Solo Italian Adventure Hotels

Where I Stayed in Venice, Florence, Siena and La Spezia

My Solo Italian Adventure began with a flight from London to Venice. After touching down at Venice’s Marco Polo Airport, I made my way to the Alilaguna dock to be whisked out on to the Lagoon and down the Grand Canal, under Rialto Bridge to my hotel. I did quite a bit of research into finding hotels that were easy to get to with luggage, with a minimum of fuss and effort, my plan worked beautifully!! The lovely Hotel Rialto is right on the Grand Canal, vaporetto stop just outside, (almost), and the beautiful Rialto Bridge at the door. I was shown up to my room, which was tastefully decorated in typical Venetian style.

The Hotel Rialto is a rabbit warren of corridors, that go on forever…..the hotel seems to have gathered up all the buildings next to it and connected them all together to form the hotel that is there today. There are steps everywhere as the floors of the various original buildings were all on slightly different levels. I quickly found my way to the terrace and stood there for ages, in the rain, mesmerised by the action on the Grand Canal, before ambling off to Piazza San Marco. I hadn’t been to Venice for 8 years, it was so lovely to aimless wander the lane ways, bridges and piazzas acclimatising myself to my new surroundings.

My room in the Hotel Rialto was very comfortable, space for a desk and a small ensuite bathroom. Breakfast was served buffet style in the dining area looking over the canal, after enough coffee and pastries I felt I was fuelled up ready to spend the day exploring. I did have to check in on some work back at home in Sydney before I went out – the internet was very patchy up in my room, possibly because I was surrounded by Venetian palaces with very thick walls. The concierge gave me a corner of the reception area to set myself up with a temporary office, sitting underneath a Murano glass chandelier! I did what I had to do, packed up my temporary office, put the reception furniture back where it came from, re-displayed the hotels brochures and pamphlets on the table, and disappeared out of their way for the day.

The Hotel Rialto was a great base in Venice, so convenient, easy to find my way back to with Rialto Bridge so close, the staff were lovely. Many evenings were spent on the terrace, chatting with other guests or just looking at the amazing view. When it was time for me to leave to catch the vaporetto to the railway station for the next leg of my Solo Italian Adventure, it was sad to say goodbye (but I was coming back again for a few nights before catching my flight back to London).

Next stop – Florence

I had studied Google maps and done plenty of research on the best way to walk to the Hotel Atlantic Palace from the station in Florence. Once you are in the main station area, look for an escalator going down, then walk through the shopping mall then up a ramp on the left that gets you across the main road without having to worry about the wheels of your luggage getting caught in the tram tracks. From here I just had a short flat walk up the road and around the corner to my hotel, I checked in to Hotel Atlantic Palace and immediately dashed to the sister hotel, Hotel Machiavelli Palace, just a few doors down the road, they have a roof top terrace with a cocktail bar and bar menu of delicacies, and not so delicacies, (I had a hamburger!!) that go very nicely with an Aperol Spritz. I was starving having not eaten since breakfast and with a train delay, this became a late lunch/early dinner with an amazing view over the roof tops of Florence, with the domes of the Cathedral and Basilica right in front of me.

I then went for an evening stroll around Florence before heading back to Hotel Atlantic Palace for the night. My room was simple but very comfortable, the shower was good, I was then ready for a good nights sleep. The buffet style breakfast here was delicious too, very relaxing way to start the day. Again, the staff in the hotel were very friendly and helpful, it was early in the season. I imagine as spring becomes summer and the crowds arrive, they would get a bit frazzled!!

I spent four nights in Florence, it was the perfect hotel to stay in, safe, comfortable and easy to get to and from the station. Surrounded by restaurants, so you wouldn’t starve!! I do develop the habit when travelling by myself of eating breakfast in the hotel, then having a late lunch somewhere fabulous, then when in Italy, Aperitivo o’clock comes around and that’s dinner sorted.

