Venice

Favorite discoveries or tips:

Lisa murray Lisa72388@comcast.net

Lisa in augusta, ga USA 06/22/2008

Additional item for the "Venice with Children" section -- my family of 4 kids (from 15 to 5) loved the Naval Musuem near the Arsenale. It was definitely off the beaten path, but only cost 1.50 euros each to get in, and the 4 floors of exhibits were awesome. Plus when we were there there was a naval training ship moored outside, and the Italian navy personnel gave us a free tour of it.

Thomas in Austin, TX USA 06/18/2008

Al Ponte Del Megio (S. Croce, 1666 - 30135) is great restaurant nearby the San Stae stop. You can choose to sit outside by the canals but not have to pay the outrageous touristy prices. Their fish was so fresh and so delicious. You can get a pitcher of house wine for just 3 Euros. Unlike a lot of other Italian restaurants, the service was quick and very friendly.

Tina in Cincinnati, OH USA 06/07/2008

"Bacari Jazz Bar" in Venice. Refered to as a "good american bar" by venice locals- with an international sighting of European/Austrailians/French Canadians- you name it all were present- Including a possible Rick Steve's sighting??? Looks like we missed out on a celebrity meeting or Rick's identical twin was there. Fun bar w/ bra's hanging from ceiling. Good service and stays open late for music- although I was in bed by then b/c if you order a drink at happy hour you get 2 for the price of one- charged per person!

Holly Carpino in Dana Point, ca USA 06/04/2008

In Venice, you can purchase vaporetto cards for one hour, 12 hrs, 24 hrs, and more. Only the larger vaporetto stops sell tickets so you have to plan ahead if you're going to be using any of the smaller stops. These passes are electronic passes, as opposed to the old "punch/stamp" style of tickets. You are supposed to press them up against a "reader" that detects the card and apparently makes a note in its database of when that pass was activated. You're supposed to register the pass this way at each stop that you use. But here are the two important things to know: 1. Many of the smaller stops either don't have these readers or the readers aren't operational, so this means there's no way to register your pass. (We bought two passes at the main Rialto stop and used them for the first time later that day at the Rialto Mercato minor stop. There was no active reader at that stop, so these cards never got activated. 2. The in-city vaporettos are so busy that I never saw anyone check for tickets. On the one vaporetto ride where they did check (Murano to Burano - 40 minute ride) the ticket checker just looked at the passes in my hand and moved on. He had no way of knowing whether the passes had been activated or not. We could have bought a one hour pass and used it for all of our rides (which would not be honest, of course, but I'm just pointing out the oddity of this newer system).

Michael in Seattle, WA USA 05/31/2008

Get lost on the side street!!

Kate Buechler in Winnipeg, MB Canada 05/22/2008

Our hotel, Hotel Columbina (4 stars) was wonderful. It is right in the St. Mark's area (Calle del Remedio, Castello 4416). The rooms are small but clean, and the staff was courteous and helpful. It should definitely be added to your book.

Also, our hotel staff recommended a good restaurant about 5 min walk from our hotel, called Ristorante "da Carletto" (Castello 5272, Calle delle Bande in zona S. Maria Formosa). It was NOT touristy in any way, and the food was fabulous, esp. the fresh fish preparations (we had turbot). It's a bit pricy, but nothing more than any other decent place, and the service was great. It's a small place too, so they really cater to the few guests they have. It would be a great "add" to your book.

Lindsay Kaun in Seminole, FL USA 05/18/2008

We stayed at Hotel Dona Palace on spring rate and loved the place, American breakfast buffet, & location. Their email address is www.donapalace.it I found this place on venere.com and then other web-sites and it had high reviews & looked nicer than Hotel Campiello.

Patricia Kendall in Houston, TX USA 05/09/2008

We took a quick trip to San Giorgio Maggiore (across from San Marco) as dusk was falling. In order to see the artwork in the building, you need to put coins in a box to turn on the lights. As I recall, we had to scramble for small coins (and luckily, there were some other late visitors who had small change so we shared). I think it was .50 Euro coins. This would have been helpful to know.

Karen Nagata in Redmond, WA USA 04/17/2008

I would recommend to sit down and read the book first...then pick out how much time you have to see what you want to see....Venice is amazing and unfolds in fron of your eyes....take the book and start walking....the discoveries will come to you!

