Hey folks -- anybody got some good suggestions for things to see /do in Venice? I'm putting together my honeymoon for late April (yes, THIS April), and have never been before. I'd love see what some of the more well-traveled recommend.

Quite a broad question. I lived in Venice for 2 years and will do my best.

The best thing to do is allow yourself to wander away from the highly touristed areas (San Marco & Rialto). People often fear getting lost/turned around - but remember, its an island.

Be sure to get VERY precise directions to your hotel. An address like "San Marco 3208" will do you very little good, you need sites to assist in navigating - what campo/church/bridge is it near, etc...

Pack light. At some point during your trip, you will very likely have to shlep your luggage over a bridge - or at least some distance.

Do go to the Accademia gallery, the Palazzo Ducale and Basilica of San Marco.

In the event of flooding, don't take your shoes off and walk through the water. Do what the locals do and walk along the elevated planks.

Rather than visiting the original Harry's Bar - which is very expensive and not always the most welcoming place for tourists, spend an afternoon at Harry's Dolci on the Giudecca island. Its the same food, Bellinis, etc.. as the original Harry's for 1/2 the price, more amenable service and fantastic views.

Also, check out the websites for a "rolling venice" card - which will allow you discounted entrance fees as well as unlimited use of public water buses.

Go to Lido. It is a nice Island !!

Quite a broad question. I lived in Venice for 2 years and will do my best.

The best thing to do is allow yourself to wander away from the highly touristed areas (San Marco & Rialto). People often fear getting lost/turned around - but remember, its an island.

Be sure to get VERY precise directions to your hotel. An address like "San Marco 3208" will do you very little good, you need sites to assist in navigating - what campo/church/bridge is it near, etc...

Pack light. At some point during your trip, you will very likely have to shlep your luggage over a bridge - or at least some distance.

Do go to the Accademia gallery, the Palazzo Ducale and Basilica of San Marco.

In the event of flooding, don't take your shoes off and walk through the water. Do what the locals do and walk along the elevated planks.

Rather than visiting the original Harry's Bar - which is very expensive and not always the most welcoming place for tourists, spend an afternoon at Harry's Dolci on the Giudecca island. Its the same food, Bellinis, etc.. as the original Harry's for 1/2 the price, more amenable service and fantastic views.

Also, check out the websites for a "rolling venice" card - which will allow you discounted entrance fees as well as unlimited use of public water buses.

Great advice, especially about wandering around. I would also suggest riding out to Murano and Burano islands. Also, don't miss Scuola Grande di San Rocco. Take a vaporetto (water bus) down the Grand Canal. You'll have a great time!

Be sure to visit the Sestiere of Cannaragio. This is where the Ventians really live and the area is filled with great local trattorias.
A must is going to Locanda Cipriani for lunch. http://www.locandacipriani.com/
This is not to be confused with the Cipriani Hotel. Locanda Cipriani is located on the island of Torcello. Torcello is a rather mystical island with only about 2 dozen residents. The Locanda serves breathtakingly fresh food in an exquisite garden. The vegetables are grown in the garden, the pasta is homemade in the kitchen as are all of the desserts and the service and ambiance are truly memorable. You will take a vaporetto from Ponte Nove and will have to change vaporettos in Burano. It will be a very special day.:)

Venice - my own city ! - is always beautiful and April is a good month. A lot depends on how long you plan to stay (min. 1 week !).

Pls consider that April 25th is National Holidays in Italy, as well as May 1st (Labour Day), so make sure you book hotel well in advance.
Also Venice is likely to be crowded those days as it is a classical destination for april/may week-ends.

Give me an idea of what you look for (food/art/shopping/walking) and will be glad to give you some ideas.

Day trip to Padua (http://www.turismopadova.it) . . . it's an easy train ride from Venice.

Also try dinner at the Madonna (http://www.ristoranteallamadonna.com/eng/locale.htm), good fish !

