👨‍✈️ The Briefing Room:

Notes and open topics from the editor’s desk.

Welcome Departures. The place to be for where to go and what to see. In this edition, we continue binging on Parisian rooftops with what is bar non the most tourist oriented spot in the city. We explore Venice, before its new controversial visitor booking system goes into effect and I give you some best practices on how to plan and make the most out of your visit to the canal city.

So now without further ado, let’s take it away!

Alvin

📰 This Week in Travel:

A TLDR approach to some of the week’s most important headlines.

• Venice moves forward with its entry fee and reservation system. The website is set to launch as a voluntary pilot program in June 2022 and is projected to go live in January 2023. A first of its kind, the new registration system and 10€ entry fee are the latest in a series of measures being implemented by the government in order to control the crowds that have taken over the popular sunken city in recent years.

• German based carrier Condor brings back its non-stop routes to Frankfurt from Portland, Phoenix, Minneapolis and Baltimore/Washington. The low cost carrier made headlines a few months ago when it unveiled its new brightly colored airplanes and is the latest to resume post pandemic transatlantic travel.

• Switzerland removes all entry requirements. Effective May 2nd, the Swiss Secretary of Migration announced via Twitter that all remaining pandemic related entry restrictions would be lifted. This brings the European / Non-Schengen country in line with its surrounding Schengen counterparts.

📸 Destination Deep Dive:

Comprehensive multipart series on a single destination.

France Part 11

Last week on Destination Deep Dive: France Part 10 we visited Khayma Rooftop Bar. A little hidden gem that offers a great rooftop views without breaking the bank. This week we switch gears and go up to the most touristy and overrated rooftop in the entire city. I’m talking about non other than the Champagne Bar on top of the Eiffel Tower.

Anyone that knows me or has followed me for a while will probably be aware of my love/hate relationship with France’s most iconic monument. Although I am completely capable of gazing at it for hours from a distance (and do so quite frequently), the closer I get to it the more I hate it. Let me explain.

“Most things look better from a distance... And as a matter of fact, so do most people.”

―Joseph Delaney, Curse of the Bane

It’s not the monument itself that gets the hate, but the entire experience around getting to the monument that makes me lose my faith in humanity and I will stay as far away from whenever possible. Everything from the constant traffic congestion in the area, the hordes of pedestrians, aggressive street vendors, endless queues and security pat downs prove just a bit much for the quality and length of the actual experience once you finally get inside the attraction. I’ve had to put myself through this 6 or 7 times over the years and every new opportunity has been less enjoyable than the one before it.

All that being said, I don’t want anyone who’s never gone through it get discouraged by my cumulative disdain. I still believe everyone should voluntarily put themselves through the misery at least once in their life. Specially if it’s the first time in Paris. It’s almost a tourist’s rite of passage. All my complaining aside, the truth of the matter is that even if just for a brief period of time you will be rewarded with amazing panoramic views of the city from the tower’s unique perspective. And what better way to celebrate the achievement than by indulging on a glass full of bubbles from the champagne bar on top of the tower. At 18€ a pop, on top of the 25€ entrance fee, it might not be the best deal in town, but trust me, if you got this far and reached the top, you have definitely earned it!

Next week on Destination Deep Dive: France Part 12 we continue our tour of the best roof tops in Paris. Still tons to cover.

About Destination Deep Dives

Destination Deep Dives offer a more immersive look at one particular destination in a recurring format over a several editions of the newsletter. It is where I give myself room to explore a broader set of points of interests, for all travel styles and budgets. Think of them as small parts of a larger travel guide. Even though I will be publishing them all together as one guide at the end of the series, you may access them all as individual articles inside their corresponding Departures edition here:

• France Part 01 // Notre Dame

• France Part 02 // La Tour d’Argent

• France Part 03 // La Samaritaine

• France Part 04 // Shakespeare & Company

• France Part 05 // Café Le Procope

• France Part 06 // Square du Vert-Galant

• France Part 07 // Montparnasse Tour

• France Part 08 // Printempts Haussmann

• France Part 09 // Le Ciel de Paris

• France Part 10 // Khayma Rooftop Bar

🗺 Bucket List:

Short highlight of a dream destination.