Danielle Remillard in Boston , MA USA 04/15/2008

A few quick Murano tips: 1. To avoid crowds and to get a stroll through town (vs. getting off vaporetto right at the foundries) take the LN line (vs 41, 42, 13), and get off at the Faro stop on Murano. It's a true "back door"! The stop for the LN line is a few yards away from the 41 stop-as you face the Lagoon, it's LEFT of the 41 stop.

2. Bring 1 and 2 Euro coins for the foundry tours so you can tip the workers whose stations you stop at. They'll invite you in and show you what you are doing. We had to scramble for tipping coins.

3. Skip the glass museum and go to Venini-a shop on the main canal. They are doing interesting and beautiful things.

4. Ladies, don't buy jewelry at the first shop you see-there are lots of great shops, and different designers on the island.

5. Why are goblets priced differently? Some (the most expensive) are truly hand blown. Others (around 200 Euro) are made in molds.

6. I want to reiterate that a lot of "murano" glass is actually made in China. You get what you pay for! Make sure it says "made in Venice, Italy" on it.

Kelly Luchtman in Chicago, IL USA 04/12/2008

This ended up not being a big museum trip for us. Every time we started out thinking maybe we'd go to the Accademia or another museum, we'd set out and get a coffee and then Venice would just sort of suck us in and before we knew it we were off exploring a new part of town and marveling at every new canal and campo. My husband and I decided that Venice itself is the museum. Much of the art that we saw on this trip was art that was still in it's original location--as an altarpiece, mosaic (Ravenna), or fresco (The Scrovengi). This was an excellent experience!

Cheryl Moody in Cheshire, CT USA 03/24/2008

Favorite tip is to buy a pass for the vaporreto, because many of the best views of Venice are from the water, and gondolas are so expensive.

Brian Gulledge in Woodbridge, VA USA 02/11/2008

Highly recommend: B&B DolceVita Treviso, in Treviso 25 minutes to Venice. Owners offer every day a free transfer to Treviso train station!!!! www.dolcevitatreviso.com

Natali Ucraina 02/08/2008

You Can dance the Argentine Tango at Libertango right there in Duosoduro. There is a website TangoNord.it that shows dancing opportunities in the Veneto region.

Mary Ann Haven in Columbia, SC USA 01/10/2008

Discovery: The Palladio designed church of San Pietro di Castello. To get there, head up Via Garibaldi and keep going. You can then use the campinile as a landmark to find the church. This is clear at the eastern end of Venice (the fish's tail), east of the Arsenale and north of Santa Elena and I would suspect is not frequented by tourists too much. There are works by Veronese, Giordano, Ricci, Basaiti and Longhena, and a capella (small side chapel) with Roman mosaics.(!) The church was the see of the Bishop of Venice prior to it being moved to San Marco. Leaving the church, wander west until you are back on familiar ground. This area of Castello is very quiet and quite beautiful.

Tom in DeKalb, IL USA 12/26/2007

Others have mentioned it, but use the bag check to skip the line at St. Marks. Just walk up to the main entrance, show the plastic claim check they give you, and head right in. Don't be shy!

Thomarob in Indianapolis, IN USA 12/09/2007

A couple additions - We stayed 4 nights at Hotel al Piave - www.hotelalpiave.com in Venice. On RugaGiuffa near the SanZaccaria vaporetto stop. It was clean, included the best breakfasts of all the hotels we stayed in during a 2 week vacation in Italy. Hosts were helpful and cheerful. We dined at a fun and delicious restaurant - Marco Polo, a quick walk from AlPiave. Food was good, service was superb and the crowd had fun chatting across tables.

Jill Casey in Fredonia, NY USA 11/26/2007

n/a

Mike Williams in Tampa, FL USA 10/18/2007

Again, Rick's tip about checking your bag just around the corner from the Basilica is PRICELESS! As our first trip to Italy/Venice, we wanted to avoid spending hours in lines and this was incredible! We walked right in and probably saved ourselves an hour of standing in the warm sun. THANKS RICK!

Tiphanie Benoit in Macomb, MI USA 09/08/2007

In Verona, Ristorante Greppia, Vicolo Samaritana 3, in the historic center was very good for typical regional cooking in a semi-elegant setting. Arrive early if you wish to eat outside in summer as those tables filled up quickly.