Be sure to visit the Sestiere of Cannaragio. This is where the Ventians really live and the area is filled with great local trattorias.
A must is going to Locanda Cipriani for lunch. http://www.locandacipriani.com/
This is not to be confused with the Cipriani Hotel. Locanda Cipriani is located on the island of Torcello. Torcello is a rather mystical island with only about 2 dozen residents. The Locanda serves breathtakingly fresh food in an exquisite garden. The vegetables are grown in the garden, the pasta is homemade in the kitchen as are all of the desserts and the service and ambiance are truly memorable. You will take a vaporetto from Ponte Nove and will have to change vaporettos in Burano. It will be a very special day.:)

When we went there, there was a water taxi arranged for all the persons wishing to dine. the fee was modest. the taxi was one of the ciprani taxis. it left from in front of harry's bar near san marco.

the arrangement was made by the concierge at the danieli. it seemed to be a standard sat/sun lunch thing.

I too will be visiting Venice in early April. I will take advantage of the great advice given here but am wondering if anyone has additional tips for someone traveling with boys age 9 and 11.

I've already booked a short term apartment to make things easier.

I too will be visiting Venice in early April. I will take advantage of the great advice given here but am wondering if anyone has additional tips for someone traveling with boys age 9 and 11.

I've already booked a short term apartment to make things easier.

My experience is that children find Venice very intriquing b/c of the water/canals, etc.. so just walking around and watching how people live can be great fun (i.e., garbage boats instead of garbage trucks, etc...) Depending on the weather, a day at the beach on the Lido can be fun for children.

Also, there's Gardaland, an Italian theme park that's located on the mainland. Its very easy to reach by train (+/- 90 minutes) Take the Verona/Milan line and get off at the "gardaland" stop and then a shuttle takes you there. Its Italy's #1 theme park, meticulously maintained and a lot of fun - if you like these sorts of activities. I believe their website is bilinqual - www.gardaland.it

I too will be visiting Venice in early April. I will take advantage of the great advice given here but am wondering if anyone has additional tips for someone traveling with boys age 9 and 11.

I've already booked a short term apartment to make things easier.

keep your hands inside the boat!!!

keep your hands inside the boat!!!

Indeed - sage advice!

I too will be visiting Venice in early April. I will take advantage of the great advice given here but am wondering if anyone has additional tips for someone traveling with boys age 9 and 11.

I've already booked a short term apartment to make things easier.


I don't know what your kids are interested in, but Venice is amazing because it is so different. Even as an adult, I was amazed by riding down the Grand Canal and seeing a waterway used as a road: police boats, garbage boats, water buses, etc. You can ride a cheap traghetto (utilitarian gondola) across the Canal. Even the mundane is interesting. Also, they may enjoy going up the campanile (bell tower) at St. Mark's and San Giorgio Maggiore island. They would probably enjoy seeing glass made on Murano. At Scuola Grande di San Rocco, they might enjoy holding mirrors to view the Tintoretto paintings on the ceiling--an interesting twist on art.

If you are staying a while, you may want to consider some day trips to the mainland.

They should have a blast! And if you need to, you can always use bribery: if you two will do X, we'll go get some gelato afterward.:D

Day trip to Padua (http://www.turismopadova.it) . . . it's an easy train ride from Venice.



Verona is also a nice day trip, with plenty of sights.

But there is so much to see in Venice, and so many small streets to negotiate for new discoveries, I don't recommend leaving Venice at all on your first trip there. (nor your 2nd or 3rd)

Walk everywhere that you can. Consider getting the Venice Card for taking the vaporetto anywhere.

If a menu is in 3 languages or more on the window of a restaurant, keep walking. :D

If a menu is in 3 languages or more on the window of a restaurant, keep walking. :D

And avoid the restaurants on the main sights, just go into the small streets, there you will find good and cheap restaurants.

It turns out I will need 1,000 Euro in cash upon arrival or shortly thereafter for my apartment. Plus I will need cash for water taxi and incidentals. Any recomendations on the most cost effective ways to do this?

I'm travelling via SFO and LHR.

If a local ATM is the recomendation, I will still need an alternative. I won't be able to withrawl enough the first couple of days to meet my needs.

It turns out I will need 1,000 Euro in cash upon arrival or shortly thereafter for my apartment. Plus I will need cash for water taxi and incidentals. Any recomendations on the most cost effective ways to do this?

I'm travelling via SFO and LHR.

If a local ATM is the recomendation, I will still need an alternative. I won't be able to withrawl enough the first couple of days to meet my needs.

