Venice at Easter - quieter things to do

[MangosteenSoda]

I’m going to Venice for the first week of April with an 8 year old who has ASD. Will hopefully spend a day or two on the Lido so he can play on the beach and will do a day trip to one of the surrounding towns (probably Padua).

Any suggestions of quieter, less crowded things to do? I’ve been before so have already seen Doge’s Palace, St Mark’s etc. I want to visit the Peggy Gugenheim collection this time, but not bothered about museums apart from that. 8y/o will love the boats and wandering the streets so I’m looking for good parks or smaller more low key attractions to slot into the day.

Also, any recommendations for indoor stuff in case it’s very rainy? And nice, relaxed places/areas to eat away from San Marco area? We are staying in Canareggio near Fondamenta Nove.

Little bump - any Venice experts out there?

It's a while since we have been but Peggy Guggenheim was interesting - there's a little garden there over looking the canal as well.

You could take the Vaporetto to Murano / Burano for a look at the glass workshops.

We tended just to drop into restaurants we liked the look of as we wandered. There were quite a few good options away from St Mark's Square. There's also a Hard Rock Cafe just off St Mark's which is obviously not in any way authentic Italian (!) but had a nice atmosphere and kids tend to enjoy.

Sorry just a few more things sprang to mind:

There's a lovely quiet square called Campo Santa Margherita - has little market stalls of fresh fruit etc and lots of space.

We had a walk along to the Arsenal which has interesting fortress-style architecture and was not as busy as around Piazza San Marco.

We have only been in summer so not as familiar with indoor spaces - Doge's Palace has some interesting jail cellars, there's the Galleria dell'Academia as well.

Have a great trip!

There's a viewing terrace at the top of the shopping centre on the SE bank of the rialto. I don't think it's incredibly well known, but it's a superb view of the grand canal, and there's signs all round to show you what all the roof tops/churches are in the distance. The reason I mention it is because it's timed and numbered entry. I think 40 people per slot? You only get 15 mins per slot, but it's not crowded because of the limit. It's free, but you do have to book in advance.
www.dfs.com/it/venice/mobile/service/rooftop-terrace

Also, near where you're staying is a place where you can learn how to row like the gondoliers. If your son likes the boats, maybe this would be a good activity? You could go in the quieter canals around Cannaregio. Non profit org rowvenice.org

Thanks. I’ll look into the shopping centre with a view

I’d love to try the rowing but can guarantee my son would end up in a canal.

I was having a moment of booking regret yesterday but am excited again today. If all else fails, we will just eat a lot of fried fish, ice cream and pasta.

We went when my children were just turned four and seven for around 4 days. I knew there weren’t a lot of great playgrounds etc but there is a nice one right at the bottom of Venice, and next door is a lovely restaurant where you can sit outside. I’ve just looked on Google maps and it’s here in this image. Hope it’s attached. Not an amazing playground but at least it’s something and a goal to walk towards.

at the Guggenheim there is an art class once a week I think on a Sunday but you have to book in. I was too late. It’s for children.

our kids (my eldest is autistic) were most happy just wandering around stopping for pastries and ice creams and looking at the buildings and canals etc. We went out for a lot of the morning, came home for lunch and had a couple of hours chill/screen time and then went out late afternoon for drinks and snacks and then dinner. Very chilled few days.

we also looked into walking tours which are v child friendly but didn’t do one of those. On the other island you can rent those fun bikes that seat four (like a quad bike but pedals) but they had shut for the season (it was late October).

Thank you! That’s good to hear. I think my son will enjoy the same kind of days.

You'll have a wonderful time, I'm very jealous. Venice is just beautiful. Most of the tourists stay between doge's palace and the Rialto in san marco and don't venture too far afield, so you don't have to go too far to find quieter places. Dorsoduro, for example, has always been pretty quiet when I've been.

I know you said you've already been to the Doge's palace but they do a 'secret tour' of behind the scenes which is amazing, really worth doing even if you've been to the main bits before. Its in a small group and needs to be booked in advance.

We've done a private tour of the doge's palace, which was really good. They do a few different educational tours with a guide, and the price includes admission, so it doesn't work out that much more expensive than going without a guide.

It was still pretty busy around us, though I expect we could have requested only going to the quieter parts of the palace. We got so much from the visit by having a guide. There's obviously so much in all the details that you just miss by walking round by yourself.

Another benefit of the guide is you don't have to wait in any queues,