Doyle Johnson in Medfield, MA USA 08/27/2007

In the Venice guidebook, Rick said that one should avoid Lido Beach near Venice at all costs. However, it wasn't all that bad. If you want to see the Adriatic and join many Europeans in the sun, it's really not that bad. Also, if you stop at the Brillo supermarket on the way, you can grab yourself some great ingredients for a picnic. The water was warm and it was really fun to people watch.

Kristin Rimington in Chicago, IL USA 08/26/2007

We enjoyed the Hotel Violino D'Oro.in San Marco. Tel 041 2770841 fax 0412771001. 150 euro, with breakfast, 3-4 min walk from Vaporetto Valoressa stop,clean rooms, great staff.

Bill & Pat Ernst in Sun City Center, FL USA 08/14/2007

Use the bag check for St. Mark's Basilica. We saw the humongous line of people waiting for entry into the church, probably a 1-2 hour wait. Then we went and checked our bag as described in the book, scooted right up to the front of the line and made it just in time for a very good free tour in English!

Devin in Olympia, WA USA 08/06/2007

Dear Rick, We'd like to highly recommend Venicescapes tours for travelers to Venice. We've just returned from our Venetian trip and found this tour to be exceptional. We took the "Splendors of Piety" tour, but Venicescapes offers many theme-based tours. Most tour guides point to a painting, give you a name, date, and some bits of information about the work: "notice the use of color in the Virgin's robe." Not so with Michael Broderick of Venicescapes. He is a first rate guide who integrates the art and artist with historical, cultural, political, social, economic, and theological ideas and events of the time. Equally impressive is Michael's ability to assess the group's background knowledge and offer meaningful context for everyone in the group. He keeps his tours small so that each member can have time for questions or comments, and the group can move quietly through a church or historical building. The pace is neither rushed nor leisurely, but exploratory, and we felt we were on an expedition to discover the wonders of Venice, its art and history. Sincerely, Angie and David Corbet

Angie Corbet in Wayland, ma USA 07/17/2007

I wouldn't recommend taking the vaporettos for any sort of pleasure cruise of the Grand Canal. They are simply too crowded for that, no seats much less window seats or seats outside.

I did like the tip of taking a traggheti across the Grand Canal. We did this at the San Tomas crossing and it saved us a lot of back tracking to the nearest bridge.

The tip about going to the top of the campanile later in the day was a great tip. While there were long lines in the middle of the day, by 6:30 were were able to get right on the elevator to the top. All the bells ring every two hours, but two of the bells rang at the half hour and that was an ear numbing experience. Very nice views in the golden light of early evening.

kath in Los Angeles, CA USA 07/16/2007

Be aware of the Euro cost to use the public wc in Venice and have the correct coins

Craig in Salt Lake City, UT USA 07/11/2007

Any restaurant recommendation from Roberto at the Albergo Guerrato. He told us about a place right down the street where all the workers at the Rialto Market go for lunch (I'm sorry I don't know the name) and it was fantastic. No one spoke English but it was very easy to order (just point) and the seafood salad was the best I've ever had. Just ask Roberto where to go for lunch and he'll tell you or Rick should include it in his next book.

Mendy Droke in Bainbridge Island , WA USA 07/05/2007

Favorite discovery. A 27 year old woman singing Italian opera in the colonnade of a closed bank building at the Republic Square in Florance. The colonnade with its two story tall arched recesses formed a natural amphitheater and she knew how to work that space to it's maximum benefit. She was Ukrainian, beautiful and her voice pure and true. We listened for an hour, tossing euros in her case and even bought one of her CD's. Magic!!

Megan Murphy in Austin, Tx USA 06/20/2007

I've stayed in Venice 5 times and each time I stayed in a different part of town. So I've gotten to know 5 neighborhoods fairly well. I haven't stayed near the train station yet, but may try that next time.

Swan in Napa, USA 06/06/2007

Villa Stella, a small hotel on Lido Island. www.villastella.com The staff wee very helful. The rooms small but adequate. Large bathroom. Beautiful garden.The breakfast was included and was veery generous. The staff also provided coffee or wine for a small charge during the day & evening. 113 euros for a double. 10% discount for paying in cash.

