Working Remotely in Venice, Italy
This is part of Amy’s remote work travel series where she review places she visit as a digital nomad. Follow her on Instagram, YouTube, Substack, and TikTok for more travel content!
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Working Remotely in Venice, Italy with Amy Suto: A Digital Nomad Travel Guide for Remote Workers
I took this photo of Amy. I like it. Look at that hair. Amazing. She's probably wouldn't like this one because I took a shot below eye level. But hey this is my commandeered blog!
As you read from the image caption above. Yes, I’ve hijacked this Working Remotely post.
Hi, I’m Kyle, Amy’s partner.
I’m afraid if I didn’t do this — this post would never get to you, dear reader. And I bet some(one) of you might have been waiting eagerly for this for quite a while. And dare I say your wait has totally and indubitably paid off.
This is a blog about Amy Suto and I (Kyle Cords) trip to Venice, Italy not because we’ve been there recently, but because it got lost in Amy’s to do list and I think the joke of me constantly asking Amy, “Madeira was pretty good, but I can’t wait for Venice.” Where Amy would aptly retort with, “Best get good with waiting.” As she danced off to read another of the Kindle Unlimited romantasy penny pile that will break her heart and not in the way she wanted.
I say, “Neigh. It’s time to take matters into my own hands.”
After letting this trip gestate long enough, I can give you the 80,000 foot perspective of a city that is trapped in time, in my mind from 2021, and at a 5% tourist capacity right after it opened back to the world after COVID. So take everything I say with a pinch of salt that bounces elegantly off the elbow into ya pasta disha (ask any Italian it makes everything better).
All that I will cover I imagine will still be good even with trash bags wrapped around your legs as you finally process your trauma flashbacks of Burning Man 2024.
First OFF!
Take the train in. Don’t take a boat. Take the train- “But?” Trust me. 👏Take 👏 The👏 TRAIN👏 Come in cold, unsuspecting, nubile, beginner’s mind and have that experience of exiting the station to a city that you’ll suddenly hear is truly not like the other girls, because there are no cars here, just boats. It’s a wonder to behold in a world where Disney could only have dreamed of stealing.
Where to Stay in Venice, Italy for Digital Nomads + Remote Workers
Amy taking Zoom calls from the co-working space
Amy and I stayed in Combo Venezia. It is a beautifully renovated building that is a hostel. It has a lot of areas to work, but at the time the internet couldn’t travel through the concrete walls, so you would have to access it in the main hallways outside the rooms, but I imagine and hope they’ve fixed that.
This area is great — it’s an easy walk to the places you want to see and you’re next to a boat stop to help you get around the city, should you so choose. There is no bad place to stay in Venice — it’s not very big.
What to Do in Venice, Italy for Digital Nomads + Remote Workers
I took this totally fine photo. No filter.
The glass-making tours on the little island Murano are cool, but not totally required. The outer towns painted all sorts of wild colors to attract the doe-eyed tourists into coming and forgetting that ten euro for a croissant is crazy. But if you’re going to do ANY of this do it with a tour guide. Locals get to skip the boat lines and you will likely get stuck in these purgatorial little islands if you don’t.
St Mark’s Square has the basilica and the campanile. The Campanile has breathtaking views — you can skip the basilica and the Doge — it won’t mean anything and there’s better stuff to spend life on.
Peggy Guggenheim — if you’re wondering if this Gugg’s is the same as THE BIG GUGG’s? Then yes. You are right. This is his progeny’s house filled with the art that was bequeathed to her that she decided to let people see in her house until they all become watercolored someday. The house is beautiful and it has some scribbles by Pollak if you’re into government-funded psyop-pop art.
What to Eat in Venice, Italy for Digital Nomads + Remote Workers
Not the best food in Italy, but still pretty great. 🤌🏻
Crepes House by Pepe - the 👏 best 👏 crepes 👏 in 👏 the 👏 city. Ate them every day just to be sure they were worthy for you, dear reader. You’re welcome. Just make sure to not eat and walk. The seagulls are sneaky buggers that will snatch it from your hands, mouth, or anything, they even took my dear sweet Amy’s will to write this blog, and I, as you can read, am no longer waiting for them to bring it back. *Fun fact — there is a lack of oxygen (anaerobic state) with the water in Venice which is why the pylons that hold up the city have held for hundreds of years, but that also means there are not many fish and the Seagulls live off of what you live off of and they aren’t shy about it. They are Peoplegulls now.
