So then came the question of where to go. We decided upon doing small city breaks instead of one big holiday.
Ciaran has always wanted to go to Venice and even more so when he heard about the Peggy Guggenheim museum with its amazing collection of art.
My work colleague had been to Venice recently so I asked did they have a recommendation of where to stay. They recommended a small boutique hotel in a quiet area of Venice near to St. Mark's square. It's the Hotel Al Codega and I booked it through the hotel website as I got the best rate on their site as opposed to some of the hotel booking sites that I price checked.
In regards to flights, I chose to fly with Aer Lingus even though it would have been about 25% cheaper to fly with Ryanair. The flight times are definitely better with Aer Lingus - the arrival time is mid day on our first day, while with Ryanair it would be a 6pm arrival. We are not going for a long time so this time is important. With the Aer Lingus flight we will have got to our hotel by 2pm and will be straight out exploring Venice. While the Ryanair flight would mean you'd just have time for dinner on your first day. It's definitely worth paying the extra cost on this occasion! And to be honest I way prefer travelling with Aer Lingus than Ryanair.
The trip doesn't take place until the beginning of April so I have a bit of time to do a little research on what to visit and to also book tickets for certain attractions. Watch this space for a trip report on our return!
Click here to read Ciaran's blog about our architectural tour of Carlo Scarpa sites.
