Does anyone have experience staying in the Castello neighborhood in Venice? I read it's a quieter and less touristy place to stay, which we would appreciate. However, I'm wondering if we'd be too out of the way for the bit of sight-seeing we want to do. Any recommendations of where to stay for 2 adults and 1 tween?
Thanks!
I stayed in the Castello during a January trip several years ago, so I am not sure how helpful my input will be. The whole town was fairly dead. The Campo Santa Maria Formosa, where we headquartered, was so quiet that a conversation between two people speaking in moderate tones could be heard from one end to the other.
Venice is such a small town that I walked far and wide in a short amount of time. San Marco in 15 minutes, for example. I think my longest walk of 1.5 hours provided a pretty good tour clockwise around the island from San Marco back around to Castello all along the water.
If you are visiting in a busier time of the year Castello might be a good location for something slightly cheaper and calmer.
Campo Santa Maria Formosa is our latest preferred area to stay in when visiting Venice. It's close to many places, but quieter - though I didn't find it as quiet as the other poster did. For one thing, on our last five-night stay, we were there for the market in the Campo. And every evening, there was a combination of locals (and their kids) and tourists at the cafes in the Campo.
We stay in the Cannaregio area- very quiet on the beautiful back canals, but just a ten minute walk to the vaporetto stop on the Grand Canal.
Enjoy!
In December 2023, we stayed here in Cannaregio for 10 nights and liked it very much --- you can see the mixed reviews and read mine: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/31669467?source_impression_id=p3_1720609056_P32hmivBdxDPbypN
December 2014 (yes, SUCH a great time of year to visit Venice), we stayed here in Castello for a week: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1325679?source_impression_id=p3_1720609695_P3Ocrh17DHynj-P8
You can read my review although it's 10 years old. We loved the via Garibaldi neighborhood so much we went there again during the 2023 trip and ate lunch again at La Rampa. I did not read more recent reviews of this apartment.
As for "quieter," both apartments were quiet in winter, but I'm guessing that there is more noise at night in Venice in warmer months. I do not know if there are B&Bs or hotels in these neighborhoods --- we enjoy having a kitchen and kind of like having to monkey around with complex recycling systems, but a lot of people do not.
Anyway, we loved staying in both locations and it was super quick to walk or take a vaporetto to anywhere --- Venice is tiny.
I like staying in Dorsoduro. Quiet and still quite close to the action. You can quickly take a treghetto across to St Mark's or it's about a 15-minute walk from Accademia Bridge.
We stay in Santa Croce, and find it both quiet and convenient. Our favorite hotel, Al Ponte Mocenigo, is a down a quiet street, a short walk from the San Stae vaporetto stop.
