Couple of days in Venice - General advice please
Discussion
I'm taking Mrs A to Venice for four days in January, I'm sure the weather will be awful but what the hell, hopefully it won't be as crowded as I have heard it can be during the holiday season.
Any tips please? We've never been. We're staying in a Hotel a few hundred yards from St. Marks Square which I assume is pretty central?
General do's and don'ts?
We also don't have a transfer from the airport to the Hotel, what's the best way to do this please?
Ta
Any tips please? We've never been. We're staying in a Hotel a few hundred yards from St. Marks Square which I assume is pretty central?
General do's and don'ts?
We also don't have a transfer from the airport to the Hotel, what's the best way to do this please?
Ta
A great way to do the transfer is by vaparetto / water taxi , hotel should be able to sort , not cheap but a highlight , as to the rest my advice is to just walk around and soak in the history, trip advisor is your guide for restaurants but always eat in smaller local restaurants not in St Marks sq etc
A great time to go and if your lucky a light dusting of snow will top it off nicely
A great time to go and if your lucky a light dusting of snow will top it off nicely
Thanks for that, 2.5psi.
So presumably this is what to do?
http://www.alilaguna.it/index.php?page=shop.produc...
€14 each seems cheap as chips.
I have read a lot about 'don't eat anywhere that has a big menu translated into loads of different langauges'.
So presumably this is what to do?
http://www.alilaguna.it/index.php?page=shop.produc...
€14 each seems cheap as chips.
I have read a lot about 'don't eat anywhere that has a big menu translated into loads of different langauges'.
Edited by Adenauer on Wednesday 25th November 09:29
Check out the jewish quarter for some really nice smaller restaurants and bars serving tapas style food. one in particular is right on the canal and lets you order food and drink and consume it on two converted houseboats.
Other than that, don't expect to be able to reasonably follow any maps - just wander around and get lost and enjoy yourselves. Nice glassware to buy as a souvenir (for bonus points get your other half some earrings whilst she's looking elsewhere)
Have fun!
Other than that, don't expect to be able to reasonably follow any maps - just wander around and get lost and enjoy yourselves. Nice glassware to buy as a souvenir (for bonus points get your other half some earrings whilst she's looking elsewhere)
Have fun!
Hmm, looking at the boat taxi to and from the airport thing, it seems that the general ones can take a while to set off, be quite crowded, and take a long time to get there because they stop at every hotel on the way. Is this really the case?
Would I be better off pre-booking a private Taxi boat? It's €100 for the two of us as opposed to €28 but seems like it might be the easier option.
Would I be better off pre-booking a private Taxi boat? It's €100 for the two of us as opposed to €28 but seems like it might be the easier option.
Adenauer said:
Hmm, looking at the boat taxi to and from the airport thing, it seems that the general ones can take a while to set off, be quite crowded, and take a long time to get there because they stop at every hotel on the way. Is this really the case?
Would I be better off pre-booking a private Taxi boat? It's €100 for the two of us as opposed to €28 but seems like it might be the easier option.
Yes, the boat-bus that you described takes f-in ages, and as ours were after dark, it was just a bit boring really. If we went again, we would go for a taxi, and take the extra expense.Would I be better off pre-booking a private Taxi boat? It's €100 for the two of us as opposed to €28 but seems like it might be the easier option.
Make sure you have a second pair of shoes, as dependent on how high the tides are, parts of it flood. (Make sure your shoes are comfortable, you'll be walking a lot.)
Take stuff in a rucksack, rather than rolly bags/suitcases if you're going to have to carry them anywhere, as the paths are narrow and uneven.
There is a small island that does jewelry / glass blowing, which was very pleasant.
It's good to see the main tourist bit, but get out over the whole area if you can, I found it interesting to see how they've managed to use so much of the land, and the living conditions of the locals etc.
louiebaby said:
Yes, the boat-bus that you described takes f-in ages, and as ours were after dark, it was just a bit boring really. If we went again, we would go for a taxi, and take the extra expense.
Make sure you have a second pair of shoes, as dependent on how high the tides are, parts of it flood. (Make sure your shoes are comfortable, you'll be walking a lot.)
