Travel: Venice in Spring 2015

I feel very lucky to have spent the bank holiday weekend in Venice with my Mum and younger sister - it was a really lovely weekend of getting lost, shopping, sights and drinking Prosecco! This was my first time in Italy (not including a day trip I took from Austria in the 1980s) and I fell in love with it.

From Marco Polo airport, we took the scenic route on the Linea Arancio, weaving through the Grand Canal to our hotel, alighting at Giglio and navigating via St. Mark's Square to our hotel near Arsenale.

Grand Canal

My sister pre-booked tickets for the Basilica, which saved us from the long queue snaking down one side of St. Mark's Square (entry is free, but if you reserve it is €2). It is well worth paying to go upstairs via the steep narrow staircase for a fantastic view over the square.

San Marco Basilica

View from San Marco Basilica

View over to Giudecca from our hotel

My favourite time was hopping off a vaporetto and getting lost trying to find the Rialto Mercado - although it isn't possible to get really lost! At the Rialto bridge, there was a huge crush of people, and I was glad to get out into the quieter streets again.

A trip to Murano was our planned itinerary for the afternoon and it was very warm for early May. Again, it is a popular tourist destination and the world and his wife seemed to want to get on our vaporetto at the same time. If you are planning on visiting Murano or any of the other islands, my advice is to visit early and return early to avoid the crowds. A day's vaporettto pass which will include the fare to Murano, Burano and Torcello costs €20.

Our final day was spent at the Doge's Palace (€18) and the famous Bridge of Sighs.

Venice is such a beautiful place, and one which I can see myself returning to again and again - I already have a wish list of things that I want to do on my next visit.

Love Mrs Jones x

We stayed at Ca' Formenta - which I would highly recommend.