Venice

Madrid

Venice Venice

City Overview

Venice, one of the great towns of the Renaissance, a city built on the water. It consists of 118 small islands and is connected by 177 waterways and 401 bridges. Venice is known as the “water city”, “Hundred Island City” and “Bridge City”. There is one of the most beautiful squares in the world, "St. Mark's Square", with a beautiful Grand Canal, a resurrected Phoenix Opera House, a sad bridge of sorrows by Xu Zhimo, a breathtaking cloister, here is a Venetian painting. The birthplace of the party is still the location of many movie clips.

Due to the numerous river courses, the whole of Venice is car-free, replaced by a unique water bus and the traditional transport tool Gondola.

Must Visit Attractions

St. Mark's Square Piazza San Marco

St. Mark's Square is the central square of Venice, Italy. In Venice, St. Mark's Square is the only square known as “Piazza”, and the other squares are called “Campi”. St. Mark's Square is unique in the squares of European cities. It is located in the heart of the city, but it is not as noisy as other squares, thanks to the tranquil waterways of Venice. As a landmark in Venice, St. Mark's Square is particularly popular with tourists, photographers and pigeons. In the 19th century, the French emperor Napoleon once praised it as "the most beautiful living room in Europe."

Transportation: Walk along the Piazza San Marco sign and take the water bus to Piazza San Marco/San Zaccaria/Vallaresso.

Venice Grand Canal

Venice's Grand Canal is a must-see for tourists. It is also a landmark of Venice. There are many boats on the canal. The black and beautiful boats, which are made by uniformed boatmen, are the sights that many tourists like to take. ferry.

Colored Island Burano

Burano Island, also known as the Color Island, is about 7 km from Venice. It is famous for its lace textiles and colorful houses on the island. It is regarded as one of the “most colorful places in the world” by many international magazines in the world. It is a paradise for color and a breeding ground for artists Baldassarre Galuppi and Remigio Barbaro. Here, the traveler can see the reflection of the colored houses in the surrounding river. It is recommended to watch the sunset on the island in the evening, and the sunset over the houses is beautiful.

Transportation: Take the ACTV 12 water bus at the Fondamenta Nove water bus stop for about 42 minutes; take the ACTV 12 water bus at the Faro station in Murano for about 33 minutes.

Venice Bridge of Sighs Ponte dei Sospiri

The Bridge of Sighs is behind the Governor's Office. It used to be the bridge that the prisoner passed through the Governor's Office to the back prison. Because the prisoner often repented and sighed after passing the bridge. There is also an interesting legend. A death row prisoner saw the former lover in the other side of the bridge and was intimate with the new love, and could not help but sigh deeply. The Bridge of Sighs has since become a place where lovers can witness love. It is said that lovers can kiss each other for the rest of their lives under the bridge. The film "A Little Romance" is here to capture the scene. Standing on the Bridge of Sighs, you should be able to truly understand that one step ahead is hell, and one step back is heaven.

Address: Piazza San Marco, 1, 30100 Venezia VE, Italy

Gourmet & Shopping & Accommodation

• ##### Gourmet

In Venice, you can't eat Italian food. Venice also has some of its own characteristics. The biggest feature of Venetian cuisine is the ingenious combination of seafood and land. As the origin of delicious wines, the red and white wines are very famous. When you arrive in Venice, don't miss it.

• ##### Accommodation

Hotel prices in Venice are generally high, especially at the highest prices in the city centre. St. Mark's Square is the heart of Venice and is close to many attractions. It is very convenient to travel here. Restaurants, souvenir shops, sights and places to go to Gondola are all here, but this is also the highest price in Venice. If you have budgetary considerations, but you want to go deep into Venice and want to live in Venice Island, the Venetian Island near the Venezia Santa Lucia train station is more suitable for budget travellers.

• ##### Shopping

Lace, glass frit, leather goods, pulp and so on are the special handicrafts of Venice. The famous production site for lace is Burano Island. The production center for glass frits since 1291 is Murano, where unique decorative pieces and precious pearls used in the garment industry have been produced. There is still a leather and pulp processing industry in Venice, mainly for masks and tourist souvenirs for the Carnival. The personalized stationery produced and sold in the craft shop is also very beautiful. The streets of Venice are full of souvenir shops, and the exit from the train station follows the signs of Piazza San Marco. You will find that the dense shops sell souvenirs.

Although Venice is not as good as the big cities such as Milan, Rome and Florence, it can be found in various flagship stores around St. Mark's Square.

Traffic in the city

The tourist boat built for tourists only stops at the famous stop, and the speed is also faster. Only two routes make Venice traffic easy. Cheaper fares, simple rides, and relatively fast are the biggest advantages, but the shortest hours of operation and the intensive shifts are the biggest drawbacks.

