Hello all! Larry and I have just booked a week-long trip to Venice in May, without the kids. (Thank you, Mom and Dad!)

This will be our first time there, and I'd love to hear of your suggestions, experiences, recommendations, horror stories, whatever. Walks, restaurants, things off the beaten path...

I'm also collecting links to good information, and I'll post what I find.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kim,

Amy:

I second Colleen's rec of I Frari. Great church.

I also highly recommend going to the Ghetto, and into a synagogue, if you can. It's in a more remote part of the city and was pretty moving for me when I went.

Speaking of more remote parts of the city, I found that once you get away from San Marco and the Rialto and a couple of other places, there are wonderful out-of-the-way neighborhoods to discover. That's some of what I loved the best.

Note: if you have to find an address anywhere, good luck. Do you know how they're organized, or rather disorganized? Fascinating!

Thanks, Colleen and David. Who else has been to Venice lately? I'm sure I'll have many more specific questions as the time gets closer to departure and I get deeper into guidebooks.

I've been collecting links to Venice info- here they are.

Pauleen- I notice there isn't information about transportation from Venice's airport on the website yet, like there is for Rome and Milan. I found info on the waterbus to San Marco, and the bus to Piazzale Roma. First-hand experiences from folks would also be great.

In Venice Today

http://www.invenicetoday.com/

Jack's Venice Page

http://www.jack-travel.com/Venice/Main_page_right_venice.htm

Meeting Venice- has calendar of events

http://www.meetingvenice.it/english.asp?Lingua=E

Peggy Guggenheim Museum

http://www.guggenheim-venice.it/english/index.htm

Palazzo Grassi

http://www.palazzograssi.it/eng/index.html

La Biennale

http://www.labiennaledivenezia.net/index_gb.cfm

Venice's opera house

http://www.teatrolafenice.it/

Venice for Children

http://goeurope.about.com/library/venice/aa062397.htm

Brenta River Tour boats

http://www.antoniana.it/mainuk.html

Palladio's Villas

http://www.boglewood.com/palladio/home.html

Venice's Museums

http://www.artsystem.it/en/musei%5Fe.htm

Venice Day Tours

http://www.venice%2Dday%2Dtours.com/

Jewish Venice- Links

http://goeurope.about.com/library/planner/blp_venice_jewish.htm

Internet Access in Venice

http://goeurope.about.com/library/venice/aa000411va.htm

Murano

http://goeurope.about.com/library/venice/aa040797.htm

Burano and lace

http://www.dalla-lidia.com/english/home.htm

Arriving in Venice

http://goeurope.about.com/library/venice/aa031097.htm

Airport Bus

http://goeurope.about.com/library/venice/aa111797.htm

ACTV-Venice Transportation-Vaperetto Routes

http://www.actv.it/eng/home.php

Waterbus between airport and Venice

http://goeurope.about.com/library/venice/aa980126.htm

http://www.alilaguna.com/

Amy,

One of the contributors to the AOL board writes for the International Herald Tribune. She lives in Venice and has done some great pieces on different things to see (e.g., secret itinerary tour at the doge palace). Unfortunately, her articles only remain on the IHT website during the date of publication. They're in PDF format (you need adobe acrobat to read them) but if you like, I saved them to my hard drive and can e-mail them to you. I've also converted the secret itinerary article to word format...just let me know where to send them.

When you register on this message board, you get to decide if you want your email address available to people. Click the small icon of the person and the envelope at the top of anyone's post and you will get their email address. This latest version of the software only puts that icon there if the person has allowed their email address to be made available.

Kim, could you email those articles to me too? I will print them out for my files. It is too bad the International Herald Tribune does not have past issues on the web. slowtrav@mindspring.com

Here's another batch of links- these are for Venice private tour guides. If anyone knows of others to recommend, let me know.

Venice Art Tours (Howard Fitzpatrick, mentioned in Ruth's trip report)

http://www.venice-art-tours.com/

Walks in Venice

http://www.walksinsidevenice.com/welcome2.html

Venice Day Tours

http://www.venice-day-tours.com/

Venice Escapes

http://www.venicescapes.org/guided_tours_of_Venice.htm

We have a Venice tour guide listed. She contacted me and told me about herself. She also has a link to SlowTrav on her site (which I thought was very nice):

http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/planning/tour_guides.htm

When you go visit St Marks, be there either an hour early in the morning and wait at the entrance, or go an hour before closing to avoid the crowds and the intolerably long line to enter. I prefer the morning, to sit there and watch the central square of the town come alive.

Do the Doges Palace tour one day and then do the "secret tour" a day or two later. I did this on my last trip and it was great.

Get lost. Walk and walk around, visiting things at random, hanging out in campi, having lunch wherever you find yourselves. This will take you out of the tourist areas (hopefully!) and let you figure out navigating your way back.

Vaporetto #1 up the Grand Canal is always fabulous, but at night it's even better.

Hi Amy,
My partner and I were in Venice this past September. You might want to check out my trip report "Tom in CA" for a few tips and ideas. We had a hard time finding great restaurants after being spoiled in Tuscany, but we did find a few good ones.
Tom

Amy- Leafing through my Italy trip journal from April, 2000, I found notes on one of our favorite, inexpensive resturants in Venice. It is Trattoria tre spedi, Cannaregio,5906. It wasn't easy to find but they had a wonderful fixed price lunch. Great fish and pasta, very friendly staff and it was filled with locals. Wanted to return but never made it back. Our favorite area was the Campo Margherita area with lovely piazzas, churches and Venetian masks. St. Mark's Square is breathtaking in the very early morning when only the pigeons are about. The dueling orchestras at night are also very entertaining. If you don't want to wait in line to see St. Mark's Basicalla,
you can enter a side entrance on the left (as you're facing the church) which is an entrance for those wanting to worship. A totally enchanting city! Enjoy.

Now that we're into food.

I recommend, at the entrance to Campo Santa Margharita, L'incontro, a little tratoria with a Sardinian chef who does wonderful things with beef. Unlike most eateries in Venice, there are no fish entries.

Next door is the Gelateria Doge, worth the trip. I have been served Sgropino (sp?) at L'incontro when the waiter goes to the Doge for lemon gelato.

Also, on a sidestreet on the walkway between the Academia and Campo Santa Margharita is Osteria Vini Padovani, at Calle dei Cerchieri 1280. Seats about fifteen and you will see no other stranieri. It is like a tiny cafeteria with everything under glass. Most warm entries are microwaved and if you order pasta, more than likely the lady across the calle will bring it over. Wonderful owners who will share a grappina after lunch. Buon appetito.

Doing as the Venetians Do

The above article details the pleasures of renting an apartment in Venice. There are some shop and restaurant recommendations at the end.

The April 2002 issue of the Magazine of La Cucina Italiana highlights a winter visit in Venice. More shop and restaurant recommendations! Osteria Da Alberto is mentioned, and I can also recommend this small restaurant in Cannaregio. Very good food and service and reasonable prices.

Cucina Italiana online

Thank you so much, everybody! You are all wonderfully generous with your information and suggestions.

Colleen- I couldn't find the Venice article in Cucina Italia. Is it hidden somewhere?

It's in the April Issue on page 48

quote:

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Originally posted by Amy:
Colleen- I couldn't find the Venice article in Cucina Italia. Is it hidden somewhere?

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