You will probably need 4 ATM cards. my personal idiot bank has a $270 daily max. The nasty bank up the street from them has a $550 max. My wife and I have cards from the 4. I have never hit the machine max, as the cards are so short.

The ATM machines from different banks in Venice do not seem to talk to each other. so you can go from one machine to the next. You can pay for water taxi with credit card at the booth in VCE. there is also ATM machines in VCE and at the train station. the one at the train station has always had a long line when I observed it. Venice seems to me to have very few ATM machines overall, given the tourist traffic. ask to find them.

Bank rates for cash conversion were not that bad in Italy, although I have not done that for a few years. The wait time can be considerable to get to a teller, but I converted $2000 or $3000 at a time at a single bank. cost was usually 1-1.5% plus 10 euro or so. was cheaper than the card, just did not like carrying all that cash from home. the rates are posted in the window of most banks, just the fee is not.

It turns out I will need 1,000 Euro in cash upon arrival or shortly thereafter for my apartment.
If a local ATM is the recomendation, I will still need an alternative. I won't be able to withrawl enough the first couple of days to meet my needs.


Other than using multiple credit cards, your only other 2 options are to use the currency exchange booths, or get the € here. There are several exchanges in VCE airport, with one (maybe 2) by the luggage carousels. They are not cheap.

The other option is to get the Euro in advance from Wells Fargo, or a local bank. http://tinyurl.com/2e5lgu

The other option is to get the Euro in advance from Wells Fargo, or a local bank. http://tinyurl.com/2e5lgu

This looks like a good suggestion. (and a good link) There is a branch with a currency desk near my house and I have a Wells account. It must be cheaper than several seperate ATM transactions.

When we went there, there was a water taxi arranged for all the persons wishing to dine. the fee was modest. the taxi was one of the ciprani taxis. it left from in front of harry's bar near san marco.

the arrangement was made by the concierge at the danieli. it seemed to be a standard sat/sun lunch thing.

Last time we were at the Danieli they told us this had been discontinued. Although I still think there is some arrangement for guests at the Cipriani Hotel.

Locanda Cipriani was one of our magical experiences. We're returning again next October.

It turns out I will need 1,000 Euro in cash upon arrival or shortly thereafter for my apartment. Plus I will need cash for water taxi and incidentals. Any recomendations on the most cost effective ways to do this?


My home bank (Citibank) charges no commission for currency exchanges of $1000 or more. I don't like carrying a lot of cash but if I'm getting rid of most of it on arrival I don't mind traveling with the bills in a money belt. This has worked fine on my last couple of apartment stays, and locating an ATM doesn't have to be an immediate worry.

There are lots of Venice suggestions on the Slow Travel website, http://www.slowtrav.com.

There are lots of Venice suggestions on the Slow Travel website, http://www.slowtrav.com.

I found the Slow Travel website recomended on a different Flyertalk thread. I'm using one of their recomendations for my apartment. Otherwise I would be pretty nervous about giving someone 1K Euro in cash upon arrival.

I found the Slow Travel website recomended on a different Flyertalk thread. I'm using one of their recomendations for my apartment. Otherwise I would be pretty nervous about giving someone 1K Euro in cash upon arrival.

Why? it is a very standard request at many of the smaller establishments in my experience in both italy and france. my last set of payments was for 1360 euro, but they let me pay in 500 euro chuncks, as that was my daily limit without problems using my atm cards.

dealing with locals in italy is not like dealing with starwood.

My home bank (Citibank) charges no commission for currency exchanges of $1000 or more. I don't like carrying a lot of cash but if I'm getting rid of most of it on arrival I don't mind traveling with the bills in a money belt. This has worked fine on my last couple of apartment stays, and locating an ATM doesn't have to be an immediate worry.

There are lots of Venice suggestions on the Slow Travel website, http://www.slowtrav.com.


there are at least two parts to a typical currency transaction. the commission, and the exchange rate. I recently saw a NO COMMISSION ad in the dallas newspaper offering euro exchange. buy at 1.41 dollar for euro. sell at 1.21 dollar for euro. a $0.20 spread. cost per euro is 8% or so.

think about it a bit.

in my commercial dealings, I usually get a $0.03 spread, plus $10.00 commission.

