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So...very last minute. long story short is that this weekend on my diary is a proper "free" one where I have no committments for the next 12 months, and thinking of going somewhere...so.
Venice.
What area is best to stay at.
How easy it is to get to and from the airport
Is 3 nights enough?
Any nice hotel you guys recommend?
Nice places to eat? or things to do.
I will be going by myself this time, just me, my camera and walking around.
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Hence only 3 nights and in reality, 2 days.
I've been to Rome, Florence, Pisa, Bologna...not that many cities left in Italy.
Disagree about Venice
This time of year is the perfect time to go, the square isn't flooded and the drains don't stink.
1) Get a Vaporetti pass - even to cross the main canal - there are only 3 bridges.
2) Places to go:
Glass Museum ,
the Glass Foundry in the CENTRE of Murano (do not get waylaid by any place claiming to be en route... they're shops where they want you to buy stuff, the glass foundary is full time pros who love to share their work - they don't sell anything to tourists.
Theres a lovely beach on the Lido but it might cost to get in.
The Doge's Palace
If you like art - the Gugenheim.
When you cross the Rialto - there will be pick pockets, they are good pickpockets
The Basilika St Marie
The Island Tours are great too..
ISTR there a remains of a church with a famous mural on it on Burano - which is mainly a Fishing village
Do get a Vaporetti pass and you can tour the islands ... you can manage it on a normal pass.
Venice is a great place but there's only so much for the tourists, the masks and stuff aren't all of it ... within 20 feet of the Square and a mask shop is an exposed wall dating back to Roman times ISTR ... but if you wander too far into the back streets you risk upsetting the locals who treasure what privacy they can get (or that was my experience).
Have a great time, it's a beautiful place in spite of the tourists
The Doges Palace is definitely a worthwhile visit. The prison attached to it, which you get to via the Bridge of Sighs, is fascinating too. Don't get talked into buying a museum pass while you're there though, there's not much worth seeing that's included.
We did a vaporetto round trip of the islands one day: Murano, Burano and Torchello. Murano for glass as mentioned, Burano for lace and some very colourful houses, Torchello has an amazing mediaeval cathedral with a beautiful mural.
Getting around is easy, pretty much everything is walkable. Best advice is to just get a map and go and wander around. Half the fun is meandering round the tiny backstreets and squares and finding things.
Getting in from the airport is straightforward. A water taxi is quickest but costs an arm and leg: round €200. You can get a waterbus (Alilaguna), which is cheaper, or get an ordinary taxi which drops you at the Piazzale Roma, the main square next to the railway station, for about €40.
Probably don't need to say this, but take your camera. The scenery is brilliant and the light there is fantastic.
We got a good deal on a place about 5 mins from St Mark's.
Anywhere on the Grand Canal is going to be premium rate. Like others have said though it's a relatively small city so it won't make a huge difference where you stay. You could probably walk right across the place in 30 minutes.
There are two buses from the airport (run by two different companies). One is more frequent (looks like a city bus, i think its the no.5 run by ACTV) and the other is less frequent (looks like a coach, run by ATVO). You can buy tickets in the airport, but be sure to get the right one for the right bus. I recommend the 5. If you're loaded and want to feel like James Bond, you can take a water taxi straight from the airport.
Food. You may see the word cicchetti (chee-keh-tea) a lot, this is the local Venetian tapas essentially. I can recommend a place called Paradiso Perduto (Lost Paradise) up in Cannareggio, for a nice lunchtime fritto misto with polenta, or other assorted seafood flavoured dishes, washed down with an inexpensive jug of wine. Nights can be busy though, so you might be better off trying around lunchtime and really, you want to be outside. It's all pretty casual and it helps if you can speak Italian. Pizza isn't really a Venetian thing, although there is a decent pizzeria on the southern end, but i can't remember the name.
3 days is plenty. Just go explore and get lost. I find parts of Cannaregio and the east to be more 'local'/less touristy, but just follow your nose. You'll cover it all in that time for sure. If you want to go further afield, the train station is nearby and train travel is cheaper in Italy than in the UK. You could do day trip to Padova or Verona for example.
http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/57632/
Unlike what you may think or hear, its very safe, the people are ace, and its very different.
Not cheap though, quite gritty, but remarkably safe. Jersualem is something else too, seriously spectacular.
Last time I was there (December), I got a flight to Eilat (40 miuntes, 90 quid return ish, may have been less) and went to Petra - out of this world. The other way to do it is go directly East from Tel Aviv, you can do it in a day, on your tod, or on a tour. Tour is better I think. Its possibly one of the few places I've been ot that lived up to the hype, as did Jersualem.
I'm an israel convert.