VeniceGuidebook corrections:Please note: The following corrections were submitted by readers and have not yet been confirmed by Rick. Check updates from Rick for the latest.  Take Hotel Riva in Venice out of your book!!!. While Senora Iris was friendly, she overcharged us 10 euros per night. When we provided email confirmation and the price that was quoted to us upon booking, she would not back down. I would take it off the recommended list of hotels if that is the way guests are treated. I was unimpressed Lisa in augusta, ga USA 06/22/2008 Add about the new Rialto Mercato stop (Route #1) for those staying at Pensione Guerrato. It saves you having to haul bags over the Rialto Bridge (not a fun experience). For the Lagoon Tour, you need to more heavily emphasize that the arrival point at Murano is different from the departure point to Burano. We didn't pay close enough attention and ended up backtracking a good little distance. The San Giorgio Maggiore church was NOT closed to sightseers on Sunday mornings during mass. The Accademia Museum in Venice is currently undergoing renovation for some of the rooms, so a lot of the art has been moved around. Michael in Seattle, WA USA 05/31/2008 Some prices have gone up. Also, watertaxi is really the only reliable (though VERY $$) way to get to your hotel from the airport, esp. if you don't know directions from where a vaparetto would drop you off and if you don't want to lug your luggage all over the city trying to find it. Lindsay Kaun in Seminole, FL USA 05/18/2008 This guidebook was fabulous and paid for itself with one of your tips. Patricia Kendall in Houston, TX USA 05/09/2008 Many prices have gone up since the publication of the 2008 Venice guide--such as the Chorus Pass (now E9), the vaporetto (now E6.50), etc. Also, obviously the value of the dollar to the Euro has slipped quite a bit. It was nearly $1.60 when we were there. Cheryl Moody in Cheshire, CT USA 03/24/2008 Be ready for slight increases in many admissions and meals (one or two euros is common) Brian Gulledge in Woodbridge, VA USA 02/11/2008 The owner of "Belle Arte Caffe" told me that the work on Accademia ans Della Salute was scheduled to go on for three years, so, Italy being Italy, we might expect it to go on for six years! (grin!) Tom in DeKalb, IL USA 12/26/2007 I have a suggestion. Please clarify in transportation to Venice from Milan, the train connection from Malpensa. If is very vague in book whether you can get to Central station from train at Malpensa. You cannot, and it would have been nice to know that from book. Please explain connection must be made. Much simpler to take the $6.00 euro bus right to central station. Also a note about parking garage Tronchetto in Venice. Please clarify that the Vaporetto stop is outside to the left of the entrance to garage. We arrived late at night and the signs were pointing two different directions and it was very confusing. A single sentence clarifying a vaporetto stop does exist would be helpful. Kathy Smith in Benalmadena, Spain 12/07/2007 Pensione Accademia (p 219) lists Qb rate Euro 340. It's 355. See message that follows: As per your message the rate of Euro 340,00 is for a Suite for three persons , and the rate of Euro 355,00 is for a Suite for four persons . Looking forward to your reply best regards Adriano.
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> Buon Giorno. Thank you for your fast response to my request. The Rick > Steves Guide Book lists the room rate for > Qb at Euro 340.00 for 2008. Is that information incorrect? alita poats in hedgesville, wv USA 11/21/2007 YES C.F. Rogers in Reno, NV USA 11/05/2007 Rick's update for Venice 2008 mentions that no construction has started on MOSES yet. I just read an article from mid October, mentioning that construction is underway: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20071020.VENICE20/TPStory/Environment Steve in Bellevue, WA USA 10/30/2007 n/a Mike Williams in Tampa, FL USA 10/18/2007 To buy a train ticket using a credit card on the Trenitalia site, you need to first contact your credit card company to let them know you are making this transaction. Otherwise it can be automatically blocked by your credit card company, and you get a strange error message on the Trenitalia site. Doyle Johnson in Medfield, MA USA 08/27/2007 I would respectfully suggest to remove the Fondazione Levi from the list of your recommended accommodations for Venice. I found their cancellation policy outrageous. It is in poor English and worded in a contradictory manner. I did not receive it until after I gave them my credit card no. for the booking. In May this year I had to cancel a 5-day stay due to a medical emergency and called them 3 full days ahead. Regardless, they charged my credit card for the full 5-day stay. And that at the height of the tourist season when I am sure, they had no trouble reselling the room...
