Venice

evil-monkey

Going to Venice for a few days in January with herself. Anyone have any suggestions for;

1. Nice hotels in good locations
2. General things to do...

Never been to Italy so looking forward to it, and herself speaks a little Italian from college so that should help.

Thanks in advance.

preddy

Going myself in January some advice ive gotten is try to stay in St Marks square or as close to as possible to save getting water taxis loads of little streets to walk down and explore.

yogalady

hi there

Was in Venice in August.We stayed in Lido an island about 10 minute bus boat from St Marks square. Lido was fabulous.Highly recommend it. Great restaraunts and was alot cheaper than venice for everything. We loved it. can't wait to go back!

There are lots of things to see in Venice itself (you find them in any guide book)but don't leave without going to visit Murano and Burano (my favourite). They are two islands about a half hour from venice on a bus boat. They are so small and beautiful and brings you away from the hustle and bustle of venice

Am so jealous. Have a fab time!

evil-monkey

Thanks for replies.

What about a nice hotel?? Anything that you'd recommend??

Karoma

Depends on what you want really. If you want to get away from noise and people: Hotel Villa Beatrice, Lido. It's the far(ther) end of the island, but Lido is serviced by regular and quick buses. Should be cheap enough off-season.

General things to do:
Walk aimlessly - get lost several times; it's safe enough and fun.
Get a travel card - hop on and off vaporetti as suits.

phog

My wife and her sister were there for a few days in July. They stayed in Bonvecchiati hotel, which is just behin St. Marks Sq.

They bought their museum tickets online before departure, by buying 7 days beforehand they got a reduction, they also purchased their vaporetto (water bus) tickets on the same site.

a_chara

Was there last Feb, can be very cold and a bit wet at that time of year, streets were flooded one of the days we were there (aqua alta), there's gangways to walk around on when it's flooded so it's not so bad but be sure to check the forecast and dress for the weather.
Bring comfortable shoes - obviously no real taxis etc, anyway you're better off walking cos some of the streets are sureal - you'll need a good map too - streets are tiny so can be a bit of a maze, it's a small enough area so you'll cover a lot of it just walking around. I didn't go to the other islands cos the water was a bit choppy in the harbour so we stayed one main island.
Definately go into Doge's Palace on Marks square, some of the rooms and momuments in there are unbelievable. Also go to Rialto and check out the markets and views of the canal, there's a few nice little wine bars around there as well most play live music. There's an Irish bar up near Rialto as well but it's a bit hard to find without a good map.
Harry's bar invented the bellini, bit of a trap - go in and sit at the bar and drink a bellini for 15 quid or something, if you like bellini's go in there but if not don't bother to be honest.
We stayed in a place called corte dei greci, was grand - big clean rooms very traditional kind of rooms, 5 min walk to Marks sq. Rates were decent there two, staff were fine as well, no resturaunt or anythng but there is a couple just around the corner. It's not 5* luxury but you pretty mch get what you see on the website.

Enjoy it.