Take stuff in a rucksack, rather than rolly bags/suitcases if you're going to have to carry them anywhere, as the paths are narrow and uneven.
There is a small island that does jewelry / glass blowing, which was very pleasant.
It's good to see the main tourist bit, but get out over the whole area if you can, I found it interesting to see how they've managed to use so much of the land, and the living conditions of the locals etc.
Right then, I'll get the private Taxi thing for €190 return! Make sure you have a second pair of shoes, as dependent on how high the tides are, parts of it flood. (Make sure your shoes are comfortable, you'll be walking a lot.)
Take stuff in a rucksack, rather than rolly bags/suitcases if you're going to have to carry them anywhere, as the paths are narrow and uneven.
There is a small island that does jewelry / glass blowing, which was very pleasant.
It's good to see the main tourist bit, but get out over the whole area if you can, I found it interesting to see how they've managed to use so much of the land, and the living conditions of the locals etc.
Rucksacks, thanks for that, good tip.
No Stilletos for me - check.
Oh and thanks, FF, we'll try the Jewish food on a houseboat thing, I'll leave my Lederhosen at home then.
Edited by Adenauer on Wednesday 25th November 10:32
Too true! Wife and I had a mid afternoon coffee and one grappa in St. Mark's Square, with violins, and it came to around £30-----in 1989! Well worth it, though.
Best cheap experience is to walk to the northern end of the Grand Canal then get the Vaparetto back to St. Mark's Square. It stops everywhere and you see all the fab canal architecture. Maybe this is even better at night.
R.
Best cheap experience is to walk to the northern end of the Grand Canal then get the Vaparetto back to St. Mark's Square. It stops everywhere and you see all the fab canal architecture. Maybe this is even better at night.
R.
I'd recommend going for a meal at The Hotel Monaco & Grand Canal Restaurant. I went there for my birthday and it really was a fantastic meal. It's directly on the waterfront and overlooks the Santa Maria della Salute church which is nice. It's also only a few hundred yards from St' Marks square for your convenience.
I stayed at the Monaco Grand hotel it was excellent. Out of the side door straight into Harry`s bar to get ripped off but worth the experience. We found the restaurants by the Rialto very good and also used the private water taxi to and from the airport it really is the way to arrive. Just walk around and take it in. We had a rule for lunch that there had to be gondoliers eating in there and never had a bad meal and at a reasonable price. Gondola has to be done.
I went water bus for £28 :-) it took about 45 minutes.
We stayed in the best hotel there so I was too skint to pay for a water taxi after booking that for the misses birthday !
Water bus thing is ok :-) I found food places very hard to find so we had food in the hotel, sort of a mistake as it was £180 but was great :-)
What I would do next time as others have said is try and find another couple to share a water taxi.
She of course wanted a gondola ride so that was £100.
This was all about 8 years ago I am sure prices are more now ! Although euro is good ATM.
Fancy going again now :-).
We stayed in the best hotel there so I was too skint to pay for a water taxi after booking that for the misses birthday !
Water bus thing is ok :-) I found food places very hard to find so we had food in the hotel, sort of a mistake as it was £180 but was great :-)
What I would do next time as others have said is try and find another couple to share a water taxi.
She of course wanted a gondola ride so that was £100.
This was all about 8 years ago I am sure prices are more now ! Although euro is good ATM.
Fancy going again now :-).
I forgot to mention also. I'd definitely recommend the water taxi too. We got the taxi from the airport into Venice and you really do feel cool/special in one. We got the Waterbus back to the airport as we spent a little more than expected on the trip and whilst it's absolutely fine, ultimately it's just like getting a bus and isn't even remotely a special experience like the taxi's are.
Also, you can haggle with the gondoliers as they'll start with a silly price to try you on, and my guess is that much quieter at this time of year so I'd say expect to pay around no more 60 Euros for a 45 minute ride.
Also, you can haggle with the gondoliers as they'll start with a silly price to try you on, and my guess is that much quieter at this time of year so I'd say expect to pay around no more 60 Euros for a 45 minute ride.
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