Showing posts with label venice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label venice. Show all posts
Where travel writers stay when they go on holidays
Which hotels do travel writers check into when they go on holidays? That's what Mark Hudson, a writer himself for The Sunday Times, among other publications, was keen to know, so he asked 50 of them (including myself) and published their recommendations, 'Where travel writers pay to stay', on his site 101 Holidays. I've been meaning to share this one with you for a while. If you're a regular Cool Travel Guide reader, you'll know (from this post and others) that I've been increasingly frustrated with user-generated content of the kind you get on Trip Advisor, and find myself looking more and more for recommendations by experts, so I was pleased to see Mark do this. Ah, but you say, aren't all hotel reviews in magazines and papers written by experts? Well, yes they are, but they aren't always the kind of hotels that the experts actually stay at when they have a choice. Sometimes hotels are reviewed because they're 'hot properties', newly opened, relaunched, or because an advertiser/business partner has asked for them to be reviewed. Pictured above is a detail from the sitting room at the Novecento, a hotel we stayed for pleasure, not work, when we attended the Venice Biennale in June - it's not new and not 'hot', but it has loads of charm, is in a wonderful location, and the staff are some of the best around. 
Enjoying The Beauty of Venice
Widely regarded as one of the most beautiful and physically unique cities in the entire world, the great city of Venice located in Northern Italy presents a travel destination quite like no other for any young backpacker travelling around Europe. Venice is of course most famous for its numerous rivers and canals that help to clearly define the unique and intriguing natural characteristics of this Italian Adriatic jewel.
The city itself is built upon 118 small islands that sit proudly amongst this intense intertwined network of waterways. When you picture the perfect ideal of Venice in your mind you always think of images of romantic boat trips on summer evenings - and travelling serenely along the waterways of the city by the numerous traditional gondolas that can be hired is surely a must have experience for any tourist or backpacker visiting the city and is also a great way of taking in the city's incredible architecture.
Indeed, it is these enduring images and traditions that not surprisingly have continued to make Venice a very popular holiday destination for young couples travelling around Europe.
The city itself is built upon 118 small islands that sit proudly amongst this intense intertwined network of waterways. When you picture the perfect ideal of Venice in your mind you always think of images of romantic boat trips on summer evenings - and travelling serenely along the waterways of the city by the numerous traditional gondolas that can be hired is surely a must have experience for any tourist or backpacker visiting the city and is also a great way of taking in the city's incredible architecture.
Indeed, it is these enduring images and traditions that not surprisingly have continued to make Venice a very popular holiday destination for young couples travelling around Europe.