I am part of a two couple group taking the Village Italy tour in May of 2017. Current plans have us leaving Lake Orta for Venice in early June for three nights in Venice before we head home. I have have been looking at various Airbnb and VRBO offerings and am getting lost trying to sort out the various areas. To help make my life easier what are the recommended areas to avoid staying in Venice.
Thanks
Well one thing to make sure of is that you stay in Venice proper - not in Mestre, as it lacks the charm of Venice. I've never seen a bad area of Venice proper, if that's what you're asking. The areas around St. Marks are certainly much more crowded and we usually choose to stay a little bit out from there. You really can't go wrong in Venice proper - it's all wonderful. One thing I usually go for in Venice is a place with a balcony of some sort and a view onto a canal if you can swing it. Also for May - get a place with air conditioning.
Here are a couple of links to recent threads that might help you decide, you can do a search above for NEIGHBORHOODS IN VENICE or WHERE TO STAY IN VENICE to see even more:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/venice-with-family-for-3-nights
The island of Giudecca may not be very convenient to get to the main sites in Venice, but certainly not a "bad" area. That is one of the places that Venetians actually live. I also like to stay near a vaporetto stop and not in the interior of the islands so I will not have to do a big trek through the maze of streets with luggage when I arrive. But there are some very nice hotels and B&Bs in the interior.
Narrow it down and use google street view to see what the area looks like.
I like to stay in the Dorsoduro. It's a quiet residential area for the most part, walking distance to San Marco, with easy access to the vaporettos (yeah, I know it should be vaporetti) on the Grand Canal and the Giudecca Canal.
Avoid staying between the train station and San Marco - the rush hour (10 - 18) is horrible. Check on my favorite Venice site: http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/venice-hotels.htm.
I agree with Chani. Dorsoduro was perfect for us; we were there last week. It's an easy walk from the bus station (we took the bus from the airport) - about a 15 minute walk. It's within 10-15 minutes of San Marco and the Rialto Bridge and pretty much anywhere in Venice. It's not crowded at all, it's quiet at night, and it's pretty. We couldn't have been happier.
We stayed in this airbnb apartment with 2 couples and absolutely loved it. There were two bedrooms and 2 baths, one was not ensuite but that did not bother us. The hostess was great and we found the location convenient but out of the masses of tourists. It is on the upper most floor which allows an amazing rooftop terrace with great views but does come with several flights of stairs (4-5) to reach the apartment.
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/2322785?euid=31b3aaaf-8c92-8507-b1bd-9f39a64094fb&sug=51
There are no unsafe places to stay in Venice so don't worry about that. When you are reading reviews just remember that most of these older buildings do not have elevators retrofitted so any apartment above ground level will most likely have stairs. If that is an issue for anyone in your party it is better to find a hotel.
Venice is one of the few places where you truly feel like you'll be safe even if you get completely lost. In fact, you almost want to get lost so you can explore, knowing well that you'll eventually end up where you started. Absolutely delightful.
