Fantastic place. V.busy with day trippers during the day but the evenings quieten down a bit.
Some of the restaraunts can be a bit hit and miss (but are all pricey)
If it's warm enough, make sure you have a drink at one of the outside cafe's in the square in the evening. Most of them have really good 3 or 4 piece bands playing.
Forget the expense and hire a gondala. You have to haggle a bit, I think we paid about £70 3 years ago but worth it for the experience.
Venice is wonderful and one of those places that is a must to visit ..........but, as fatboy has said in the post above, it is very very pricy.
A gondala is a must - I also haggled to about £70 three years ago.
Well worth a visit but you can't help but think that you are being financially raped at every turn ............on a four day visit for 2 of us I managed to spend a fair few hundred quid.
Best time to go is end of September to November as it's the end of the major tourist season, all the Italians are back to work and really all you get are locals, it's quite busy over Christmas and only a diehard would consider Jan/Feb as it's too cold! Tourist season gets back going again in March.
Best place to stay is the Hotel Danieli, right next door to the Doges Palace. It's worth it.
Go - it's great, but take loads of cash. Get a boat from the airport into the city - possibly the most expensive 'cab' ride you'll ever take, but well, well worth it.
I was never bothered about going to Venice - overpriced, full of Japanese & Yank tourists and anyway, seen it so often on films & TV it seemed like I'd already been.
But when travelling by train to Turkey a few years ago, decided to detour as it was only an hour or so from our route.
Despite being the obvious tourist trap, it was so radically different from anywhere I'd been before, so full of wonderful buildings & historic architecture, and full of light & hustle & bustle on the canals.
Think WSS has recently done the Vegas bit, ltgtr...
Venice is superb - like walking around a living museum. It has an atmosphere all of its own. Definitely go off season, though. I've been twice and not taken the gondola trip - try the traghetta (a big gondola which crosses the Grand Canal)and the ordinary water buses (public transport) instead - OK, not as private, but you still get the views of the city from the canals, and for much less. We stayed at a beautiful Palazzo, which was quite reasonably priced and very authentic, about 15-20 mins walk from St Marks. The bars and restaurants in that area were much better value than around the touristy centre too. Happy to give you more details if you decide to go - just let me know.
Comments
Some of the restaraunts can be a bit hit and miss (but are all pricey)
If it's warm enough, make sure you have a drink at one of the outside cafe's in the square in the evening. Most of them have really good 3 or 4 piece bands playing.
Forget the expense and hire a gondala. You have to haggle a bit, I think we paid about £70 3 years ago but worth it for the experience.
A gondala is a must - I also haggled to about £70 three years ago.
Well worth a visit but you can't help but think that you are being financially raped at every turn ............on a four day visit for 2 of us I managed to spend a fair few hundred quid.
Best place to stay is the Hotel Danieli, right next door to the Doges Palace. It's worth it.
But when travelling by train to Turkey a few years ago, decided to detour as it was only an hour or so from our route.
Despite being the obvious tourist trap, it was so radically different from anywhere I'd been before, so full of wonderful buildings & historic architecture, and full of light & hustle & bustle on the canals.
Great atmosphere & really glad I went.
Venice is superb - like walking around a living museum. It has an atmosphere all of its own. Definitely go off season, though. I've been twice and not taken the gondola trip - try the traghetta (a big gondola which crosses the Grand Canal)and the ordinary water buses (public transport) instead - OK, not as private, but you still get the views of the city from the canals, and for much less. We stayed at a beautiful Palazzo, which was quite reasonably priced and very authentic, about 15-20 mins walk from St Marks. The bars and restaurants in that area were much better value than around the touristy centre too. Happy to give you more details if you decide to go - just let me know.