sc

  • More Discussions About

  • Search

Suggestions for Venice

1 to 7 of 7

  1.  
  1.  

    I'll be heading to Venice next Spring and wanted to know if anyone had any suggestions for hotels and restaurants. Any first-hand accounts and tips would be very helpful.

    Thanks.

  2.  

    As Venice is one of the most romantic cities in the world (I think of it as Paris without the cars) most couples who go there and fall in love with it have a special affection for the place that they stayed in when they first came to this magical city. For us, it's the Cipriani, which we feel is head and shoulders above all the rest. As for restaurants, our favorite is Al Covo, which is run by the strangest couple - a charming Italian gentleman and his wife, Diane, who is from (of all places) Texas. The food is fantastic, but bring cash or a check, as they don't take credit cards! We've been to Venice about six or seven times now and, in the beginning, one of our favorite restauarants was Da Ivo. But, over the years, the dining experience has declined dramatically, in inverse proportion to the prices, which are now quite expensive. The last time we were there, the food was so pedestrian that we swore we would never go back again. A very moderately-priced, casual restaurant, with very good Neapolitan food, is Masaniello (the same name as the opera, by Daniel Francois Auber) which is right over the bridge from Academia. When you're finished with dinner, you can frequently walk across the square just in time to hear a concert by the heavenly string orchestra "Interpreti Veneziani," which specializes in the music of Vivaldi, Albenoni and other Venetian favorite sons. (To hear Davide Amadio, the group's virtuoso cellist, is not only worth the price of admission - it's probably worth the price of your first class round trip ticket to Venice itself.) The ideal day in Venice? Staying at the Cipriani, having dinner at Masaniello and taking in a concert by "Interpreti Veneziani." Priceless!

    Thanks from: cuatros
  3.  

    Other advice on Venice:

    From the San Marco airport, take the ACTV riverboat from the airport. The booking office is in the airport. It costs about £5-6 single (maybe more now as this was a few years ago). They go every hour. It is worth waiting for the riverboat as it is the best way to first see Venice on arrival. Don’t take a river taxi, they cost a fortune!

    There are no cars in Venice. If you are using the canals you can buy a ticket which lasts a few days and enables you to hop and off all of the boats. You can buy these from the kiosks at the jettys. You can walk everywhere – take comfortable shoes!

    The tourist office is in the bottom end of San Marco Square under the colonnaded area. Ask for a free leaflet called Un Ospite di Venezia. It details all events and exhibitions going on that week. We saw some good exhibitions, which we had found detailed in this book.

    Good places to go: Palazzo Grassi, Peggy Guggenheim Museum, Fortuny Museum, Querini Stampalia Foundation, San Giorgio Maggiore.

    I agree w the Ciprani advice above, if you cannot afford to stay there though, it is still worth going over to eat, see the gardens and pool. There is a phone on the waterfront outside Harry’s Bar which you just pick up to call for the private boat if there isn’t one there already. We ate in the small ‘bistro’ restaurant call Cips that is reasonably priced, the food was good.

    We also found a lovely little wine bar in Venice where you can eat snacks at the bar and have a drink. Go over the Accademia Bridge and turn right at the side of the Accademia building and down a little narrow street past a little cinema. Turn left and carry on straight down there at either the first or second bridge. It is on the left-hand side of the canal. We loved this place!

    Venice for Pleasure (6th Revised edition) by J G Links – this is meant to be the guidebook for Venice, it is described as the best guidebook in the world. It is quite academic. It splits Venice into 4 walks.

    Thanks from: cuatros
  4.  

    These are all great suggestions. Thanks so much. I'm definitely going to pick up the JG Links Venice for Pleasure guidebook. It looks fantastic.

    Do either of you have a favorite museum or sightseeing attraction between the ones that you listed? I'm just trying to get a sense as to what's worth standing on line for.

  5.  

    I know it's a little touristy, even though a fair tourists seem to overlook it. My favorite café in Venice is Il Caffè Florian. It's right in St. Mark's square, hidden along the wall. Even if you don't eat there, it's a real amazing sight if you go in. It's really the perfect place to stop when you're seeing the sights there.

  6.  

    As the first poster said, I wll always remember the hotel I stayed in the first time I went with my husband. It was the Albergo Quattro Fontane, on the island of Lido.
    http://www.albergoquattrofontane.com/
    As we had rented a car to travel through Europe, this hotel allowed us to take the car with us, which would have been impossible for a hotel in Venice itself.
    Of course you will have to visit the Doge´s Palace, Rialto Bridge, Saint Mark´s Cathedral, and a Gondola ride, specially romantic at night.

  7.  

    Being from Italy, I get a lot of requests for Venice suggestions. I usually point my friends to Locanda del Ghetto- not a five star property, but a pretty local hotel in a wonderful area of Venice, the ancient Jewish Ghetto. The entire area around it, called Quartiere Cannareggio, is where you will find the "real" Venice- not touristy at all, and with the vibe of the everyday life in this unusual city...

1 to 7 of 7

  1.  

Add your comments

  • Formatting Tips
 
Back to Discussions Top of Page
 
tr