Venice city break recommendations

[ithaka]

We would like to do a 3 night citybreak to Venice in October (DH can't get any longer break from work). We have 2 children 11 & 16. Any advice/suggestions would be welcome. I have already gathered it will be quite expensive.... Thanks.

We went a couple if years ago and it was fab, our dc were similar ages to yours.

We stated at the hotel lux which was recommended by many on here. The room was tiny, but all rooms in Venice are tiny. The dining room was small too but fine. It was 3 minute walk to st marks square and 10 metres away from a good local cafe.

We didn't spend a fortune. Booked the hotel through travelzoo, flew Ryanair with hand luggage only, and found restaurants that were hidden away down little side streets as they were loads cheaper. We went on the vaporetto line 1 and there's now a version of that called vaporetto dell'arte which has an audio tour and is hop on/hop off but it's €24. There are often podcasts you can download that act as an audio guide for line 1 which would be cheaper. We also did the Doge's Palace, St Mark's Basilica, the big tower in St Mark's square (can't remember the name) and went on a trip via the hotel to Murano to a glass factory - no pressure to buy though. We just wandered round a lot with a guide book and did some walking tours. Very, very easy to get lost though!

I've just read Dan Brown's Inferno and now I really want to go back!

I've just read recent reviews for the Lux and it seems to have gone off. We were advised on here to say we did not want to stay in the annexe but te main hotel. Not sure if that makes a difference.

Once you land at macro pollo I highly recommend the water bus into he city, much nicer arrival than the train.