Venice in December ?

[peridito]

I'm such a novice at going abroad but I've dipped my toe in the water by booking a week away in Sept .

My partner will be 70 in December and he has always wanted to visit Venice .

Would we be mad to go for a few days in December ?

I'm very nervous about Venice ,we seem to be hopeless and always get lost ,missunderstand things .I know we'll pay over the odds for a slice of Iceland pizza and coffee .

Would it be easy to book guided tours ?

I've been looking at Thomas Cook flight and hotel packages .

I need help and advice !

I went to Venice in late December (can't remember the year now!). It was great, not too busy and still quite bright and sunny. But COLD! Take gloves etc.

You will pay over the odds in popular areas, but don't be afraid to look at the menus / prices first, and go away from the tourist areas if you don't want to pay too much. I stayed on the island of Murano, and did a bit of supermarket shopping for snacks, drinks etc.

Flew with BA I think, and got the waterbus from airport to Murano. Can't remember how I found the hotel but it would have been on Expedia or one of those booking websites.

Thanks Chatwoo that's helpful .We don't mind the cold ,sunny and bright would be fabulous . I think foggy might be ok too .Sort of atmospheric ?

We went in January this year, so even colder than December, and it was lovely. Still quite crowded - I'd hate to see it in high season! - but manageable. The cold wasn't too bad either.

You can't avoid getting lost in Venice, it's impossible. But that's half the fun : ) Don't get stressed about it, just go with it and ask in a shop for directions if it gets too much, they're well used to it!

If tours would make you feel better, by all means do, but it's not necessary. I would recommend the Secret Itineraries tour of the Doge's Palace though, we enjoyed it immensely.

Take a no. 1 vaporetto. It travels the length of the grand canal and is a great way to see it, before you head into the tiny side streets.

We resigned outselves to paying stupid money for food a couple of times, because we happened to be in expensive areas. For other meals, we found little out-of-the-way pizza or pasta takeaway places. Tripadvisor has a great budget eats category which should point you in the right direction.

No matter how cold it is, eating gelato while watching the sunset from the Rialto Bridge is a must-do : )

Oh thanks ,feel quite excited now .

I don't mind so much about paying over the odds ,but getting lost I'm not so sure . Will the directions be in English ?

Getting lost isn't the end of the world, particularly if you have comfy shoes on :) And essentially you're on an island so can only go so far... not very helpful I know!

But get a good guidebook with a pull out map or one of those big tourist maps from your hotel.

Part of the magic of Venice is wandering around the little 'back streets', seeing fruit and veg being sold from barges, finding little piazzas and lovely old churches.

Google maps works brilliantly! My DD16 went with her boyfriend and they took €1000 spending money for all food/drinks/going out for a week and had plenty of money left over for having a night out/meals out. They were self catering though which probably helped!

I went last October with my two kids. It was fab. Definitely buy a vaporetto pass because even if you get a bit lost you can get a vaporetto when tired. And it means you can can visit murano and burano. Which are the much smaller and still pretty islands in the lagoon. With a bit of research you can each well and not too expensively. The fried squid street food we had was great and much to much to eat. Really worth researching where to eat to a. Not get ripped off and b. Better food.

On the upside prosecco is cheap.

I didn't think Venice was expensive. We ate just outside the tourist area, didn't sit down in St Marks Sqare for example, and it was great.

You must go, it's fabulous.

My aunt went for Christmas last year and it looked incredible - much less busy than when we went which was late September.

Oh thank you everyone ,sounds doable .

Any thoughts on booking combined flight and hotel eg with Thomas Cook ?

We went in October last year. Was great, avoided St Marks other than a walk through - to be honest the square looks really run down and there was no desire to sit in the cafes there. Other parts of Venice were fantastic and we found great places to eat and drink.

It was very easy booking separate flights and hotels but a travel agent booking would make it v easy.

It’s expensive but I’d really recommend getting a water taxi from the airport it was one of the highlights of our trip!

I booked a combined flight and hotel with BA as it was the best value option for us and to get reasonable flight times

I went in winter and it was lovely.
Agree with above poster have a look at BA.com city breaks, I'm sure they'll be a lot cheaper than Thomas Cook. I've used them before.

I also see that voyage prive have an offer at the moment at Ca'dei conti hotel in Venice, we've stayed there in a canal view room and it was very nice.

We got a good guide book and also used TripAdvisor for restaurants and things to do.

It's beautiful at all times and I've been in December but remember:

as previous posters have said it is cold. I mean really* cold especially in the evening. I think it's something to do with the water stoping heat from being retained. It's fine if you have proper warm clothing so be prepared.

• it is Acqua Alta season (when there is High Water and the streets flood). Google about it before you go and check weather/acqua alta info. If you get caught, wellies are essential!

Venice is quite small and due to the number of famous landmarks its fairly easy to find your way around and not get lost, at least round the main tourist areas. I wouldn't bother with a guided tour. Get a few days pass on the vaporetto boat and hop on and off where you want.

We tend to stay on the Venice Lido (this is not Lido de Jeselo which I wouldn't recommend), its the Lido in Venice - we book through Booking.com and stay near the vaperetto end. Also stayed at Hotel Marconi and got lucky they gave us a room one night overlooking the Rialto and grand canal. Other room wasn't big enough to swing a cat in but it wasn't that expensive by Venice standards. I would definitely go. Worth getting vaperetto to Murano and Burano.

I would say its expensive but we've always got Ryanair flights which has been very cheap to balance out hotel costs. Food is a bit on pricey side but you can ask your hotel for recommendations to eat outside main tourist areas which will lower cost. Also we spent lots of days just pottering around and not that many entrance fees so overall wasn't too bad cost wise. Gondalas are pricey but its a once in a lifetime thing so I would go for it.

Thank you so much for posting you guys ,I really appreciate it .Just the sort of advice I need .

Off to google suggestions .

Thank you again !