I am booking an apartment in Guidecca area in Venice in Italy. Can you tell me if that's a good location? I want to be in Venice and close enough so we can walk everywhere and not rent a car . We are staying in June for 5 nights then going to Barcleona.
Posted by
Seattle
4637 posts
Lisa, you posted this question three times. You can delete those two others.
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA
7737 posts
Let me encourage you to buy the Rick Steves Venice book. In it you will learn that Giudecca (correct spelling) is not connected to the main island of Venice except by a water bus, called a vaporetto. This means you have to allow for extra time to get to your destinations on the main island, as there is not much on Giudecca itself to see or do. And the cost for each vaporetto ride is about seven dollars US.
You would also learn that there are no cars on the island of Venice with the exception of the area around the parking garage.
I would encourage you to stay on the main island and not on Giudecca. You should also study a map of Venice to get a clearer idea of how it's laid out. (There's a good one in the book, or just use Google Maps.)
Happy travels.
Posted by
OP
11 posts
Can you suggest what areas in the mainland to stay in Venice?
Posted by
Houston, TX
487 posts
I have been to Venice twice, once staying at the Hilton on Guidecca and once in an apartment in the main part of Venice. Guidecca is not the main part of Venice (part that looks like a fish) and does not have the tourist place and very few places to eat, etc. as it is mostly residential. You have to take a Vaporetto back and forth or there is a shuttle boat from the Hilton. While it is better to stay on the main part of Venice, I did not feel that being on Guidecca was as much of a hassle that I initially thought it would be. We still got to explore all over Venice and had a wonderful time. But you will have to build in extra time for transportation and it will be a little more difficult to stop by your apartment if you forget something or want a break during the day. I would much rather be in Guidecca than Mestre, but would prefer to be in the main part of Venice over Guidecca.
Posted by
OP
11 posts
what's the name of the main land in Venice where I should stay? What's the neighborhood name?
Posted by
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
8293 posts
Lisa, as suggested above, you really, really need a guide book.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
17601 posts
Or a good map. The neighborhoods on the "main island" of Venice are called sestriere and are named Dorsoduro, San Marco, Castello, Cannaregio, San Polo, and Santa Croce. There will be apartments for rent in all of these. You could use a map to see where they are located.
Posted by
Houston, TX
487 posts
This website shows a map of Venice with the different neighborhoods, called Sestiere. All of them are safe. If you stay in Castello, I would make sure it is closer to San Marco as the tail portion is less populated, there is a big park. The vaporetto (boat like a city bus) go down the Grand Canal and around the outside and the further you walk from the Grand Canal, the further you must carry your luggage, potentially over many bridges. If you rent an apartment and it is on an upper floor it is unlikely to have an elevator, stairs only. Hotels are more likely to have elevators, but if that is a requirement you need to check with them as they are old buildings and difficult to retrofit.