Where to stay in Venice is perhaps more seasonal than in other cites, because it's quite small. I've walked from one end to the other in a little more than half an hour. It's only about 3 miles long and two miles wide, similar to the size of Central Park in NYC.

It's doable during the 1st week of July. You just have to be strategic. I'd caution you about Canareggio. In Venice you will almost always get lost because the streets are a labyrinth, and there's nothing wrong with that, because in a city that small, you can't ever get really That lost. The problems here are that it is a large sestiere or zone of Venice, that includes some really worst places to stay in Venice. For example, the train station, probably the worst place to stay in the city, is in Cannareggio. Strada Nuova, a super touristy, quite disgusting street with cheap shops, and only a few decent, hard to find restaurants. The Rialto Bridge connects Canareggio to San Polo, and near The Rialto Bridge it's super touristy and super crowded. So you can do really badly in Canareggio. I've lived in Venice, and usually go back about 3 times per year, for stays typically of a month or so. Cannareggio is fine, and even though I go there a lot (the gym I go to is there, some of my favorite cicchetti places are there, and I can find my way anywhere around Venice, it's not unusual at night to get really lost. I mean really, really lost, as in walking in circles, Maybe about two years ago I was staying in Venice in Castello, my favorite zone, but happened to be in Canareggio fairly late at night. As I mentioned, Venice isn't very big, so I'd usually walk back to where I stay in Castello. But I was hopelessly lost. Because I was in the deep part of Cannareggio . And there are no people out to ask. And even if you find someone, the directions are too complicated to be helpful. I think it was around 11 or 12 at night and I couldn't find a way out. Finally, I decided the only solution was to get on a vaporetto, but to do that I'd have to get to the vaporetto stop, one I've been to many times, but I couldn't find it. Canareggio at night is tricky. Finally, I saw an elderly couple walking, and I told them I'm trying to find the vaporetto stop. They spoke no English. The man walked me to the vaporetto stop, which wasn't really far away, it's just that Venice was built because the people on the mainland were getting increasing invasions, so they decided to turn those offshore islands into a city, and to make it so complicated that it's hard to get around. If any invaders made it there, they' get lost. That was successful until Napolean.

Once the nice old man walked me to the vaporetto stop I had to take the vaporetto to the Lido, a strip of land that is not in Venice proper, then wait for another vaporetto to take me to Castello. I'm Ok with being lost in Venice because I've spent so much time there, but Cannaregio is so large and encompasses a lot of territory, so just choosing Cannaregio is not going to make it nice. Cannaregio is in Northern part of Venice, and there is a great street called Fondamente Nova. If your near there, you won't get too lost, and there are a few nice places to eat. The only problem is, it's a long walk to, "the sites" with an 8 year old during the time when it will be quite hot. You'll be walking a mile to get to the sites, then at night, a mile back. Not so nice with an 8 year old.

Castello is the place. Dorsoduro has its quiet places, but since the University is there, during certain places at night it can get rowdy, and even dangerous, and Venice is a city with almost no danger. I wouldn't recommend that. San Polo and Santa Croce are a matter of taste, but where Venetians actually live and traditional Venice thrives, not dependent on tourists, is Castello. I second Ai Cavalieri recommended by Obscure 2k. It's a short walk to most places you'd want to visit, but tourists haven't found it. I'm pretty sure it was last July when I was there, and it's on a large square, and there were Ferris wheels, Merry Go Rounds, food stores. It's a bit pricey.

If I'm staying for a month or so I'll rent an apartment, but if only for a week or two, my go to place is Hotel Bisanzio. It's still of decent class, and much more economical. The unusual part is that it's actually about 150 yards from Piazza San Marco, but no one , knows about it, because you can't just bump into it. But with simple directions it's easy to find, impossible to miss actually The beauty of that is that if you get up in the morning you walk down a 50 yard ally, make a right, and and in 5 minutes you're in San Marco Square, so you can go there for morning coffee, see its beauty, it will be isolated, because the cruise ships will have not yet dropped off their 36,000 day trippers who make San Marco a zombie walk of people, where people walk two feet, stop and take pictures, selfies, then you can get to walk two feet before someone else stops to take selfies. You can also get back to Piazza San Marco in the evening, after the day trippers have left, around 9 PM, and have a Spritz. Other times of the day, you don't walk to walk to the water, or to San Marco. When you exit the hotel, don't go straight ahead to the water. Just make a left and to into Castello. You will be in a part of Castello that has not changed over the centuries. It's actually where most Venetians live. Venetians have pastry for breakfast, so stop at a pastry shop. There are cicchetti stops galore. It is in this area where Al Covo, CoVino, Corte Sconta, and many other great restaurants are located. Just keep going deeper into the Castello. It will start getting dark, byzantine, and look like you are in an old movie. Don't worry. Just keep going further and further. The deeper you walk in, the more you get to see of traditional Venice as it has been over the centuries. Another plus is that if you walk out of Hotel Bisanzio and walk 50 meters straight ahead, you'll be at 3 vaporetto stops, that can take you anywhere. One other thing. They have two apartments about 2 blocks away in a really traditional part of Castello. They are not luxury apartments, but they are clean, decent, well maintained, very traditional Venetian aspect. You will be staying like a Venetian. If it is you desire to eat breakfast in Italy (I don't know why anyone would) you can walk the two blocks back to the Hotel where they have a very nice breakfast. Or, you can stay in your apartment, make your own coffee, or go downstairs for your pastry and coffee

Italy was found once again to have the people with the second longest lifespan of any country in the world, having just been edged out by Spain by a few months more of longevity. So nothing wrong with skipping the eggs and sausage at the hotel that people from the US, UK, Germany, etc want to eat, and going to the local bar and eating a traditional Italian breakfast; coffee and a croissant. If you are really hungry, have a piece of cake. The USA comes in, depending on whether it's World Health Organization statistics, is 52nd, just above Serbia, and just below Azerbaijian. If you look at the studies that the Bloomberg School of Public Health reports, USA is 52nd, just above Bulgaria. So there is nothing wrong with skipping that USA/UK/German breakfast and going out and having a piece of cake for breakfast, with your coffee (it's not called espresso). There are 4 reasons why Italians have the second longest life span, but research shows that it is due to the poor quality of health care in the USA compared to other countries, but that's another story. Ai Cavalieri and Hotel Bisanzio are both fine. depends on your budget.