Venice

Sarahdol75

Thinking of taking my OH away too Venice end of March for a big birthday.

Never been before, any recommendations on hotels, on what to do and what area to stay in.

Have a saw an offer on Travelzoo that looks good but again have no idea of area.

pollypenny

Venice is small anyway, so I'd stay in any area.

Don't be conned into booking for Mestre, though, which is often listed under Venice, but is actually the nearest town.

Buy a 72 hour vaperetto card and potter about. It's a beautiful place.

Don't worry about so ending a fortune in St Mark's Square. A coffee or wine in a little square will be a pleasure, as will a ride out to the outlying islands.

Do various churches for the art and history. Ditto the Ghetto.

richardw

Always double check any offer by looking at the cost of flights and accommodation yourself. Thoroughly research reviews of accommodation before booking.

Sarahdol75

pollypenny wrote: »

Venice is small anyway, so I'd stay in any area.

Don't be conned into booking for Mestre, though, which is often listed under Venice, but is actually the nearest town.

Buy a 72 hour vaperetto card and potter about. It's a beautiful place.

Don't worry about so ending a fortune in St Mark's Square. A coffee or wine in a little square will be a pleasure, as will a ride out to the outlying islands.

Do various churches for the art and history. Ditto the Ghetto.

richardw wrote: »

Always double check any offer by looking at the cost of flights and accommodation yourself. Thoroughly research reviews of accommodation before booking.

Thankyou both

springdreams

Plenty of info on Venice here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4995204

​http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/top-tourist-mistakes-6.htm

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowForum-g187870-i57-Venice_Veneto.html

http://wikitravel.org/en/Venice

We stayed in Mestre when we went. It is a short coach journey from the island of Venice, and you will find that it is less expensive accommodation wise.

The prices of the gondola rides are set by the state, and every one charges the same, so no point trying to haggle. Just jump on board the first empty one that you find.

We also enjoyed days out to the smaller islands of Burano and Murano.

Venice is very walkable, but take comfy shoes!

pollypenny

springdreams wrote: »

Plenty of info on Venice here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4995204

​http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/top-tourist-mistakes-6.htm

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowForum-g187870-i57-Venice_Veneto.html

http://wikitravel.org/en/Venice

We stayed in Mestre when we went. It is a short coach journey from the island of Venice, and you will find that it is less expensive accommodation wise.
es!

Totally disagree. One of the pleasures of Venice is meandering around alleys and through squares, stopping wherever you fancy to eat or drink. It's easy to get lost for a time.

If you have to get a coach to Mestre you'll be panicking about making it.

If you're going to Venice - go to Venice! . Worth it. There are loads of places to stay, other than on the Grand Canal or St Mark's Square.

ibizafan_2

We are going for a few days in September, and have chosen a hotel in the Cannaregio district. Easily walkable to the main attractions but quiet at night. It's called the Apostoli Palace. I've been to Venice twice and it's my favourite city. As others have said, it's great for just wandering around. Look for restaurants away from St Marks Square and Rialto and you can find bargains. Tripadvisor has lots of good info on the forums. One organised trip I enjoyed was the "secret" tour of the Doge's palace where Casanova was in prison. It's easy to walk around the city, but a vaporetto trip down the Grand Canal is a must. We have booked Monarch flights and it's easy to get from Marco Polo Airport.

EconomicsGirl

Absolutely love Venice and have been a few times.

Would definitely stay in Venice. Lido is fine but check you are the end the boats go from.

We stayed at this hotel and loved it and well as Marconi hotel which we also liked. Rooms all decorated in Ventian style. We used to fly with Ryanair and get their shuttle bus in in the days you could fly there and back for £20 or so. Had plenty of money left over for everything else.

http://www.hotelvillaedera.com/en#home

We stayed in a room they call il privato which was good as only room on that floor. Was a few years back. Marconi is also good if can get views of the canal its amazing, we did. Rooms in Venice do tend to be small.

Some lovely if expensive places to have coffee etc. Gondola rides are good but expensive, travel by vaporetto, wander round, unique place. Some lovely classical concerts at night. Had lovely sea bream meal under Rialto at night in restaurant there.

EconomicsGirl

It's also worth getting vaporetto to Burano and Murano if you have time, beautiful different coloured houses.

springdreams

pollypenny wrote: »

Totally disagree. One of the pleasures of Venice is meandering around alleys and through squares, stopping wherever you fancy to eat or drink. It's easy to get lost for a time.

If you have to get a coach to Mestre you'll be panicking about making it.

If you're going to Venice - go to Venice! . Worth it. There are loads of places to stay, other than on the Grand Canal or St Mark's Square.

Everyone is entitled to their option ...... including me! And I enjoyed Mestre, so there

And I didn't panic in all the time I was there.

And we meandered to our hearts content.

michele-p

We stayed in Venice for 2 nights a few years ago. We stayed here http://www.locandaherion.com/en/

Which was in a really good position. It was about a 5 minute stroll from the train station, in the Jewish quarter. We could walk to the main square on around 15 mins. We never got hideously lost! Plus the water taxis were quite nearby.

If you have a car we parked on the mainland in a hotel over the road from the train station, then got the train over to Venice. It was the end of our road trip, so we just packed our hand luggage bags for the 2 nights.