THE GELATO — this hands down is the BEST gelato in Venice and maybe second best in Italy only to Florence’s Sbrino Gelatificio Contadino (which you can find in Amy’s recount here) — and that gelato I hiked to each day could only be measured in the distance that my grandfather hiked to school when he was a youngin. It was at least two ✌️ grandfather school hikes. You won’t have to hike that far here because it’s Venice. It’s second best in Italy, but first in quality/distance.
Fried Land — hands down the best budget food for delicious late-night sobering up that also gives life more meaning when the pocketbook isn’t crying. Get Fried, I promise you’ll be crispy for it the rest of ya days.
Farini - the backup up, more upscale, fast food counterpart to Fried Land’s. If you need to take a dime on a date for a dime this is the place to do it. It feels aesthetic while saving your final tuppin to escape this Atlantis-in-progress you’ll find yourself in. It certainly has the class that will call to the confused elite overstimulated by the crowds looking for a port in the storm to throw their black card around (takes in a breath) to only be confused that food could cost so little in a place so familiar.
The one restaurant I will recommend… the one place I still think about… CoVino. This is a deep cut from a friend who lived here and this without a doubt is one of the most unique, delicious dinners I had. Do it on your last night and I dare you to find your way back to your accommodation without looking at Google Maps to truly take in the city and admire what life must have been like before GPS. To revisit a time when getting lost was an expected and joyful sidequest. Take it in. Breathe in the salty air and moody atmosphere and get lost and just maybe, you'll find yourself… or a gang of seagulls, if so… RUN!
JUICE — The Frulala — truly amazing. We went every day. Amy found it because they were playing Glass Animals’ Heat Waves, truly the sirens call Amy still listens to and has been here #1 on her wrapped five years running. We asked them “Do you play American music to attract tourists?” And they laughed and said, “No. We actually like American music.” It also turns into a vibey bar you can grab a drink/juice at night if you find yourself wondering by when the light has gone bye-bye.
Overall Thoughts on Venice, Italy as a Digital Nomad
Listen. It is hands down one of the most magical places I’ve ever been. It is truly an unfathomable city. It’s a miracle it’s even still here. It’s like having Machu Picchu still inhabited by the aliens that made it. I can’t really speak to what it is today, but what it was then was nothing short of extraordinary.
Go for a few days — walk along the canals, ideally with someone you love and I promise you’ll feel the feels I still feel today :)
My Ratings of Venice, Italy as a Digital Nomad
dats me 👉
Affordability: ⭐️⭐️ 2/5 stars. For staying in an impossible city about to be Atlantis 2.0 it’s still pretty expensive, but it will live in your memories beyond the dollars you spent.
Food Quality: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3/5 stars. Again, you’re still in Italy, but this definitely isn’t the best food in Italy, BUT I found you some gems that might convince you otherwise 😉
Vegetarian Options: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3/5 stars. Vegetarian… yes. Vegan… y-no. But if you’re in Italy you know the drill, but I imagine there are even more places that have plant-based dishes. It’ll just probably 🤌🏻cost ya🤌🏻.
Adventures/Day Trips: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5 stars. There is a fixed amount that can be down in Venice but walking around here is the most affordable adventure I ever had.
Cafes/Co-Working Space Availability: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 2/5 stars. It is limited. The hostel I gave you had some places to work, but the walls echo like nobody’s business. The island is a bit challenged with wifi in parts, so probably not the place to stay for more than a week if you need to work.
Digital Nomad-Friendly: ⭐️⭐️ 2/5 stars. Not really the place for being a Digital Nomad. Definitely a higher score for someone who is a pure tourist. So do yourself the favor and just be the tourist here, but not the bad kind, the elegant kind that sips your wine as you roll your eyes at the other kind led by TripAdvisor that you are totally not like 😉 because you read Amy’s blog.
Value of Accommodations for Remote Workers: ⭐️⭐️ 2/5 stars. It was cheaper when we went, but I imagine it’s more expensive with the tourist passes people have to buy now to get into the city.
General Weather: ⭐️⭐️ 2/5 stars. Avoid the winter unless you like to swim. Go in summer. It’s nice.
Air Quality: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5 stars. You’re surrounded by water. It can’t get much better than that.
Water Quality: ⭐️⭐️ 2/5 stars. We drank bottled because of the infrastructure perpetually getting eaten away by the constant floods and salt water.
Overall Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5 stars. I know what you’re thinking, “Kyle, how is it possible 4/5 stars based on the lower scores?” There are some places where math doesn’t matter and this is one of those places. For all of its drawbacks, the places it excels are truly unlike anywhere else in the world and should be witnessed by any human who cares about art and what humanity was able to do with some dumb luck and a dream.
Thanks for coming on this journey with me and being a part of history (of a little inside joke Amy and I have had for years).
I wonder how long it will take for her to realize I wrote this. 🤫