Evelyn Clark in Montain View, Ca USA 05/21/2007

Storybook city - nothing like it in the world. We were often walking to & from, late at night thru narrow alleyways (impossible not to), yet still felt safe.

Ron & Ann Korzun in Clifton Park, NY USA 04/29/2007

Please visit Torcello next time you or your staff are in Italy. In the book you talked about the changes they are planning to make to the island. We were there March 07 and construction was in full swing. Nice new walkways along canals were being put in among other stuff. It may look quite different by peak season. I would be curious to hear back what changes were made.

Bethany Gaivin in Dunstable, MA USA 04/15/2007

Highly recommend flying out of Venice to go home. Airport is small and easy, not crowded, with connections to all of the major exit cities. And, where else can you take a boat to the airport? How cool and relaxing is that?! Also, Campo Santa Maria Formosa is perfect for young kids to run around. It is the only Campo we saw with railings, perhaps because there is a day care there.

Angela in Sammamish, WA USA 04/15/2007

I got a transportation map at a vaporetto ticket office. It was very helpful in figuring out all the (water) travel options around and in the city.

Swan USA 03/29/2007

I would like to recommend the hotel Ca'San Giorgio. It is about 10 minutes from the train station - very easy to find - just follow the signs to Museo Civio Di Storia Naturale. It is a beautiful hotel and the receptionists are helpful and delightful. The rates were the best I could find for the quality of the room and the breakfast was awesome! I would definitely stay there again. Their website is www.casangiorgio.com

Sheila Kagi in Mechanicsville, VA USA 03/28/2007

I highly recommend the restaurant Vino da Pinta San Polo, 367 Pescheria, tel. 522-4599, halfway between S Marco and Rialto, specializes in fish. Twice a day for 4 days, for comparison, I had Grigliata mista di pesce. Overall this piazza trattoria had the best value. Excellent house bianco. My wife is vegetarian, so she had excellent pizza and insalata mista (mixed salad). The killer full-out fish menu was almost too much food for 14.5 euro. No coperto/cover charge, no servicio/service charge. Service a little slow, but the piazza is nice. Talk to Giuseppe, the tough-looking father-owner. Knows Rick's name, deserves more business.

Il Cavo, though, close to la Residenza, is expensive. €37 for the fish (good but not that good for the money) veggies also high, €10 cover/bread charge. Excellent vino di casa. I didn't leave the 12% tip.

At Castello's la Residenza Hotel, don't take more than one of the little yogurts for breakfast or arrive earlier than 5 minutes after the start. Eating two yogurts flipped out the rather petty concierge. Next morning served it to us on a tray to be sure we didn't cheat. Nice room, for Venice, though. Next time we'll try staying in the Accademia area. More fun.

Casin del Nobili was great tip. Get reservations. In mid March they were turning people away while the rest of the city was mostly empty. We were nearly the only tourists there. Food was good value. Never had a house white wine that wasn't excellent in Venice.

Reed Lockwood in Spokane, WA USA 03/25/2007

Le Bistrot de Venise (+39 0415236651) was fantastic! We stumbled on it by accident during lunch and it was a great find. They played classical music, offered a historic menu, very delicious food, and had the best service. The staff was very attentive and friendly. We loved it so much, we went back for another meal.

Anita Elder in Seattle, WA USA 03/03/2007

I stayed at Hotel Tivoli near the Frari Church last fall. Their rates are the best I've seen for Venice; I had a single for 53Eu. The place is friendly, clean, quiet, and serves a generous buffet breakfast. There is a garden/pation area for guests to enjoy. Most of the guests were Europeans. The desk people all spoke English. I liked the neighborhood, full of students and other locals with a university next door and numerous restaurants, bars, etc. in the area. Five minutes gets you to the San Toma vaporetto stop.

Shana CA USA 01/13/2007

We just got back from a wonderful week in Italy- including three glorious days in Venice (eary Dec. 2006.) The city was almost deserted, it was even difficult to locate a gondolier at night. There were no lines or hassles to get into St. Mark's, Accademia or Doge's Palace. At the Accademia, much of Rick's guided tour had to be altered, as there is construction in many of the galleries. Many of the hilighted works were located in the temporary exhibits gallery at the end of the tour. But they are easy to find there. We stayed at Rick's recommended Locanda Al Leaon, and what a delight! It's right behind the Bridge of Sighs and overlooks a delightful little square which is quiet at night. The restaurants were also good, although it is very important to check the menu for added charges. Many menus look the same, but some add on service charge and also a cover charge. We ate at places that included the charges in the price. Thank you Rick for making our trip great.

