We are spending 2 days and 3 nights at Venice before heading to Lake Garda for a week for a wedding. We are in the midst of planning a honeymoon so I am feeling a bit stretched thin. I was hoping for a crash course of what is a ‘can’t’ miss for Venice. We love experiences, food and history if it is a ‘can’t miss’ site. Any other locations/hotel recommendations are helpful as well.
Thank you so much in advance
My “can’t miss” sights in Venice:
St. Mark’s square. The square is especially lovely at night, when orchestras play at a couple of the (very expensive) restaurants. You can listen and dance in the square for free.
St. Mark’s basilica. It’s just so unusual, inside and out. Make sure your knees and shoulders are covered. No backpacks allowed - they must be stored at a location a block away.
A gondola ride. Cliche but, really, you can’t go to Venice and NOT go.
Getting lost. Exploring the back alleys, away from the crowds.
For the best view: take a vaporetto to the basilica di San Giorgio Maggiore.
Besides what others have suggested...take the vaporetto out to the islands of Murano and Burano.
Day 1: follow the crowd in Venice to see the major sights.
Day 2: get lost.
The one thing you don’t want to miss doing is riding the vaporetto from one end of the canal to the other i.e., the train station and San Marco Square at twilight. This way you won’t see the decay on the exterior of the palaces that line its Grand Canal. Instead, your eye will be drawn to the enormous crystal chandeliers that illuminate the spacious foyers and staircases. This experience made my mental walls float away and dream what it must have been liked during its hey-day.
As far as food recommendations do not eat at a place that shows photos of food at the entrance. Ask shop owners where he or she would go. Don’t rely on your hotel for suggestions because sometimes your hotelier is promoting a new restaurant that just opened nearby.
I’ve been to Venice twice and the best foodie experience I had was using my eyes and nose. Venice is an outdoor museum with more tourists than locals so restaurants don’t have to work on building a clientele. Venice is not the place to go for the best cuisine.
hey hey 25
when is this trip, does "we" mean only 2, any restrictions with mobility (stairs/steps), budget in euros for hotel?
do you have place in lake garda and what town? i loved the lake, went to fabulous wine festival in bardolino. do you have time to explore or is it all about wedding, will you have a car?
GO NINERS
aloha
Cheers to the niners!!! It’s just my future wife and I, we are both fully mobile and young. We are staying with a group in lake garda with most of the week planned esque but always happy to sneak away for some great opportunities. We won’t be driving and we are up towards the northern part of the lake!
That link was very helpful. Seems like we will be able to get all of the must do’s while we are there which is very exciting!
hey hey 25
i'll gather some info for you & yours with venice and lake garda after the niners kick "okole" with the cowboys hee hee
my friend's son plays for dallas so i do have to say hi to matt. getting my appetizers ready to go watch the game at friends house.
are you flying into venice and when is this trip? both places are gorgeous in their own ways and both are couple of my favorites
aloha
With only two days in Venice, I think that Murano/Burano eat up too much of your time. That excursion eats up 3/4 of a day.
We are going Aug 11 to the 20th
Flying into Venice and out of and then taking the train to Lake Garda
St. Mark’s basilica, gondola ride - just get one on a side canal, Vaporetto ride on grand canal between train station and St. Mark’s, Murano and Burano, get lost. That was my 2 day agenda and it worked out well
I absolutely agree about the sights already identified, but if you're history nuts, you might want to squeeze in the Doge's Palace (I'm not, so I didn't). If you like modern art, the Guggenheim Collection is great. At least for the Guggenheim, you'd probably need to buy a ticket online a bit in advance. I'm not sure about the Doge's Palace itself, but the Secret Itineraries Tour there (popular with posters here) does sell out; I'm not sure how far in advance.
On such a short visit, I think Murano should be left to the folks with a significant interest in glass, but the trip over there doesn't take terribly long. Burano with its technicolor houses is a lot more visually appealing, but it's also farther out in the lagoon, so a much longer trip.
If you can figure out how many vaporetto trips you'll be taking, you may be able to save some money with a vaporetto pass. There's outdated information about vaporetto fares all over the internet. The actual current fare since last September is an extortionate 9.50 euros per trip. A 24-hour pass costs 25 euros; a 48-hour pass, 35 euros. If you forego Murano and Burano (seeing both would require three vaporetto trips), it's possible you won't need to use the vaporettos often enough for a pass to pay off, so it's worth thinking about. Note that there are some lightly-used vaporetto stops that don't have either a ticket booth or a ticket-vending machine, so don't just head off to an obscure stop without a ticket in hand. (I did, and it was quite a long walk to another stop; there's not always a bridge where you'd like to find one.)
