Arriving in a place so iconic as Venice, Italy is a remarkable moment and a crossed off item on my bucket list. I remember my very first time stepping out of the train at Santa Lucia and seeing the Grand Canal in front of me. It was a grin moment, where is the photo of me, I must have had a smile like a split watermelon!

How do you describe Venice? Some say it is grubby, falling apart and dilapidated, a tourist trap. Pick a busy season and the wrong time of day and you’ll find it full of tourists; thoroughfares and piazzas like Piazza San Marco and The Rialto Bridge will be will be jammed. The permanent population is only 60,000 odd; each day more than this arrive to parade around taking in the sights before disappearing into the night.

For me, I felt like I was in one massive movie set, surely I was an extra in someone’s academy award production. In 2009, we lived  just 20 minutes by train from Venice, this feeling never dissipated, even after many visits to the medieval city.

One of my favourite pastimes in Venice was to walk and explore with my camera. I would ignore my map, simply following the visual treats in front of me doing my best to avoid the tourist hordes. Getting lost is part of the fun, make a rendezvous time and place to meet friends at your peril, your excuse for being late will be you were hopelessly lost. No matter.

Getting away from the tourist streets and finding the back streets is where the charm of Venice is to be found. I remember the sound of local Italian voices reverberating around tiny narrow streets. It’s worth making the effort to get up or arrive early in the morning and explore before the tourist invasion; you will see the city come to life.

These images are just a few of my favourite images from Venice, I hope you enjoy them, it really is a place that is a must for those with a travel bucket list.