They tried to explain to me what their policy states was that if you cancel in less than 15 days before arrival, you are charged for the full stay.
This was in their email confirmation: "Our cancellation policy is the intere rate of the first night if you don't advise 15 days before the date of your arrival after this term you have to pay the all rate of your permanence here." I thought this meant they would charge for the "entire first night" if you cancel within the last 15 days. Gabe Kish in Pacific Grove, CA USA 08/24/2007 Can't agree with recommendation for Al Vecio Pipa in Burano - it was HORRIBLE! Jennifer Henry in Dublin, CA USA 08/14/2007 72 hour Vaporetto pass is now 30 euro but still well worth it. I highly recommend it for a 3 day stay. Bill & Pat Ernst in Sun City Center, FL USA 08/14/2007 Please list directions (or make more prominent) for train tickets. We learned the hard way that there is a 25 Euro fine per person for not having your ticket stamped in one of the yellow machines! Our tickets were rarely checked, but when they were, we got repremanded for having no stamp! This was unclear to us and would have been helpful to be warned about! Kate in Redondo Beach, CA USA 08/11/2007 Would you consider revising your entry of Venicescapes? It's a bit off-putting "beyond the attention span of most mortal tourists." Many visitors to Venice would appreciate the tour's depth of information and Michael's personal attention to group members. Angie Corbet in Wayland, ma USA 07/17/2007 For apartment rentals in Venice, you recommend venicerentals.com, so I tried that site. You can't puruse their listings; you can only send them an e-mail. So I sent what I thought was a thorough e-mail, including which siestieres we were interested in, how many bedrooms, baths, price etc., and got back only a long list, none of which met our criteria. I would have thought there was nothing for rent in Venice that had what we wanted at the price we wanted, except that I had already found several listings at viewsonvenice.com and holidaylettings.co.uk. We found both of those sites much more helpful than venicerentals.com, and hope you will change your recommendation (which venicerentals.com uses as a promotion on their website.) In our experience, compared to the others they were no help at all. Jean McNeil in Boise, ID USA 06/14/2007 Re the vaporetto passes: there are actually 24 hr, 36 hr, 48 hr, etc etc passes. Also, you might point out that not every stop has a ticket office to buy a pass, but every stop does have a validation box. So buy your pass as soon as you get to Venice and know the time period you'll need it for, then stamp it the first time you use it. Or you'll end up like I did - having to pay $6 three different times before I was able to get to a stop that actually had a ticket office. Vicky Bartlett in Gresham, OR USA 05/22/2007 The description of Lido was not very favorable. We found it a lovely alternative to Venice. It is quiet at night. However,there are great resturants. Evelyn Clark in Montain View, Ca USA 05/21/2007 We took the Alilguna "speed"boat from the airport, that you (and our hotel) recommended. It was at night and it was so slow and we couldn't see anything anyway. We wished that we would have taken the land bus that a fellow experienced plane passenger took and said was faster. Craig Caldwell in Kaysville, UT USA 05/09/2007 Hotel alla Salute cicic We did not find them the least bit indifferent. Otherwise your advice was good J baxter in Keswick, on canada 05/08/2007 3 day orange cards are no longer available. It appears that the entire travel/museum card time structure has been resorted, so this will definitely need to be updated in the next edition. This part of the book could be much more helpful. It's not written very clearly and was not useful when faced with the actual choices available. We ended up just buying a 48 hour transit pass and paying for museum admission. This saved us money and was easier than trying to calculate how many Euros we could save/spend with all of the options available. Since cafes and bars let you use the WC with purchase, our ample gelato consumption more than covered required pit stops. You don't really need that part of the card. Also, it's much faster to get to Murano by taking the vaporetto from Fondamente Nuove than from San Zaccharia. Angela in Sammamish, WA USA 04/15/2007 I recently read through the Venice book to prepare for my upcoming trip, and the map pages in the front simply fell out- I didn't pull on them or even use them, they just weren't glued in well at all. Jen in Bellevue, WA USA 03/13/2007 1. La Fenice "guided tours" are audio guides, no set times, no need to book in advance 2. train tickets must be