Venice 6 December - 11 December Top 10 sights to see

One thing I recommend highly is to get a Chorus Pass, which admits you to several churches and points out the artwork in them (without the Pass, admission is 3€ each). The churches are scattered all over the city, and it's really fun to walk around and find them. I started at the Frari church, and bought the Pass there.

Open air ice skating in Campo San Polo, start date is "early December".

Vivaldi's Four Seasons at the Chiesa Pieta.

Chamber Orchestra concerts at Chiesa San Vidal.

Campanile San Giorgio Maggiore on San Giorgio Island.

Train to Verona for the Christmas Market.

Vaporetto ride on the Grand Canal.

That's my 6. I'm sure you will include the Basilica San Marco and Palazzo Ducale.

If it's your first visit to Venice, you pretty much have to see St. Mark's and the Doge's Palace as well as Basilica dei Frari and Scuola San Rocco. The Accademia would be pretty high on my list, too. Those are pretty standard tourist sites.

A few less well known things that I would recommend:

• Musica a Palazzo, which features opera set in a 15th century palace. Instead of changing sets, you move from room to room between acts. Of course, La Traviata and the Barber of Seville are not Christmas music, but it's still worth doing. (reservations required)

• Row Venice (rowvenice.org) --- A non-profit organization that teaches you to row in the Venetian style. The people (mostly women) who offer the lessons are passionate about Venice and rowing, and it's a tremendous educational experience. Much better than a gondola ride. A big bonus for you is that it's in Canareggio. It might be a little cold in December. (reservations required)

• Ca' Macana --- Paint your own Venetian mask. (reservations required)

• Cichetti crawl --- There are several options, and I recall going to a good place in Canareggio. Sadly, I can't remember the name of it now (although I could probably still remember how to get there.) If you are interested, I can probably dig up some specific names.

If you are going to be there for a week, you definitely want to get a vaporetto pass. My first evening in Venice, we rode the vaporetto down the Grand Canal at sunset. It's was pure magic --- one of those memories that will stay with me forever.

And, finally, throw away your map and get lost at least once. Just wander in random directions.

I am not sure what your accommodations will be. If you are in an apartment with a kitchen, I strongly recommend stopping at the Rialto market as often as possible for fresh fish and veggies. I was fortunate enough to be in Venice for several weeks, and I loved the rhythm of stopping at the market each day to buy fresh food for dinner. It's so different from the American model of stuffing one's car full of junk at a supermarket or Costco once a week.

Today, I was reading where 70% of the island is under water. I understand some of the water is 5' deep.
Hopefully things will settle down by then.
We were once there the first of February, and St. Marks Square had water lapping up on it. They had wooden sidewalks to keep us walking above the water levels.

What the others said, plus:

Peggy Guggenheim Museum, modern art, paintings and sculpture, interesting building along the canal;
Tour of the Jewish Ghetto neighborhood;
Day long visit to Murano, Burano and Torcello, assuming the weather is clear. Plan to have a meal (probably lunch) on Burano, and give Torcello an hour, so you have time to visit the church complex, where Venice was born.
You might enjoy a mask-making workshop, although I can’t recommend a specific one.

That is Acqua Alta and it only lasts a couple of hours at high tide. Right now, daily maximum is 110 cm above the mean water level. Normal tide is 79 cm above and 50 cm below the mean point. 120 cm is where it might top the risers put out during Acqua Alta.

Another one of Venice's top 10: Experience Acqua Alta.

Wow! I was just reading about today's acqua alta --- 156cm, one of the biggest on record. It was higher than the temporary boardwalks in St. Mark's, and they had to close the square. They shut down the vaporettos, too.

Thank you for the replies. Should we purchase tickets in advance for the following or can we buy tickets the day off? Music a Palazzo, Vivaldi's Four seasons, Basilica San Marco, Palazzo Ducale, a Vaporetto ride, Campanile San Giorgio Maggiore.

Our favorites:

Visit the Scuola di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni for the Carpaccio paintings on the walls including St. George & the dragon. Take binoculars because the huge paintings are high on the walls and it’s rather dark in the small room. On Calle dei Furlani in Castello.

The naval museum if you like boats: Museo Storico Navale.

We loved riding on every vaporetto route we could, including out to the other islands. Pick out the palazzo you’d like to live in. Get a week’s vaporetto pass at the exit from the train station.

In December we saw a boat race on the Grand Canal with everyone dressed as Santa Claus.

Examining the different tops of all the pillars of the Doges Palace (we’ve never been inside).

Taking a topa (little Venetian motor boat) tour: http://www.vivivenezia.org Almost two hours on the back canals. We’d rather watch other people in a gondola than be in one ourselves.

The San Giorgio Maggiore bell tower has an elevator to the top --- yay!

The rowing lessons were great.

I'm so glad you asked about Venice since it is my second-favorite city in the world. I took one of these walking tours on my last visit, and even after having spent a lot of time in the city, I learned quite a bit. The guide was excellent. You really need to book in advance, but there's no penalty for no-shows, if something comes up. Another tour I enjoyed a lot was the Secret Itineraries Tour at the Doge's Palace. It takes you to parts of the building not otherwise open to the public, lots of history about Venice's Golden Age. The Corer Museum on the Piazza is another fave, the Frari Church with its Titians, the Jewish Ghetto synagogue tour, the views from the Campanile in San Marco and from the top of the San Giorgio Maggiore Church.