Venice!

[Dreamingpeanuts]

We (me, Dh, and Dc aged 13) are planning a trip to Venice at Easter. We will be there for probs 3 or 4 days just after Easter weekend.

I’m an art buff - the others not so much, I am thinking:
day 1 - art history walking tour including doge’s palace & other major sights
day 2 - day trip to ravenna
day 3 - not sure?!

Has anyone been recently, and do you have any tips?
particularly on places to stay and things to do

TIA!

I recommend the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. It’s very different to other Guggenheim museums as it’s small
and personal.

Take a boat to nearby islands of Burano
and Merano - its a great trip - Merano is famous for glass and the glass making demonstrations are really interesting. Burano is beautiful with all the different coloured houses.

It's a fair way to Ravenna, and you go for the mosaics, so it's more art history.
You don't have long in Venice as it is, so don't take out a whole day.

You won't fit all the major sights into one day - the Doge's Palace will be sufficient. The thing about Venice is to just wander, stop for a drink or a coffee, then wander some more. Don't try to schedule every hour of every day.
If the weather is nice, you could take a boat trip over to the Lido.

And when you arrive at the airport, get a water taxi over to the city (your hotel may pre-arrange this for you - most do), and it's well worth the fee, approx €170. It's the most perfect arrival into the city, and takes around 20 to 30 minutes.

This. I have some stunning photos of the colourful houses and visited the place where they make the Murano glass. Very interesting. If you're into art, you should like it.

Ok, thank you! I hadn’t thought of merano but that sounds excellent.

any recommendations on where to stay - as we’re only there for a while I’d like to be central but does that just mean being inside a tourist trap?

Ravenna is a different holiday in it's own right. Once you are in Venice there's more than enough to do to fill your three days, especially as you have to slow down as you are at walking/boat speed. Get a vaporetto pass on Day 1.

Your tour of the Doge's Palace will take most of the day. Definitely buy your tickets in advance. In fact buy tickets to everything in advance - it's a long queue in a hot shadeless square for the Basilica.

A day trip of Burano, Torcello and Murano is lovely. Personally didn't like Murano - 99% of the glass is from China and I've seen glass blowing. However Burano is ridiculously pretty and the church on Torcello is stunning.

Doing a loop on vaporetto 1 is an easy way to see loads of sights from the water - helps if you have an app or guidebook to tell you about all the palazzi but great even if not.

Don't stay in San Marco which is the major tourist trap area. As soon as you leave San Marco and San Polo the mass of people drops off very quickly.

If you are an art buff and the others aren't so much, then I'd suggest the Scuola di San Giovanni degli Schiavoni. It's much quieter than the other Scuolas, it's all painted by Carpaccio and the paintings are very accessible eg George and the Dragon with a very cute dragon.

That leaves a whole free day for more wandering about and going in churches/museums. If any of you are into fashion then maybe the Fortuny museum or Palazzo Mocenigo for something different.

Alternatively what about the Rialto market - go early - or a cicchetti tour?

Thank you! So would staying somewhere like Dorsoduro be ok?

We stayed in San Marco. Lovely hotel with a bar/restaurant. Walking around was easy.

https://hotelbonvecchiativenezia.com-hotel.com/en/

Perfect! I've stayed in Dorsoduro and Castello and they are lovely, quick walk or vaporetto everywhere.

We stayed in the Guesthouse Ca' San Marcuola 1 - its currently on Booking.com at £418 Genius price for gour nights in April.

It's central but in a quiet square. Our ground floor room was right beside a side canal so we had gondolas floating past our window.

We spent most of the time wandering the streets -its so beautiful you dont really need to visit places, although Im sure some are very interesting.

Did find the restaurants very over priced and poor quality, some of the supermarkets have good value food counters or you could just stock up at the bakeries.

We stayed here: Hotel Orologio https://www.hotelorologiovenezia.com

I agree about just wandering. We did Doges Palace, Peggy Guggenheim, Bell Tower, L’Accedemia and a trip to Murano/Burano. We found it all walkable and pretty reasonable to eat out (my kids are really fussy!!)

We got a “private” transfer what was actually a shared one and it was at night so it was ok but not the WOW some experience. We got the ferry bus back to the airport and it was convenient.

Came here to say the same

We took the public water bus up the Grand Cannl, it was amazing, and so different to the small canals.
We wandered around the area close to the sea, away from the crowds, there was a tower to go up but I forget the name.

Venice is my favorite European city. I have visited it half a dozen times over the years. My favorite place to stay was Hotel Rialto - literally alongside the Rialto bridge. If you take a water taxi from the airport (as recomended upthread) it will drop you outside. This hotel is so central that you can walk to anywhere within a short time. Right alongside the Rialto Market. There is a branch of Spar within 2 minutes walk where you can buy snacks and basics to take for a meal on the hoof. The poster who said that many restaurants are over prices and touristy is unfortunately true. Look for smaller ones down back streets rather than big flashy ones on the canals.

Venice is actually quite small and an active walker can easily cross the main part in half a day. The pleasure is in simply wandering around the streets, as others have mentioned upthread. All those wooky little bridges and canals. However not a city for the mobility impaired!

I agree I would bypass Murano and go to Burano. But get off at Mazzorbo (the stop before) and walk through the vineyard at the Venissa wine resort - you could stop for a drink there. Then walk over the footbridge and into Burano. It's a much nicer - and quieter - approach. I would then take the short ride over to Torcello and climb the bell tower.

For kids, I might also go to the Lido (it's a bit of a walk to the beach from the boat stop but perfectly doable).

It's a shame you can't move your dates to May onwards for the Biennale - you would love it and its brilliant for kids. (Put it on your 'to-do' list for another time!).

Cannaregio is a nice place to stay, an easy walk to everywhere and near the Fondamente Nove stop which goes directly to the airport.

Yes a private water taxi is an expensive way to arrive (for a single like myself) but well worth it for a family group. Such an experience it will stay with you for life. The taxi drivers like to really hurtle across the lagoon and when you see that famous skyline come up on the horizon you can get some wonderful shots. Im not an Instagram addict but this is unbeatable. You can probably book a return trip with a discount via your hotel.