VENICE
TRIP TIPS
Venice is a city like no other. A visit - whether it's your first or your fifth or beyond - always stays with you. If you're heading to this unforgettable UNESCO World Heritage Site, here are a few practical pointers that should help make your trip all the more memorable.
Getting in
Because traffic within the city of Venice is limited to waterborne and pedestrian, arriving by air, train or bus is the first stage of two or three stages of your entry into the city.
Arriving by air at Marco Polo Airport, your options for getting into the city are:
Alilaguna water bus service - the least costly option - which leaves the airport every 15 minutes and stops at San Marco, Rialto, and a few other key points, from which you'll need to make your way through the city to your hotel on foot, by water taxi or vaporetto - Venice's bus service. Shared water taxi service including Venicelink, which offers a great mid-priced value, limits the number of passengers to 6-8, and gets you as close to your hotel as the canals allow private water taxi from Venicelink or companies like VeniceWaterTaxi.com, among many others.Arriving at the Venice Santa Lucia train station, convenient vaporetti connections are available, and depending on where in the city you're staying could also mean a walk.
If you're getting to Venice by bus, you'll exit the bus at the Piazzale Roma at the northern city boundary, where all auto traffic is required to stop.
In making the decision about getting into the city, contact your hotel to find out whether it has direct water access and what vaparetto stop is closest. Map your hotel from key points such as the train station, Piazza San Marco, and Rialto if you plan to get into the city with Alilaguna.
Shared water taxi service like that offered by venicelink will involve stops at each pair of passengers' hotel. But with numbers limited to 6-8, you won't likely have long to wait to arrive at your own. And at just over 20 Euros per person, you'll find the chance to go speeding along in these iconic watercraft, and, in many cases, pull right up to your hotel, a great beginning to your trip.
Choosing a base
Where you choose to stay in Venice has as much to do with how long you'll be in the city as with your budget. Your priority activities will also play a role in determining a good choice versus a great one.
Remember: the only ways around the city are walking, public water transport, or private water taxi. That said, you'll find that strolling through the ever-changing cityscape of both stunningly silent medieval streets and bustling corridors heaving with life makes even what seems a long walk on paper goes by in an endless parade of unforgettable images. So if you're planning a few days rather than a quick day trip, you could perhaps opt for a hotel that's a few minutes' walk from the nearest transportation stop. Just be sure your luggage is up to being dragged across cobblestones.
If you're only spending a day or two in Venice, and want to experience the bustle and grandeur of the Piazza San Marco, you'll find that hotels near the Piazza, those anywhere along the way up to the Rialto - very much a tourism core - and Grand Canal hotels that are a quick vaporetto trip (one or two stops) away will be just fine.
If you're on a quest to see as many museums as possible, a stay in the Dorsoduro neighborhood (Venice is divided into areas called sestieri) will find you an easy walk from the Ca' Rezzonico, Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Accademia and many other museums, as well as an expansive, eclectic array of shopping and dining that you'll enjoy having steps away once you've done the Doge's Palace, Basilica di San Marco and Piazza San Marco on just across the Grand Canal.
© Fondazione Musei Civici Venezia
If it's at all possible, just about the strongest recommendation that can be made about a Venice stay is to try to book into a room with a water or piazza view. Not that you can really go too far wrong in this wondrous city.
Getting around
Whether you're in Venice for half a day, or for a week, you'll find a compelling value in a VeneziaUnica CityPass and other products available through VeniceConnected. The cards get you unlimited travel on the city's public transportation company ACTV's vaparetti and area mainland buses - including to Murano, Burano and the Lido. Choose from 12-/24-/36-/48-/72- and 7-day passes. The site also offers Alilaguna airport transfers, WiFi cards and more.
With 1-hour tickets costing around 7 Euros, you'll find that after just a couple of trips your card will have paid for itself.
Skipping lines
The same is true if you add a museum pass to your VeniziaUnica order. The pass gets you into the city museums, including the Doge's Palace, the Murano and Burano glass and lace museums, and a host of more wonderful spaces.
You've no doubt heard about the infamously seemingly-infinite lines at major Venetian attractions. No worries with your museum pass. You'll be emailed a bar-coded voucher for each person in your party. With it in hand you've automatic access to priority lines at all included museums (Note: sheet protectors are a good idea, once you've printed). Just show and go on in.
The Basilica di San Marco and the Gallerie dell'Accademia are not included in the roster of sites to which the pass gives access. For the Basilica, avoid a 45+-minute wait by taking advantage of the self-guided visit reservation service available online for visits between 1 April and 31 October. Bookings are available right up to 10 minutes before your visit. A guided tour reservation is available year-round for 16 Euros.
Accademia reservations commit you to a specific day and time, and are non-refundable. You should find that not waiting in its infamous queues is well worth the commitment.
Making it easy on yourself
Before you head off to Venice, ask yourself: how much do I really need to take along? If you're planning to get to your hotel by private or shared water taxi, your luggage will be handled by the operator for you. After that, unless your hotel has direct water access you'll be rolling those rollerboards through the streets - and potentially some considerably large crowds.
Less is more when packing for a trip here. And if your trip is part of a longer European vacation, consider leaving your bags stored - train stations, or the hotel that might be your base if you're doing a quick hop to Venice are two options. If not, consider carefully your choice of transportation into the city.
Dining do's and dont's
Sitting down to dine, be sure you're aware as soon as possible of whether or not the restaurant charges a cover (coperto) - usually between 2 and 3 Euros per person - and a service charge. Both should be indicated on menus, including those posted outside. Knowing whether these are being added to your bill will determine if and how much you tip; according, of course, to the service you receive.
If a service charge has been added to your bill, you're not expected to add much more than an amount to round-up the total. The service charge goes to your wait staff. If not, a 10% tip is plenty, unless you feel you've received excellent service.
Don't over tip. Venice's prices are typically high by many standards. Don't guilt yourself into plunking down more than you need to.
An osteria is a family-owned restaurant, and typically offers great deals on regional fare. A ristorante will likely have higher prices. A snack bar will offer cicchetti - much like tapas - at budget-friendly prices and a lively atmosphere thanks to the locals' passion for their cicchetti. Note that prices in these snack bars may be higher if you choose to sit. Check the prices posted to make sure. When in doubt, ask.
And if, at the end of the meal, you're presented with a check with a total scribbled on a scrap of paper and the total seems out of order, ask for a conto dettagliato - the official transaction summary that restaurants are required to submit by law to the government.
Taking your time
If you choose to rush through Venice in a day, you'll be missing out. Yes, the city is so saturated with an inimitable atmosphere that even at first glance you'll be transported. But it's in taking the time to explore away from the well-worn tourist paths, to soak in the spirit of the place, that you'll find the ultimate reward. And a week's stay provides ample opportunity for side trips throughout the region (Florence, for example, is a 2-hour high-speed train ride away; the Alpine splendor of the Dolomites and lots of other Veneto sights are at your doorstep).
Your best preparation for a Venice trip? Prepare to be wowed.
- Dean Alan Innerarity | dean@deanstravel.com