Is sea sickness a common occurence amongst tourists in Venice? Are the waters pretty calm most of the time in early-mid October?
Here in the US, I always get a bit queasy on New York City ferry rides, but I'm perfectly fine on the Baltimore water taxis. Not quite sure why I'm OK on one but not the other!
I guess I'll pack some Dramamine for Venice, just in case. I really want to go to Burano!
I'm planning my first trip to Venice right now, so i can't really weigh in on your sea sickness question. But just a heads up--according to the latest update of the RS Venice guidebook, the Burano Lace Museum is closed for much of 2008 for renovation. (http://www.ricksteves.com/books/update/bk-rs-ven.htm)
Hopefully it will be done in time for your trip!
The best way to prevent seasickness is to be somewhere on the boat where you can see the horizon and just keep your eye on it. The ride to Burano is about 45 minutes long, so you should pop some Dramamine before hand, just in case.
It happens but most of the time you're too captivated by the beautiful scenery to notice. Another technique though is to close your eyes for thirty seconds which tends to cause nausea to dissapate.
In general, the water is not very rough. But there are always other vessels leaving wakes even on the canals, so you'll get some up and down from those. Better safe than sorry.
Youngmee, Thanks for letting me know about the Lace Museum. I'll check on the status as my trip gets closer.
And thanks everyone for the tips. I'll defintely keep a stash of Dramamine on me at all times while in Venice!
Anna,
I have been to Venice several times and have never has a problem with sea sickness. I have been there in February, November and December and the water was not choppy.
Hi Anne
I recently returned from Venice and I also have problems with motion sickness. I took the boat to Burano and never thought about it once. The times I did feel sick were on the platform waiting for the vaporetto because they are on the water. The rocking feeling stuck with me into the evening. If you can avoid too much time waiting there and wait on the sidewalk instead, that would help. Also, if you plan to take a gondola ride, I would not take one on the Grand Canal. We took ours from San Marco and asked to go on the back canals (which are very calm) instead. Burano was wonderful-Venice too-Hope you enjoy!
Ciao,
China
