Vaporetto #1 in Venice, Italy

I am sharing photos of Venice for Instagram Travel Thursday this week! All of these images were taken from the front seat of Vaporetto #1, which is a water bus that runs along The Grand Canal.

I’m not sure any place gets the kind of reaction that Venice does on Instagram. Instantly recognizable, the floating city of color just begs to be photographed!

I’ve been to Venice twice, and both times I had to fight the urge to take a picture of every single bridge, gondola or doorway. The doorways and windows alone are like something carved out of a fairytale.

My first time to Venice was almost ten years ago. Taido and I arrived by train, and per the advice of our guide book we made sure to get a front seat on Vaporetto #1 from the train station. These “water buses” are much less expensive than a water taxi (or a gondola, of course) but if you ride in the front, you have the same views of the canals as you would in one of the other boats. The Vaporetto #1 goes all the way from the train station to St. Mark’s Square, and the #2 goes back the opposite direction. The #1 and #2 make all the stops, so you can enjoy the longest possible ride on The Grand Canal if you take one of these numbers.

Last year, I could not wait for Mary Polly to see Venice when we went on our Mother-Daughter trip to Europe. On our second morning, we got on the Vaporetto #1 as early as possible. It was almost empty, so we sat right in front and rode all the way to St. Mark’s Square, and though I had ridden in this same spot once before, I was again overwhelmed by what has to be one of the most magnificent experiences you can have in Europe.

Riding down The Grand Canal of Venice is one of those life dreams you can look forward to for many years and then in reality, it does not disappoint.

The colors of the buildings in Venice are crazy wonderful, and many of the boats are brightly painted too.

I am absolutely that silly girl who cannot stop smiling on a trip, and if I go to Venice twenty more times, I would not get tired of riding the water buses through the canals.

This photo of the Rialto Bridge was one of my most loved Instagrams of all time! (Fun Fact: it won me a new camera in the Capture the Color contest!)

Vaporetto #1 drops you off right by all the gondolas at the edge of St Mark’s Square. As soon as you step off the boat, you are right in the middle of everything! Pigeons, street vendors, gondoliers and tourists are flooding the square with the noises of Venice.

If you go, be sure and sit for a while in the square for the some of the best people-watching in Europe, but when you get weary of all that activity, you only have to wander for a minute before you are lost in the smaller streets and squares of the city.

When you find a little bridge or a brightly colored building with arched windows, be sure and send me a photo!

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