For the children, may I suggest the Museo Storico Navale, the Naval History Museum. It has the advantages of being cheap and fascinating.:D Your kids will love it. It is near the Arsenale stop and is open from 8:45 to 1:30 weekdays, 8:45 to 1:00 p.m. on Saturdays and closed on Sundays and Holidays. The Naval History Museum stood out as the one true bargain in Venice.

I second the suggestion for Torcello. Torcello is wonderfully peaceful and the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta is generally regarded as having the finest mosaics in Italy (or at least that was drummed into me during Fine Art History class from over a decade ago).

It turns out I will need 1,000 Euro in cash upon arrival or shortly thereafter for my apartment. Plus I will need cash for water taxi and incidentals. Any recomendations on the most cost effective ways to do this?

Your landlord should give you time to do banking on the day of your arrival. Check w/your booking agent to be sure. If you have an American Express Card go to the AE Office (located near the Campo San Moise) where they will cash personal checks drawn on US banks. Check out their website for more information, esp. the max. amount which varies depending on the type of card you have.

To get into the city, you'll need 90-110 Euro. When you leave customs/immigrants and enter the public airport area, there's an ATM located on the far right wall. You'll get a FAR better exchange rate than at the Travelex etc.... Also, the water taxi drivers do not expect - or usually receive tips.

Your landlord should give you time to do banking on the day of your arrival. Check w/your booking agent to be sure. If you have an American Express Card go to the AE Office (located near the Campo San Moise) where they will cash personal checks drawn on US banks. Check out their website for more information, esp. the max. amount which varies depending on the type of card you have.

To get into the city, you'll need 90-110 Euro. When you leave customs/immigrants and enter the public airport area, there's an ATM located on the far right wall. You'll get a FAR better exchange rate than at the Travelex etc.... Also, the water taxi drivers do not expect - or usually receive tips.
This is excellent advice. You should have the landlord's cell # with you. Call upon arrival.
When we rented an apartment in VCE, we called the number provided when our wheel s touched the runway. Our host/concierge greeted us at the water landing of our villa on the Grand Canal. It was quite magical.

For eating, I recommend "Paradiso Perduto" on Calle Misericordia. If you get there early enough, they will have some of their amazing fish stew left.

You have had some excellent advice. Personally I would add one or two things and I am happy to give you one or two really good and really authentic restaurants to try. PM me if you want them as I do not intend to post them here as they are a little special in that they are authentic, they are fairly well removed from the tourist tat and they serve really good food as opposed to the overpriced filth that they serve to tourists knowing that they are here today and gone tomorrow.

The recommendation for the Locanda Cipriani is very good - do not go on the weekend if you can avoid it as everyone else does that. Remember that 1st May is a public holiday and lots of things will be shut. Go by all means to Padua but book the Giotto collection first on line. Do not buy Murnao glass and have it shipped home as what you get will not be what you chose in the shop. Buy it, pay cash and insist on at least a 20% discount (the VAT) if you pay cash as they will not declare it. Be prepared to walk and let them run after you. Do go to the Lido one afternoon as it is a break from the cement of the city. You might like a trip in the boat down to Chioggia - a delightful little town across the Lagoon.

Above all forget the horror stories and prepare to be dazzled there is no other city like Venezia.

Hello, i'm italian and have been so many times in venice; here are my advisory for enjoying local food without spending a fortune

1) Trattoria Da Pampo in the area of Sant'Elena: simple, not crowded, very good fish and wine
2) Paradiso Perduto: very traditional in the area of "the ghetto"; you share the tables with the other and food is great; however wine is not as good as the food
3) Bacaro Alla Botte, near by the Rialto Bridge: great local "cicchetti" based on fish and vegetables, as well as wonderfull meatballs. Similar great place is "Osteria Alla Vedova" not far from the Ca' Doro

then, if you want something more sofisticated,expensive, yes, but great food, then choose "Da Fiore" in the area of San Polo square, or "Acqua pazza" in campo sant'angelo.

AVOID, PLEASE AVOID any restaurants along the Canal Grande next by the Rialto Bridge!

Enjoy your staying!!!