venice, italy

Grab a good guide book to help you decide which sites you are interested in seeing. 2 nights is not a lot of time for this wonderful city but you can see some of the sites and also wander a little to get a good feel for the town. Donna

Guide book for the sites, but don't overbook yourself in Venice. It's a great city, just wander about and get lost. You will be surprised how calm much of the city away from the tourist highlights is. That said, we enjoyed the Peggy Guggenheim the most for museums (we like modern art) and S Maria D Frari was definitely worth the visit too.

Start with the RS Italy 2011 guide book. That information is laid out there in a much more helpful way than some random responses on a bulletin board. Otherwise you're just begging for information overload. Happy travels.

Just returned from Venice. An absolute must was an "Interactive Opera" we saw. It was the highlight of Venice. We saw Rigoletto. Musica Palazzo, www.musicapalazzo.com. I have seen many operas at Lincoln Center in New York, but nothing like this. It was outstanding!

Bought RS Italy 2011 today!! Thanks for all the tips...I have enjoyed reading others suggestions...The message board is a Godsend :)

Check out Rick's description of cichetti bars and then leave time in the early evening to wander around and sample some. They're uniquely Venetian.

We just returned from a two week trip to Italy (spent most of it in Tuscany), and spent 2 nights in Venice. LOVED Venice, what a great city! We just wandered much of the time, and loved it. We stayed in Casa Querini, which I think is in RS' 2011 book. We thought it was great, very close to the main square, and yet off the beaten path a little. It is small, but completely adequate and they served a nice breakfast, included. The people who worked there we found to be very kind and friendly, it was a nice experience. We did the gondola ride, it was very nice! I wish I could tell you where we got on (I found Venice confusing, so have no idea where we were!), but we got a nice, peaceful ride, and our gondolier was a very nice, sincere person who made it a very enjoyable trip. Good thing as it IS expensive! My 14 year old had a huge crush on him :) Have fun!

I was very pleased with La Calcina in Venice. Pretty much every poster here has said the gondola ride is way too much money and way too little enjoyment. If you do, make sure you go through the small side canals, not the grand canal. Rick has 4 free audio guides to Venice. With only 2 days, I'd do them all except the Frari church. The best time to visit St Mark's Basilica is between 11.30 and 12.30, when the mosaics are floodlit. And right next door is the Doge's Palace, another great sight, and you can rent their audio guide. And lots and lots of gelati.

Consider doing the Secret Itineraries tour at the Doge's Palace, it is very nice. I personally also enjoyed the Frari church, but it depends on personal interests! Do a gondola ride if that's a "must-do" for you in Venice. For me, I was fine with just taking the vaporetti because the gondola are expensive etc.