time stamped. Not menitoned anywhere in guide book, cost us a 25 euro fine (for a 6 euro trip!) 3. Roman theater in Verona is across from the bridge, but the entrance is hiding somewhere, maybe around the corner, we did not find it. 4. Consider adding Hotel American Dinesen to your recs, great little place near the Accademia 5. La Calcina pensione is not in the index, it has a nice restaurant that should be listed under eats. 6. guidebook was great! Richard Pearson in Walnut Creek, CA USA 02/26/2007 The restaurant De Gusto in Verona is now called "Rain." It is a cocktail and wine bar but still has the great lunch buffet of salads and soups at very reasonable prices. Address and phone are the same. Website is www.ilrainlounge.com, email j.rain@libero.it. I highly recommend this place. Kris Bean in Charlottesville, Vi USA 11/15/2006 Clock Tower is reopened but NOT included in the Museum Pass. Fiona in NYC, 11/12/2006 The shuttle from the Marco Polo Airport in Venice doesn't start running until 7 AM. If you have an early flight, its just a 10 minute walk, but be prepared for it. Tanya Mulholland in 2211 SW 1st Ave #501, OR USA 10/23/2006 Just echoing comments from others that prices have gone up for fares and admissions. I talked to an older couple from the U.K. who said that they could gain free (reduced?) admission to sights in Italy by virtue of their age; they thought that it was not restricted to EU residents. Murano has three vaporetto stops and it was a little confusing trying to find out which one we had to go to for Burano. Ian Nicol in Sherwood Park, Al Canada 10/22/2006 Getting reservations to see Giotto's wonderful restored painting in the Scrovengi Chapel in Padua is best done (as of July 2006) by fax. Telephoning for reservations is not working at the present time, and their website is still in production. However, if you call or use the website, wait to get the fax number; fax your date and time request - they are very good about responding back by fax within three to five days. Be sure to allow enough time to go by train, for example, from Venice to Padua, then a 20 minute walk from the station to the chapel. If time permits, get a guide/map to seek parts of the University of Padua. Andy Andeck in Oceanside, CA USA 09/01/2006 The Campanile at Chiesa San Giovanni Maggiore is open. Michael Hensley in San Jose, CA USA 08/24/2006 We were very confused about where to get the Vaporetto to Murano. On page 177, the directions mention the Bridge of Sighs. The only map I found the bridge on was at the very beginning of the book on the cover page. There the bridge was located on the top of the "fish's" tail. Yet I think it's actually on the opposite side? Maybe there could be slightly clearer instructions? Thanks. Julia Bristor in Dallas, TX USA 08/17/2006 The cost of a 24 hour pass is now $12. You might want to point out it is for 24 hours unlike the metro pass in Rome that says 24 hours but ends at midnight! Suzanne Alotta in San Diego, Ca USA 08/14/2006 In the sleeping section, following page 206, there is no description listed for the Hotel Dona Palace which is number 9 on the map on page 206. All of the other hotels numbered have paragraph descriptions. We are interested in staying at this hotel...is there more information (rates???) Any information on the Hotel Dona Palace in venice would be appreciated. Thank You. Holly Hielsberg in Northbrook, IL USA 07/28/2006 The Cip Ciap pizzeria doesn't appear to be in business anymore; at least, I couldn't find it on Calle del Mondo Novo near Campo Santa Maria Formosa. Perhaps it has moved. Marsha Moseley in Ashburn, VA USA 07/27/2006 Kele e Teo Viaggi e Turismo now charges a fee to make train reservations for you. Arielle in Great Neck, NY USA 07/23/2006 Re: The Peggy Guggenheim museum. The Saturday night music thing was not available when we were there in early July, 2006. Jeff USA 07/17/2006 Address for Albergo Marin in Venice: Santa Croce, Ramo delle Chioverete 670/B AC in Los Angeles, CA USA 06/28/2006 there is no longer bus service from the airport to the water taxis, you must hoof it or take the blue buses to piazzale roma;there is no longer traghetto service from StMarks to the customs house; andrew forster in CORAL GABLES, Fl USA 06/28/2006 St. Gregorio in Venice: The tower is now open. My wife and I went up on the lift. You are right - the view of St. Marco is just super. Of course if you are there on a cruise ship, you get about the same view - except no church bell will be ringing in your ear. Thomas Mui in Honolulu, HI USA 06/27/2006 Tele & Teo Viaggi e Turismo was rude and unhelpful. We came when they opened, needing train tickets for the next day. They told us they wouldn't book railway until 3:00. We returned at 5:00 and they said they couldn't do it then, come back tomorrow. We ended up at the train station in those monster lines and got the last 4 1st class tickets. BARB HOUSEWORTH in ST. LOUIS, MO USA 06/14/2006 1. Museum Pass now costs 18 Euro. 2. The "secret itineraries tour" of Doge's Palace now costs 16 euros to reserve online. 