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Venice, Italy for the first time in 8 years. This time with kids (7 and 4).

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Howdy-

My wife and I have been to Venice a half dozen times over the years and it is one of our favorite place on the planet. We are celebrating our 20th anniversary next summer and want to go back and take our kids.

My main question tonight is this- Has anything changed? Beyond prices and the Dollar vs Euro, any significant changes to the way things are done or visitors are treated?

We are just in the preliminary planning stage right now but we are thinking about going the apartment rental route. But beyond that, nothing else on the books yet.

Thanks in advance for all of you wise advice and I look forward to reading what you all have to say.

JH

Posted by
4045 posts

I am in Venice right now taking a break from the heat and resting in my hotel before venturing back out. It could be my age but I swear, Venice is hotter every time I return. It could be that is just more crowded with visitors and that makes it feel warmer. Prior to this trip, I was last here 5 years ago and it feels more crowded now but other than that just the same with the same ambivalence about tourism meaning that some people love it and others feel like tourists are ruining their city. Just Monday, a lady threw a hard elbow into me (talk about boxing out, she should join the WNBA although she would probably foul out) when I stopped on an empty bridge for a second and started yelling at me about tourists stopping on the bridge and the only other person on the bridge besides me was aghast and reprimanded my own personal Jonquel Jones.

I am here with a 19-year old and an 11-year old and I think it is not going to be an easy trip with a 7-year old and a 4-year old. I don't find Venice to be especially child-friendly -- not because of the people or anything like that. We have always gotten great service etc. in restaurants and hotels and our children have been treated very well but I find that there are few parks, etc. for little ones and the getting on and off the boats and little things like that are just a pain. In fact, the reason we have not been back in 5 years is because after the last trip with a then 5-year old, we decided to wait a bit for him to grow up a little more before returning.

Posted by
8889 posts

Good for kids: no cars, no crossing the road.
Bad for kids: How do you feel about your 4-year-old walking along the edge of a drop into water? Don't forget many of the paths are along the edge of canals with no fencing. Will you trust him/her to be sensible or will you be worrying about him/her falling in all the time? I assume the 7-year-old will be "sensible".

Maybe an option is to stay on Venice Lido. This is the sandbar at the mouth of the lagoon. You will have a beach and possibly a hotel pool; and still be able to get a vaporetto to the main Venice islands.

Posted by
11613 posts

I think having an apartment is a good idea with kids.

Changes: more cruise ships, for sure, but the parts away from the Rialto and San Marco areas are delightfully easy to navigate.

As for vaporetti, there is almost always a staff person to assist people getting on and off. Buy a pass so you can go back to your apartment if you need to (fatigue, gelato spills, pigeon stuff).

Green space: big public gardens past San Marco.

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