Then off to Beautiful Medieval Siena

The railway station in Siena is at the bottom of the hill, and the town is at the top – not a problem, there is a series of escalators to get you up to Porto Camollia, the entrance gate to the medieval town. From here you just follow this path to Hotel Relais degli Angeli, a slightly more difficult walk that I had anticipated, some cobbly sections were hard going with luggage. When I left, I did wimp out and caught a taxi back to the station.

Hotel Relais degli Angeli is in a lovely old palace, part of which has been converted to an eight room boutique hotel, it was magnificent, it was like getting out of the lift into paradise. My room was spacious and airy, with French doors opening out on to a terrace, where the afternoon sun came streaming in. The medieval city of Siena is pedestrian only (apart from a small section at my hotel where the taxi could come and pick me up, then get out again) therefore exploring Siena is so easy, and it doesn’t matter if you get lost, you’ll be found again in no time! Again, it was very sad to leave Siena, I could have stayed forever, everything about the place is fantastic. The staff in the hotel were so helpful and lovely to chat with, three nights was not long enough….

Out to the Coast to La Spezia

Hotel Firenze e Continentale was about 50 metres from the station, perfect, so handy. My plan of making it as simple as possible to get everywhere I was going without needing help with luggage had come together perfectly. I checked in, my room had a dressing room and an enormous bathroom, with a bath and a little container of bath salts to add to it. There was plenty of room for me to set up my portable office, catch up on a bit of work to keep things ticking over back in Sydney. I made myself at home then went for a walk down through the town to the waterfront. The Hotel Firenze e Continentale has a really nice restaurant, so that was dinner sorted for my first evening.

The hotel is very conveniently located, close to the station, close to the town centre, a great base for exploring Cinque Terre – and lovely to come home to once you’ve had enough of the maddening crowds in the Cinque Terre villages. Exploring Cinque Terre and the surrounding areas was easy, trains nearby, buses nearby, and a pleasant walk through the town to the waterfront if going by boat.

The restaurant in the hotel, the Terminus Cafe, regularly has musicians playing in the evening, so if you just wanted to stay in after dinner and sit at the bar having a drink and listen to the music, it’s perfect.

And then back to Venice

The train arrived back in Venice right on time, I walked straight out, down the ramp and on to the vaporetto, and off we went down the Grand Canal to Rialto. I was welcomed back into the Hotel Rialto like a friend coming home, the staff all wanted to chat about where I had been in the few weeks since I left before showing me up to my room, I asked for a room that I didn’t have to walk up so many stairs to get back to at the end of the day. After I’ve walked 25,000 steps all over Venice, walking up 3 flights of steps was a bit much!!

It was a warm day in Venice, so the first thing I did was fling open the windows, only to find they opened on to a little square in the centre of the hotel, and half the staff were smoking out there! I quickly closed the windows and went back down to reception to see if I could swap to another room – they gave me a room, up one floor in the lift, then up a half flight of stairs to a smaller, in fact tiny room, but…… the window opened looking over the Grand Canal – aaaahhh, the magic of Venice!!

To read about The Art of Train Travel in Italy The Art of Train Travel in Italy between Venice, Florence, Siena, Pisa, La Spezia and Cinque Terre – all possible on your own, with luggage!

For ideas on places to visit in Florence and Venice, and more to come!!

Itinerary for my Trip Over to Italy

Flew from Sydney to London Heathrow via Singapore, with Qantas on QF1, then QF2 to come home.

Stayed at the Royal Overseas League in St James’s.

Flew from London to Venice on British Airways.

Travelled Venice on Alilaguna Water Bus and Vaporettos.

Travelled from Venice to Florence, to Siena, to La Spezia and back to Venice on Italian Train, booked through Trainline, or TrenItalia.

Flew back to London on British Airways.

trip.over.the.world

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The southern end of the Queen Victoria Building being watched over by Queen Victoria, and Sydney Town Hall across the road.
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