Charles and Maria Sleefe in Lynbrook, NY USA 12/12/2006

This book is tremendous! There is no way to easily find your way around Venice, so just relax, enjoy, and stop at each cafe along the way! Note, too, to talk to other travelers when you are eating/drinking. The information we gained from others was invaluable, and added so much to our trip! And, make sure to get a haircut from Benito. My husband got the best haircut of his life there, and Benito is so friendly and welcoming!

Kiersten in Elia, PA USA 12/07/2006

Hotel Giorgione - Venice. Clean, great staff, and great location near Rialto Bridge. Off the main drag by about 100 yards, so quite, but easy to get to. Four nights for the price of three on Hotels.com

Jim Punches in Aptos, CA USA 11/20/2006

Hotel Al Ponte Mocenigo - owned by Walter and Sandro - on the San Stae vaporetto stop.

Lisa Goldsmith in Seattle, WA USA 11/18/2006

To make transportation around Venice and to the lagoon islands pick up a (schematic) vaporetto map at the ticket booth. Problems regarding which boat to find where can be solved by a 15-minute study of this little map.

Shana Woodfield in Calistoga, CA USA 11/03/2006

Last September we enjoyed our stay at Locanda Armizo, a small inn near the Rialto and found it to suit our needs perfectly.We booked this property on the net (www.locandaarmizo.com) and had very pleasing response: reasonably priced, excellent central location near the Rialto and only 10 minutes from San Marco.The rooms were spacious, beautifully furnished with a view of the little square/campo. (Very near the water bus stop.) Really good bathrooms too. Our room looked out over the delightful Campo San Silvestro which was charming and picturesque. The service was polite and helpful (the owner agreed to store our extra cases while we were on a 7 day cruise, he was very helpful with Italian phone calls and advice etc), the room clean and well appointed. Last but not least, breakfast was served with our wake up call each morning. We would recommend this hotel to others.

We booked this property on the net and had very pleasing response. We were 2 couples travelling together. The rooms were spacious, beautifully furnished with a view of the little square/campo. (Very near the water bus stop.) Really good bathrooms too. The owner agreed to store our extra cases while we were on a 7 day cruise, he was very helpful with Italian phone calls and advice etc. We were looking forward to staying again when we returned from the cruise. It was 159E/room/night incl. breakfast.

There are about six rooms in the locanda.Only one fly in the ointment - one of the rooms is downstairs, much much smaller than the others,no room to turn around for an adult, tiny bathroom, no view windows open onto a quite noisy laneway, it is also right by the outside door and the stairway. One couple was given this room on our return. Not acceptable or good value or good customer service.

Barbara Danbert in Ann Arbor, Mi USA 11/02/2006

Mr Steves This is the third time I have been to Europe. Each time I have used your books. I used Mona Winks three years ago and have suplemented my trip with your books by city. My recent trip to Venice was especially enjoyable.

I found a fantastic resturant Al Burchiello Trattoria I think it was located in S. Bortolomeo Square. Service was excellent and menu wasn't your normal tourist food.

I also would like to recommend the hotel I found Hotel Santa Marina. Here is their website: www.hotelsantamarina.it/en/location.htm. This hotel was a real find. The location is in a very quiet neighborhood. Hotel was very eloquent.

Chris Gunn in Golden Valley, Mn USA 10/26/2006

Hotel Tivoli, near Friari Church. It was a little hard to find at first but it was very convenient to the train station and at least one RS walk. I found it in www.venere.com and I paid 53 EU for a single. A decent breakfast was included. And this place has a pleasant patio/garden for relaxing. At that price I don't expect to find a better deal in Venice.

