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I've just returned from my first, long-overdue visit to Venice. Just a quick break, booked on impulse: there's an EasyJet service between my local airport and Marco Polo.

I loved every minute of it. I found myself strangely drawn to the San Marco area, even though the little streets could be literally jammed with tourists at times. But as an antidote, I also did much wandering in the rest of the city, and was often completely alone among the maze of streets and bridges.

I hardly ever got lost, thanks to a fairly good laminated map from the AA guide, and the frequent signs pointing the way to major landmarks: S. Marco, Piazzale Roma, Rialto and so on.

A 72-hour vaporetti ticket is great value, giving you the option to hop on and off freely. I went out to Murano and Burano as well -- long journeys that were essentially "free" on the same ticket.

Venice is breathtaking. It has all the colour and life and culture of the best Italian cities, but with its own unique setting and environment. Even the huge number of tourists doesn't spoil it. I'll be back.

Category
Do & See

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 06/23/2008 - 17:13

Yep must say I rather liked it tho' does tend to resemble a vast open air museum,' twould be a shame if it all slipped in to the lagoon.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 06/24/2008 - 12:15

Venice is by far my favourite city in Italy, if not the world. I first visited when I was 16 ( in nineteenhundred&frozentodeath), fell in love with it, but never had a chance to return until 7 years ago - nothings changed, beautiful as ever and completely unique.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 06/25/2008 - 06:27

Venice is fabulous!

It's true that if you take the time to wander through the little back streets you can find extremely quiet places, even when the main tourist routes are overflowing. (No pun intended)

It is a very unique place and deserves a visit at any time of year.

What came as a surprise to me, is that you can get one of the water taxis to 'Lido di Venezia', which takes around 15 mins if I remember rightly, and there is a lovely big sandy beach! Perfect to balance a tour of the city.

As Steve pointed out, the 72 hour tickets are excellent value and are a great way to see the city.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 06/25/2008 - 10:08

My nonna grew up in the Ghetto in Venezia (early 1900s), I've taken all my children/grandchildren back to see her hometown, second the thought that even in high season there are wonderful little campi, churches, bars & restaurants that only what few locals are left go to. Particularly check out Canareggio, the Dorsoduro, and Campo Sta Margherita. If you speak some Italian and ask around, you'll often be directed to some decent food, too, not easy to find at a good price in Venezia.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 06/26/2008 - 04:52

Hi, Steve. I haven't been on the forum lately due to work overload, but I'm glad to hear you enjoyed Venice! There is something compelling about Piazza San Marco (even though it's 10 minutes from my house, it's not so easy to get there:) When my three month visa was up back in 1998, I stood in Piazza San Marco, weeping because I didn't want to go back to America. So, I moved here, and have been here ever since.