The ACTV water bus is the most important means of transportation in the city of Venice. The one-way ticket is very expensive and the water bus PASS is usually purchased using VENEZIA UNICA. The water bus looks like the route is complicated, but each boat has its own dedicated dock, which is better to identify.

Gondola must be tried in Venice. Each boat can make up to 6 people. The general charge is about 80 Euros for 40 minutes during the day and 100 Euros for 40 minutes after 7pm.

Note: This price does not include singing and ordering. If you need these services, you must first ask for the price!

The boat is the only means of transportation in Venice, but there are buses to the various suburbs near the train station.

Madrid

City Overview

Madrid is not as colorful as Barcelona. It is not as old-fashioned as London, and there is no infinite prosperity in Paris. In the eyes of many travelers, she is even a bit unremarkable. As the capital of Spain and the largest city, people can experience the blend of classical and modern in Madrid, experience football culture, bullfight culture, feel the influence of the Spanish royal family on the lives of the people, or linger in museums or taste all over Spain. Gourmet.

Must visit attractions

Prado Museum Museo del Prado

The Prado Museum is one of the best museums in the world and is the most visited attraction in Madrid. It is the best work in the history of Spanish art from the 16th to the 19th centuries, such as the works of Velázquez, Goya, Greco, and of course a large collection of works by foreign Renaissance painters, such as Venice, Italy. Titian of the painting school, Rubens of the German Baroque, Jeronimos Boss of the Dutch surrealist, and so on. The total number of works in the museum is now 27,509, of which 7,825 are oil paintings, and the number is dazzling.

Transportation: Take Metro Line 2 to Banco de España or Metro Line 1 to Atocha Station.  

Madrid Royal Palace

The Royal Palace of Madrid is the largest royal palace in Western Europe, with 3,418 rooms inside, each with its own character. There are a lot of beautiful oil paintings, collectibles, weapons, porcelain, watches, gold and silver items. One of the most important works is the five-piece violin made by Antonio Stradivari, one of the greatest string instrument makers in history, and exhibited in the concert hall of the Royal Library. In addition, there are collections of paintings by the famous Spanish painter Velázquez and Goya, and the paintings of the famous Italian Baroque painter Caravaggio.

Until today, the palace is still the official royal residence.   Transportation: Take Metro Lines 2 and 5 to Ópera Station and head west to cross the Royal Opera House and Oriental Plaza.

Puerta del Sol Puerta del Sol

The square originated as a gate of Madrid in the 15th century, named after the city facade in the direction of the rising sun. The earliest building on the square was the old postal building of the 18th century, today the government building of the Madrid Autonomous Region, which was the National Security Headquarters during the Franco period. It may be worthwhile to pay attention to the semi-elliptical dark windows in the lower part of the building. This year was the prison for the recidivism against Franco. On the ground near the road in front of the building, it is the “zero kilometer” sign, which is the center of the Spanish national road network.

Transportation: You can choose to take the subway lines 1, 2 and 3 and get off at the Sol station.   

Gourmet & Accommodation & Shopping

Gourmet

As a capital, you can taste delicacies from all over Spain in addition to the local specialties stewed beef, Castilian soup, Segovia roast suckling pig, Valencia paella, even Spain Basque cuisine in the north. Restaurants and taverns are everywhere, and the palace and the Puerta are the most dense.

Accommodation

There are a lot of hostels in Madrid, ranging from general-purpose B&Bs to high-end five-star hotels. Many mid-priced hotels, concentrated in Puerta del Sol to the Gulangwei Avenue, are popular with young tourists and are close to Atocha Railway Station. Large hotels are very convenient for travelers who travel to the suburbs for a day trip.  

Shopping

Madrid's main shopping districts are concentrated in the area around Puerta del Sol to the Ka Yao Plaza and around Serrano Street. There are a variety of affordable fashion stores near the Puerta del Sol, in line with the general public's consumer market; as for Serrano Street, it is the world of famous boutiques, and it is often seen that locals dressed in Chinese costumes shop here.

Urban traffic

Public transportation in the city of Madrid is very convenient. Metro, intercity trains, buses, night trains, light rails, etc. form a complete transportation network, which can be used to reach the destination in the day or night.

The length of the Madrid Metro is second only to London in Europe. It currently has 12 lines, 3 light rails, and the R-line connecting the city centre Ópera station and the Príncipe Pío station. Each line is labeled with a different color to facilitate passengers. You can check the line, timetable, transfer and other information on the official website. Download the PDF version of the map, click: www.metromadrid.es

Running time: Monday to Sunday 6:05 - 2:00 am the next day. During the peak period (8:00-22:00), the interval between departures is 3-4 minutes, and the frequency of departures at night and weekends is reduced, and the interval can be up to 15 minutes.

Tickets: 1.5-2 Euro for a single ticket (0.1 Euro per station after 5 stations), 12.2 Euros for 10 tickets, and 5 Euros for the 8th line to and from the airport.