I have always wanted to see Venice so I treated my husband to a romantic stay in Venice for just over 5 days and we stayed at Ca San Giorgio. Both Chiara & Silva were really lovely and went out of their way to be helpful in giving advice on how to find places, they booked our first nights meal for us, just round the corner at Al Ponte Megio as we arrived late at night. They helped with info regarding trains, as we had thought of going to Verona, but decided against it as the weather was too miserable in the end the day that we had planned on going.

We had the Altana room with the private terrace - this is a lovely room at the top with a bathroom, good shower, with steps leading up to the private terrace. As the weather wasn't wonderful we didn't really have the opportunity of using the terrace very much. It must be lovely when the weather is warm, early morning, looking over the roof tops of Venice. We had one day of sunshine followed by three days of rain and grey skies, then one and a bit days of mixed sunshine and rain. The breakfast is basic but nice, lots of lovely chocolate or apricot croissants, rolls, ham & cheese slices, jams, fruit juices, tea & coffees.

I bought 'Chow Venice' book which I would recommend as it has some good suggestions or recommendations on places to eat. We did try Il Refolo restaurant one night, lovely pizza, and also went to Piazzeria Ae Oche one night. Both of these being around the Santa Croce area. To be honest, the meal at Piazzeria Ae Oche was a lovely meal and I thought it was the best value for money all round out of all the places that we tried. We ate at a couple of other places around Cannaregio and the Campo San Margherita (main square) as well.

We did the secret tours at Doges Palace, went up St Marks clock tower (you must do that as it is great). We were lucky enough to have good weather when we went up so you could see all over Venice and the views are quite amazing.

We had a vaporetto pass for 72 hours so we ended up going along the grand canel, going out to Lido for an afternoon plus we went over to both Murano & Burano islands the following day. We went to Rialto market, and basically walked all over Venice (several times) during the time we were in Venice. We went to Cannaregio, Dorsoduro, Castello, San Marco, Santa Croce, all the squares etc and basically walked miles and miles! We went round lots of lovely churches, heard some lovely singing around the churches on the sunday morning.

The best buy for a caffe latte & an american coffee was a little cafe next door to a restaurant - I believe its called Bacaro Florian (there is a posher part being a restaurant and then the more casual cafe/bar part to the left of the restaurant) as you could get both drinks for 2.50 euros in total! If you are walking towards the San Marco direction, just before you come into a large square called Campo San Stefano, you pass Chiesa di S.Stefano (Church) and you bear right into a small street (there is a cafe either side of you as you start to turn into this street). The cafe is further down on the right hand side just past a restaurant called Bacaro Florian.

I have to say that the best pizza slices were at Millevoglie di Tarcisio Gelato - they did wonderful pizza and wonderful ice cream!!! There is a choice of pizza slices plus lovely pasties filled with ricotta cheese & spinach or ham & mushrooms!!! This is in the little street at the back of the Friari area and well worth a visit.

The best price for a pint of beer was at the little pub along the street on the left hand side (if you go over the Ponte Scalzi bridge and bear right into Rio Terra Lista, which goes up to Campo San Geremia). I can't remember the full name of this bar but the guy running it is really pleasant and it is the cheapest place for a beer. It has a big guinness sign in the window if that helps in finding it! I bought some lovely merlot wine from a wine place in Cannaregio (main street) which was really reasonable.

All in all, I enjoyed Venice as its quite an experience. If I ever go back to Venice, I would certainly stay at Ca San Giorgio as it is a lovely B&B, and the staff are so helpful. The room was lovely and I would certainly recommend it as the private terrace must be lovely when the weather is good. It's extremely clean, finished to a high standard plus it's really easy to find & within easy walking distance of Rialto, San Marco etc etc. We were really lucky as we were given a discount on the room (for staying several nights, plus given a discount for paying in cash). Venice is an expensive place to stay and price wise, I think that Ca San Giorgio was good value for money. I think that the Santa Croce area has some good places to eat and its nice to be away from all the crowds of people at the end of the day. It's in a good location to be in, as everything is so walkable. Although we really enjoyed Venice, you could really see everything that you want in about 3 days.

We got the ATVO coach both ways from the airport, which only costs 3 euros and is good value for money. It only takes about 20 minutes from the airport to get to Piazzale Roma (bus station) and from there you can easily get the vaporetto buses.

Final tip, if you are looking to buy parmesan cheese to take home with you, the best price is at the Rialta market (little stall on a right hand side corner just as you go into the market with stalls either side of you, leading up to the steps going up to the bridge) otherwise, they sell it at the airport in the shop selling lovely Italian goodies for the same sort of price! Enjoy!