Venice is a very expensive city. But, you can dine cheaply if you know where to look.
Sure, you can drop hundreds on the Art, Gardens and Lagoon tasting menu at Ristorante Glam, but Venice also has a culinary tradition that only costs a few Euro.
Cicchetti are little dishes, like Tapas, that are served in little bars called Bacari. Cicchetti is a catch-all for the little snacks piled high in display cases. Mostly you’ll see crostini (little slices of bread) topped with all kinds of deliciousness like cheese, veggies, eggs, seafood, in all kinds of creative preparations and combinations.
But Cicchetti is more than that. Bacari also have Polpette. Now, Polpette are commonly fried meatballs in Italy. But, in Venice they’re more than that, often fried croquettes of potato and veg or a mixture of seafood.
My favorite Polpette is at H2NO Enobirrateca a chill Bacari and beer bar in the San Polo neighborhood. They serve Polpette in adorable repurposed sardine cans.
Venice’s Marco Polo Airport has direct flights to most of Europe with a few (mostly seasonal) flights to North America. Trains and buses connect Venice to the rest of Italy.
It is easy to take the bus from the airport to the main station in Venice. Or, you can take a boat to the city. Private boats are luxurious and expensive. But, there are also public ferries from the airport that can take you to Venice. While the ferries are slower and make lots of stops, they’re also quite scenic. If I have time, I’ll take the ferry and think of my time on the boat as a less expensive sight seeing tour. Follow the blue signs in the airport to the ferry terminal. Note that lines can be quite long, especially during high season. You can save a little time by purchasing tickets in advance.
Brent Petersen is the Editor-in-Chief of Destination Eat Drink. He currently resides in Setubal, Portugal. Brent has written the novel “Truffle Hunt” (Eckhartz Press) and the short story collection “That Bird.” He’s also written dozens of foodie travel guides on Destination Eat Drink, including several in Italy. Brent’s podcast, also called Destination Eat Drink, is available on all major podcasting platforms and is distributed by the Radio Misfits Podcast Network.
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