Although San Marco is probably the #1 tourist spot in the city, it has many amazing things to see you should not miss. My recommendations:
1) San Marco cathedral -- get entrance ticket in advance to avoid the line and enjoy the gold mosaics everywhere inside...i.e., this is not a gothic church; the exterior facing the plaza is also amazingly beautiful (in short, it's my all-time favorite cathedral)
2) Doge palace next to the cathedral, including the infamous old prison and Bridge of Sighs
3) San Marco Piazetta views across the water to San Giorgio Maggiore (you can stroll along the waterfront also)
4) Elevator to the top of the tower in San Marco Piazza (if it's open; if not, see (5) below)
5) Vaporetto (water bus) from San Marco to San Giorgio Maggiore, which also has a church and tower open to the public and a view back onto San Marco
This is all so so so helpful thank you very much
hey hey 25britt
here's a few things and tips about your venice stop. your arrival time is important since hotel check in about 3-4pm unless you get an okay for early check in. if not make sure they have luggage hold until check in. you don't want to be carrying/pulling/pushing luggage around till then. pack light, you can hand wash or if place in lake garda has washer/dryer. i always take a small bottle of soap just in case and hang in room. we always pack a corkscrew just in case. be careful with jet lag, it's real for some. (don't know where you are flying from). many flights into venice arrive early morning.
VENICE:
Hotel Villa Rosa near train station. A/C you'll need it in august, breakfast
Hotel Abbazia near train station, A/C, breakfast
Palazzina Veneziana in cannaregio near train station, A/C
Hotel Arlecchino across bridge in santa croce area, stairs
Hotel Santa Chiara across bridge, santa croce area, elevator
Albergo Marin across bridge from train station, A/C, breakfast
just a few to check out, always look at cancellation policies, i found these on booking.com. you can also email them to see if lower price. you may get more places to check. you are there during hot summer high season. you have been given things to see, i'm going the other way
schezzini.it and destination360.com/ cicchetti tour
email alessandro, he does a tour with small bites, wine and history of venice
streaty.com street food tours in venice
camacana.com making & decorating venetian masks
vivovenetia.com/ wine tasting venice
we did a gondola ride, a must, with luca the singing gondelier. brought a bottle of prosecco/plastic glasses to celebrate. different prices for day or night. met in back canal near jewish ghetto, crossed grand canal which is like a busy "highway" stayed in side canals. email [email protected] to schedule a ride of about 40 minutes with him singing to you. so much fun. you can read about him lucky luca gondelier in yahoo search
bacarojazz.it bar/club we did a meet & greet here with cocktails from people we were on a greek isle cruise starting in venice. many bras are hanging from ceiling, posts, we bought a plus size purple one, decorated with sparkles/glitter, and it was hung with with many laughs from our group.
since your time is so short, do as much as you can, lots of walking (wear comfy shoes, up and down bridges/steps/stairs, getting lost is so so common, you zig instead of zag, island is small to do lots of adventuring.
hoping you could take the vaporetto to burano island, my favorite. alongdustyroads.com/ burano italy guide
walk the canals of the pastel colored houses, known for lace, famous cookies at the bakeries
isoladiburano.it, click english, then shopping. have lunch at gattonero.com outside and have their seafood risotto, fresh seafood from the waters there. other restaurants around also. check times/days open, many close about 3p and open evening
buy roundtrip tickets if not timed, machines can get busy with waits, make sure you validate ticket at machine before boarding even on trains.arriving from venice airport, best and my favorite way is private water taxi
venicelink.com
look at shuttle, shared taxi, fill out form and they get you as close as possible to "ferry" stop near hotel. no lugging luggage, not a crowded buses, enjoy this. save money in your "piggy bank" it is so so worth it, done it 4 times.
trenitalia.com is the train company, too early to book tickets. use italian name stations
venezia santa lucia to peschiera del garda any of the group picking you up at train station or a boat ride up the lake to your place, taxi, or is there a bus?
rome2rio.com put in your cities and shows ways to travel, times, miles, routes.
hope this gives you insight to alot to think about and research, keep asking questions here to help you two enjoy without stressing.
will write up about lake garda later.
yeah NINERS, cowboys eating lotsa of crow hee hee
aloha
Wow. Thank you so so so much! That was such helpful information
hey hey 25britt
LAKE GARDA
travelinmad.com/ blog/ things to do in malcesine
haven't been here, many love this place and it's in the northern part of italy's largest lake.
italyfoodies.com/ blog/ traditional desserts in italy
OMG stop in a patisserie (bakery) and just go crazy & gain pounds just looking. one of my favorites is tiramisu. don't miss dessert!!
lakegardatravel.net
look under the headers with all kinds of info where, how, when
atlasobscura.com/ santuario madonna della corona
church built into hills near monte baldo in spiazzi
tripsavvy.com/ get to know lake garda
thecrowdedplanet.com/ things to do on lake garda
duetigarage.com
trike rental, rent one and take a ride around part of lake in small villages, lake views, driver's license needed
just an FYI: if you or anyone drives a vehicle, get a IDP (international driving permit) translation of you license, at AAA/CAA for about $25 & passport size photo. read up on it. some or most rental car companies will ask for it, don't have it don"t drive. if a cop stops you they will ask, if do not have, big fine $$$. the permit lasts one year.
read up about taking a boat ride up the lake, take a ferry to another town and walk around, go to a farmers market.
getyourguide.com
put in town and see what they offer
theculturetrip.com/ lake garda
airbnb.com/ experiences in lake garda
don't know what your group has planned but whatever go have fun and enjoy
GO NINERS
aloha
Highly recommend a rowing lesson in your own gondola by one of a group of professional women rowers at Row Venice. We did this with a grandchild a couple of years ago and it was a highlight. See website above.
