the Grand Canal and all its beauty!
We opted for a significantly cheaper alternative to explore the Grand Canal. The Venice public water taxi!
The water taxi cost 7.50€ ($7.68) per person and traveled all the way to the very end of the Grand Canal allowing a ton of opportunity to see the entirety of the Grand Canal!
Riding and exploring the Grand Canal: 15€ ($15.36) in total for two people
Savings: 65€ ($66.57)
Bucket List Item #2 – Eat Gelato
How in the world did we save money on a cone of delicious gelato? Well it’s quite a simple concept and it’s something we do most of the time when we travel.
We share!
This allows us to dive head first into snacking around and trying all the delicious treats that a city has to offer.
Max and I are very passionate about not waisting food. By sharing not only does this save us a lot of money but, we also don’t get full as fast and, it reduces the possibility of food waste!
Sharing increases our ability to stuff our faces with multiple different delicious goodies!
Cone of passionfruit gelato: 2€ (2$)
Savings: 2€ (2$)
Bucket List Item #3 – Overlook the Canal while Eating Pasta and Drinking Wine
When I think about a pasta dinner while overlooking a canal in Venice I immediately think, dinner!
here were many dinner options overlooking a canal but most were reservation only and included anywhere from 10-20% added to your bill as a service fee or had a cover charge. With this being said most dinner menu options ranged from 18€-35€ per plate, at minimum.
We opted to find a nice little café that offered many different pasta meals during lunch time. We were able to cut cost due to eating at lunch along with finding a smaller café to order from.
We had a very delicious Penne Al Salmone at Cafe San Marco at the price of 13.00€ ($13.32). Rather than a glass of wine I opted for an Aperol Spritz at the price of 5€ ($5.12).
We also shared this meal which allowed us, not only to save money but, also allowing us to have space in our bellies for more snacking around Venice!
Pasta meal and Aperol Spritz: 18€ ($18.44)
Savings: 24€-42€ ($24.57-$43) minimum
Bucket list item #4 – Sip Limoncello After a Delicious Pasta Dinner
Yes, you guessed it. We did indeed sip on this deliciously sour digestive after a big pasta meal however, again, we did it at lunch time in a cafe rather than dinner time in a traditional restaurant. The cost was 3€ and ONLY 3€. We didn’t have to pay the extra 10-20% because we opted for a small cafe during lunch hours!
Glass of Limoncello: 3€ (3$)
Savings: 0.45€-0.60€
Bucket list Item #5 – Piazza San Marco
If you’ve been around here a bit, you know how much I stress the importance of a perspective change. Not only when it comes to traveling, but in life! If you are new to our blog well, buckle up!
No, I’m kidding!
When traveling you can always find Max and I looking for the highest points. Anywhere from a roof top bar in Hamburg, Germany to mountain tops in Zhangjiajie, China.
Venice was no different!
Piazza San Marco is the city square of Venice. It is home to important government buildings, restaurants and various cafés.
In the middle of all the action, you will undoubtedly come across the beautiful St Mark’s Campanile. The St Mark’s Campanile is the bell tower of St Mark’s Basilica and offers the best view of Venice. At 99 meters tall (324 feet) this is an absolute must do while at the Piazza San Marco.
At the price of 10€ ($10.12) per person, it’s also a reasonably priced activity for the best view of Venice!
I mean, check out that view!
Bucket list Item #6 – Rialto Market
If you are looking for an authentic local experience while in Venice, then look no further!
Do you consider yourself a foodie? If so, then the Rialto Market is a must!
The hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 7:30am-12:00pm for the fish market and Monday through Saturday 7:30am- late for the vegetable and fruit market.
Perfectly located near the Rialto Bridge along the Grand Canal is where you can explore this gastronomic experience and all it has to offer.
The Rialto Market is the key to unlocking the wonders and excitement of Venetian cuisine.
This market was once considered one of the most cosmopolitan corners of Europe.
Sadly, we arrived to late and most of the vendors had already closed up for the day. We recommend getting there early in the morning to have the best experience.
Walking around the Rialto Market: FREE
Transportation
Our hostel was 5.5 miles away from the center of Venice. The average cost of a taxi in the area is 2.54€ ($2.60) per mile at the starting rate of 3.20€ ($3.27). That would be a total coast of 17.17€ ($17.52) each day just to get to Venice.
We opted for a much cheaper route, the train. The local public train of Trenitalia costs 1.40€ ($1.46) per person per way. A bus would also get you there and drop you off right at the Piazzale Roma bus stop for the same price.
Transportation costs into Venice: 2.80€ ($2.93)
Savings: 28.74€ ($29.09)
Get lost in Venice at Night
There is a storybook charm to Venice.
You know when you watch a movie or read a book about a specific place and you can instantly feel the vibe of that location totally and utterly engulf your entire being. As if you are the main character and you have instantly transcend to that location because the pictures and descriptions are just that damn good! So much so, that you immediately get lost in thought or day dreams about the location. You can feel the air, smell the food and hear the sounds.
Venice is a place where daydreams match the reality. Venice is just as dreamy of a location as you could imagine!
During our two days in Venice one of our favorite activities were to put away the google maps and just get lost at night!
Venice is a maze of sorts. There are endless amounts of streets, small alleyways and water lined walking paths to explore and get lost in.
During the day, It’s a relatively busy and fast paced area. But, while the sun is setting you can hear the sound of silverware clinking from all the open windows as families sit down to enjoy a meal together.
You can see couples placed in tiny little private tables along the many canals enjoying a romantic dinner together.
You can see couples dancing in the street as a one man band plays the most romantic music that has ever graced your ears.
The water in the canals become absolutely placid and still. It’s almost as if when the sun begins to set in Venice, Venice takes on a whole new life. A life that reminds us to slow down, be in the moment and just be.
Being our own guide and giving ourselves a free walking tour: FREE
Average Daily Spending
After a quick google search, I found that the average traveler spends €181 ($184) per day in Venice and, this excludes accommodation. As you can see with a little flexibility, research and patients you can visit Venice for a fraction of the price!
Our daily average spending while in Venice was €96 ($99).
With a little research and planning, a day trip is totally doable in this beautiful city! Get in touch with me to plan your next Venice trip.