Shana Woodfield in Calistoga, CA USA 10/25/2006

We've just returned from a three week stay in Europe Sept 17 - Oct 05/06 We thoroughly enjoyed a two night stay at Ca Foscolo www.cafoscolo.com. in Venice. The apartment was newly renovated,very clean and included washer, dishwasher. The location was excellent(approx. halfway between Rialto bridge and St. Mark's square) but was quiet due to it's cul-de-sac locale.The staff were very helpful and spoke excellent English. The only negative comment would be that the reception desk has limitrd staffing hours and we would recommend checkout the evening before departure. Serene and Derek

Derek & Serene Derasp in Skead, On Canada 10/23/2006

The tip about the back pack to get into St. Mark's was invaluable...I'm betting it saved us at least 2-3 hours of standing in line.... also the recommendation about the cafeteria style resteraunt near the train station...we ended up eating there both evenings...way more food for the $ and it was fun to watch the locals, as it was far more full of locals than tourists....

Colleen Harrison in Bothell, WA USA 10/23/2006

We found a great little restaurant similar in price and quality to the recommended ones on page 231 of "Venice 2006" which merits inclusion in Venice 2007. It is Taverna San Trovaso, Dorso Duro 1016, Venezia, tel: 041.520.37.03.

Ian Nicol in Sherwood Park, Al Canada 10/22/2006

We loved the apartment we rented in Venice thru Venice Rentals. This was our first apartment experience while in Venice. We know that you value input from travellers and here is ours. The apartment we rented was central to all our activiites in Venice and the accomodations could not have been better. Loved the great shower, hot water and great water pressure at the unit. This can often disappoint but theirs was great! The apartment was clean, warm, and accomodating with a full kitchen. In making the advance arrangements, Venice Rentals was very helpful and cooperative. It made the trip enjoyable. We would certainly use Denise's services for our next Venice trip. Below are the details of our rental arrangements during our Venice stay.

Agency: Venice Rentals (www.venicerentals.com), Denise and Maurizio Apartment rented: Sant’Angelo apartment in the San Marco sestiere, 2 Br, 2Ba.

Steven Weinreich in St Louis, MO USA 10/22/2006

Staying in Lido is great. Cheaper, and the #1 vaporetto goes direct from Lido up the Grand Canal. We stayed at Hotel Panorama and loved it.

Mike Butts in Portland, OR USA 09/30/2006

Hotel Dona Palace (www.donapalace.it). Very plush rooms

Michael Hensley in San Jose, CA USA 08/24/2006

Trieste is a short train ride from Venice. Beautiful beaches and easy to get around.

carolyn leach in austin, tx USA 08/20/2006

Going to a concert at saint Marks chapel to hear Antonio Vivaldi Music (The Four Seasons). It is a small chapel lost in the Piazza San Marco where Vivaldi played in his youth. FANTASTIC ! Reccomended to all

Mike & Bernie Dwyer in Leonardo , NJ USA 08/20/2006

It was extremely easy to make train reservations online before our trip and use the machines in the train stations to get our tickets.

Georganne Haswell in Morrisville, NC USA 08/14/2006

It was well worth our money to get a 3-day water taxi pass. It was nice to jump on and off of them as we wandered around Venice, without worrying about buying a new ticket. We really enjoyed going up the Campanile just before sunset. We got a spectacular view of the sun going down over the city.

Julie in Santa Barbara, CA USA 08/07/2006

We stayed at the Hotel Bernardi-Semenzato, which we found through Frommer's. We stayed in room #2 in the hotel's annex, a 60-second amble up Salizada Pistor from Trattoria da Bepi. Our room for four was spacious and nicely decorated; it also featured a bath with shower ensuite and A/C. The price was only 120 euros per night. We really liked the area around Strada Nova - it was convenient to everything and the street also featured a large grocery store, Billa, which came in handy for picknicking. The street also featured what is for our money the best gelateria in Venice, Gelateria Ca'd'Oro. We also tried the one to which Rick gives that honor, La Boutique del Gelato, near Campo Santa Maria Formosa, but it didn't quite match up to the Ca'd'Oro.

Marsha Moseley in Ashburn, VA USA 07/27/2006

Use the tip in the Venice guidebook by Rick Steves which suggests that you take a bag and check it at Ateneo S. Basso and then proceed with the card that is given to you to St. Mark's (the card enables you to bypass the long, long line at St. Mark's). Try to visit St. Mark's Square either early in the morning or later in the evening. Otherwise, you are surrounded by hundreds of cruise ship tourists during the day. Same with going up the Campanile - wait till late in the afternoon to avoid long lines.

