For the last 10 plus years I have played golf at a very nice course on my birthday thanks to the wife. Pebble Beach, St. Andrews etc. Will be in Venice in May on my birthday, thinking I would rather spend the 6-8 hours of the day in Venice doing something other than golf.....any suggestions? Budget would be a couple hundred at the high end.
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA
7737 posts
A gondola ride comes to mind, but down the back canals, not the Grand Canal. You get to see parts of Venice that are accessible only from the water. Like this, or this or this or this.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
17244 posts
I'd take a water taxi to Torcello, explore the island, and have lunch in the gardens at Locanda Cipriani. Very Venetian, very traditional, and well off the main tourist path. http://travel.nytimes.com/2006/02/19/travel/19dayout.html?pagewanted=all
Posted by
Bromley, Kent,, UK
1829 posts
On our last night in Venice our ritual treat is to go St Marks Square after dinner (no dessert or coffee) and pay a ridiculously high price to sit at one of the cafes there. We order gelato, coffee and then have a couple of nightcaps before strolling back to our hotel. For a couple of hours we sit listening to a small orchestra in one of the most beautiful urban landscapes on earth and pretend that money is no object.
Posted by
Spokane, WA, USA
191 posts
The opera would be spectacular! When we visited, it wasn't a full opera, just a sampler with three singers, and 9 instrumentalists, all dressed in baroque costumes, all incredibly talented. We went on the 4th of July a couple of years ago, and in the middle there was a huge thunderstorm visible through the windows, incredible to hear the baritone booming along with nature's light show. This probably doesn't happen nightly. We are returning to Italy this year, and I hope we can find a full opera performance somewhere, but we won't be in Venice. You could take a vaporetto to Murano and Burano shy away from factory "tours" on Murano, and wander to the small galleries that actually have art glass. Burano is beautiful clean, well maintained, and famous for its hand made lace. Both islands have canals with picturesque homes alongside. Neither is packed with tourists lots of space, not a lot of people. Very relaxing & fun.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33513 posts
Those suggestions are all good. Have you been to Venice previously?
Posted by
OP
Van Nuys, CA, United States
77 posts
First trip to Italy. Before arriving in Venice for three nights we have 5 nights in Rome & 5 nights in Florence. We are sort of traveling with two friends as are in the same cities on some of the dates, but they are in hotels & we are at apartments. Has anyone done theWagnerian dinner at the Divenzia Casino? Has anyone attended the opera at the opera house?
Posted by
Seattle, WA
17244 posts
We have not attended an opera at la Fenice but we plan to next year. We have been to La Scala and it was great. In May they are doing 11 performances of La Boheme. It looks like there are tickets available for all the nights I checked (although very limited on May 16, for some reason).
Posted by
Ann Arbor, Mi
3696 posts
I would second the trip to Burano. We spent a lovely day there and the boat trip was wonderful.