Venice: The Floating City

As a child, few places sparked my imagination and wanderlust more than Venice. As an adolescent, even before I fully grasped where it was physically located on the map, I remember looking at photographs of gondolas going under narrow pedestrian bridges and asking myself if I would ever get the opportunity to visit this magnificent man made nirvana of romance.

All these years later, even though my Venice fever has worn off quite a bit, I still try to make it out that way whenever I am in Milan or anywhere else in the vicinity. But as the floating city has gained popularity, I have personally witnessed how the crowds have steadily increased year over year and made it very challenging to fully embrace the Venetian experience. For years now, Venice has suffered from one of the biggest overtourism problems in Europe. In 2019, by some estimates the city saw over 20,000,000 visitors, with most of them being day trippers. A problem that is really exacerbated by the city’s canals and narrow streets.

It has gotten so bad that in 2019 UNESCO threatened to pull the city’s World Heritage status unless significant conservation efforts were made. Given all the changes affecting visitors as the city gets ready to open up its doors once again, I will leave specific recommendations on bars, restaurants and attractions for a future Destination Deep Dive. Instead, here are some big picture strategies I use, that will help you plan and get most out of your trip regardless when you decide to go:

• Plan your visit between November - March. This has historically been always regarded as the low season and visitor count goes down by half. This also translates to better hotel rates and shorter restaurant wait times which can reach 2+ hours during peak summer months.

• Consider the cruise ship schedule before booking. The port of Venice is one of the busiest cruise ports in Europe. Second only to Barcelona. It is not uncommon for cruise ships and day tours to collectively unload 40,000+ passengers on a single summer day in the city. Use the cruisedig.com website to look at the schedule and book your trip around it.

• Avoid cruises that offer Venice as a port of call. The only thing worse than being in Venice as cruise ships arrive is being one of the passengers disembarking on Venice from one of the cruise ships. If you still want to go on that Mediterranean cruise, use Venice as your arrival or departure city so you can book a few days before or after your cruise.

• For a more authentic experience, skip the full service cookie cutter accommodations and consider booking one of the quaint boutique hotels in the old center. There is just a special kind of charm with temporarily moving in to a centuries old home and playing pretend Italian for a few days. In my opinion, the Venetian experience is it’s most rewarding after settling in for 3-4 days in the city.

🧳 Carry-on Only:

Travel experience, tech and accessory reviews.

Daylite Carry-On Wheeled Duffel 40

Traditional 4 wheel spinners are probably one of the most inconvenient types of luggage for traveling through uneven terrain, like that of the narrow cobblestoned streets found throughout most of Venice and the rest of Europe. Osprey, mostly known for its broad range of outdoors gear has come up with one of the most practical solutions for this problem I’ve seen in a while. The Daylite Wheeled Duffel combines a pair of wheels with telescoping handle along with stowable shoulder straps for backpack-style carry. Choose from black or teal color ways in carry-on friendly 40L or check in only 85L capacities.

via osprey.com

🛠 Hack of the Week:

Tips and tricks for better travel quality of life.

Ever wish you could tap into the some of the professional grade search tools travel agents use to book reservations? Well you actually can. The Matrix Airfare Search is the website used worldwide by airlines and travel distributors the likes of Alaska Airlines, Alitalia, American Airlines, Bing, Continental Airlines, Hotwire, Kayak, Orbitz, Southwest Airlines, TripAdvisor, United Airlines, US Airways, Virgin Atlantic Airways, and others. What is little known, is that access to the tool is completely free and open to the public. Take a peek by clicking on the link bellow:

via itasoftware.com

Make sure to bookmark it for posterity.

🛫 About Us:

Departures is a free newsletter about photography, travel & lifestyle. To find out more about what this is, who I am and why should you be here, visit our dedicated about page here:

About Departures