3. Ristorante al Vecio Pipa is mislocated on the Burano map (p.181). According to my other map (also my memory from visiting the area) the street that goes north-south along the canal is Fondamenta Pontinello, and the restaurant is definitely west of the street and across the canal from the location depicted in the current map. And sitting in the restaurant (good recommendation though) I didn't see Pittona intersecting with Via Galuppi either. S. Wu in Sunnyvale, CA USA 04/23/2006 I can vouch for the increased vaporetto price. It now costs 12 Euro for the 24-hour pass. The 90-minute/one-way ticket is still 5 Euro. Also, count your change when purchasing the ticket. Last weekend, I purchased tickets totaling 48 Euro. As change, the ticket seller passed me a few 20 cent coins instead of a 2 Euro coin, thinking I wouldn't notice. I counted the change in front of him, and while doing do he hurridly added a 1 Euro coin to my pile. Melanie in Cordenons, Italy 04/03/2006 The 24 hour vaporetto pass is up to €12. Stephanie in Aviano, Italy 03/23/2006 Your shows and your books are superb. My husband and I used your Venice and Italy guides when we went to Italy in 2003, and found your advice invaluable and refreshing. Your Back Door Travel Philosophy rings so true. In that trip and in trips in North America, we found that whether we seek to travel “close to the ground” or whether the ground comes to us without our seeking it, we are richer for it.
Considering that philosophy, I ask that you reconsider your statement in the “Transportation Connections” chapter saying that Mestre has no charm. I can affirm that Mestre indeed has charm. Let me tell you about it.
Like many Americans, we sought our family’s ancestral roots – not so much exact names or dates, but stories and places. Our surname, Carpenedo, is very rare in the United States, and until recent years we knew nothing about the origin of the name in Italy, or its presence there. With the advent of the Internet, I searched for it and found that Carpenedo is a quarter – a lovely, charming neighborhood – in Mestre. It has a beautiful piazza with a glorious church. Nearby is Forte Carpenedo, one of several fortresses that comprise the Entrenched Camp of Mestre. Most of the forts date from the end of the 19th century, and were built to protect Venice from mainland attacks. Forte Carpenedo housed thousands of soldiers at one time, but never saw battle.
Fascinated by the idea of the forts, I contacted the webmaster of a Mestre website, who arranged a personal tour for my husband and me. For a small donation we got a tour led by its personable caretaker. He didn’t speak English (and we don’t understand much Italian) but it didn’t matter. We saw the fort and we were delighted.
If the forts were in the United States, my guess is that they would be national historic sites. Forte Carpenedo held my attention just as much as Fort Ticonderoga in New York ever did; it has just as much to offer a visitor. (It has a drawbridge and a moat!) But located so close to Venice, the forts have suffered from a lack of funds for restoration and upkeep. Some local groups are trying to preserve them, but their task is challenging.
The forts are open to the public at various times. Forte Carpenedo was only open on selected weekends, and because we visited during the week we had to make special arrangements.
My plea to you is not necessarily to include the forts in your guide. You have limited space, I know, and Venice offers so much. But please know that had we heeded your “don’t stop here” advice, we would have missed out on an invaluable opportunity to travel close to the ground. From our hotel room on Piazza Carpenedo we heard the hourly pealing of the church bells, and we watched bicyclists riding with umbrellas to protect them from the rain. (90 euros a night bought us an impeccable room and a full buffet breakfast.) We ate sweets at the pasticceria, and feasted on bread-to-move-there-for at a local bakery. Everyone was kind, and Venice was only a 20-minute bus ride away.
I can’t imagine a more charming experience.
Karen Carpenedo in Erie, PA USA 01/21/2006 The clock tower has been under renovations for some time. This should have been mentioned in the 2006 book. Also, the boat route number from Murano to Burano has changed. It is now a route indicated with a letter. Ian Friedenberg in Danville, CA USA 01/11/2006 |