T. Koons in Forest, VA USA 07/22/2006

I absolutely love the mask shops of Venice. We visited the shop you recommend in the Venice book, Tragicomica. What a great place. We ended up buying a very large (and very expensive) mask. The shopkeeper, a nice lady with fluent English, encouraged us to use the Italian postal services rather than UPS, saying it is now much better than its reputation. We were persuaded and took a chance, and I'm happy to say the package arrived today.

Rosemary West in Los Angeles, CA USA 07/17/2006

We visited Venice, Italy and stayed at Lanterna Di Marco Polo. It was a wonderful experience! The location was perfect for walking all over Venice. It is located steps from the Rialto Bridge ferry stop (which makes it easy to get both you and your luggage through the Venice streets). The hotel was clean and air conditioned. The staff is all very hospitable and made our stay very memorable. There's a wonderful restuarant just steps down the road, away from the main canal, named Al Gazzettino. The food is great and the service was the best we had in Italy. The entertainment is what made the restaurant unique and worth the stop! Check it out!

Tracy Nameth in Chicago, IL USA 07/12/2006

Hotel Abbazia (www.abbaziahotel.com)

Calle Priuli dei Cavaletti, Cannaregio 68,30121 Venice, Italy

D. Pedde in St. Paul, MN USA 07/06/2006

Teatro La Fenice has resumed operations at its traditional site. We went to see Mozart's Lucio Silla there and the music, singing, and costumes were wonderful. Beware of discounted tickets, however: If you get a seat in a box, especially at the side, make sure to get front seats, otherwise you will be in the back with SEVERELY restricted views of the stage. (This did not happen to us, but to some unsuspecting bargain-hunters. As with most things, you get what you pay for!)

Dave Chapman in Dartmouth, NS Canada 07/02/2006

Trying to get away from the crowds, we headed toward the Academy. We never made it because we came across a free museum in a church. Chiesa di San Maurizio, Liuteria a Venezia; an exhibit for baroque musical instruments with chairs to sit and enjoy the music of Vivaldi. It was the Artemio Versari Collection.

Pat in Heiny, In USA 06/27/2006

We parked in Mestre accross from the train station and it couldn't have been easier. Park in the secure garage. Walk accross to station and get ticket to Venice 1.10 Euros. We returned 4 days later and paid 20 euros for parking. Much cheaper than Tronchetto and no problems.

pat pa USA 06/05/2006

Doge's Palace "Secret Itineraries Tour" - By the time I tried to book online tours in English were all booked on the days I'd like to visit so I booked a spot in the 11:10am Italian tour, figuring this way I could at least get to see the back chambers. I arrived at the Doge's around 9:30am and there was already a line outside for the ticket office. I got ahead of the line using my Museum Pass (which includes Doge's) and proceeded to the "pre-booked" box office wishing to pick up my secret tour ticket. The woman behind the counter saw that I obviously didn't speak Italian and gave me a badge for the English tour instead. I didn't really plan this... but was glad it worked out that way.

S. Wu in Sunnyvale, CA USA 04/23/2006

Please be sure to recommend that people take bug repellent to Venice. Our hotel was not air conditioned and we had to leave the windows open. The mosquitoes were terrible!

Kay Tracy in Hixson, Tn USA 04/15/2006

Hello! I'm recommending an addition to the guidebook. It is the just-opened Museum of Erotic Art in Venice. If you are interested in receiving our information please let us know. Thank you. Carla +39 041 520 39 00

Carla in Venice, It Italy 04/10/2006

St. Mark's Basilica - The lights are turned on for just one hour during their hours of operation. Therefore try to visit during this time 11:30 am-12:30 pm to truly appreciate the gold mosaics on the ceiling. One minute you feel like it's a dungeon and the next heaven (it's so beautiful all lite up!)It's also worth the cost to see the altar screen and the museum with the bronze horses.

Cheryl Handte in Boalsburg, PA USA 04/09/2006

At the TI in the corner of Piazza San Marco they sold us an excellent (detailed) map and small book for only €2,50.

I strongly encourage walking away from the tourist paths. We found a lovely little campo while we roamed around. It was quite, had trees and benches, and some young children playing calcio (soccer).

Stephanie in Aviano, Italy 03/23/2006

In Venice, we stayed at the Locanda Orseolo a small B&B. The B&B and their staff was the nicest we have ever stayed at.

scooter in San Francisco, CA USA 01/23/2006