Venice Highlights

I received so much thoughtful advice from the folks on this site before my recent trip to Venice, I figured I would share some of my highlights as well.

We stayed for 3 days and 2 nights, which in my opinion is a perfect amount of time to get a rich essence of Venice. That being said I feel I could have stayed for another week without getting bored. Our hotel was on Lido island where the annual Venice Film Festival is held (in Sept.). There was a fantastic beach directly across from our hotel (Des Baines). The hotel is part of the Starwood group and as an added bonus there is a free hourly shuttle (bus to sister property 1km away and then private boat) to San Marco square. The 15 minute boat ride to the center of Venice is brilliant and it feels nice to "get away" from the madness of the crowds when returning to Lido after a full day.

The hotel will arrange a free private boat to Murano as well (home of the famous glass factories). I don't recommend buying glass on Murano as the prices seem inflated, however it is worth going there to see how the glass is made. It is also funny to see the guides gently goading you into buying a 40,000 euro chandelier. Gimme a break!

Back to the heart of Venice....I was blown away by the sheer number of shops. My advice is to buy what you like when you see it because if the shop is off the beaten path you will be hard pressed to find it again amidst the maze of streets and canals :-)

Shopping-wise, I bought some sweet Murano glass cufflinks for 25 euro near Campo San Giovanni. If you are going to a costume party there is no shortage of amazingly ornate masks (in the shape of any animal imaginable). For nice souvenirs head to Rialto for the ceramic masks where they are 50% off prices in San Marco. We bought some for 1.4 euro each and they were of equal quality to those selling for 3 or 4 euro in the center.

Foodwise, head to the Jewish ghetto to a place called Il Faro. The meal was terrific as was the service. A litre of wine is 9 euro and a full meal for 4 with starters, mains, desert and coffee can be had for under 90 euro. Did I mention the food was awesome?

Musicwise, head to the Academia in Rialto. We witnessed a superb performance including pieces by Vivaldi, Mozart, etc... I guess there are so many concerts around town you can't wrong with most, but I had a nice time here.

Gondola-wise, ouch it is expensive! We passed. A daytime ride is ~80 euro, which jumps to 100 or so in the eve. If you want him to sing tack on an extra 110 euro. Highway robbery! I think this is more of a tourist trap than Disneyland. :-)
As an alternative, take a traghetto (gondola that takes you from one side of the canal to the other) for 50 euro cents!!! Of course the ride only takes about 1 minute, but if you go back and forth a few times you'll probably have your fill. We didn't try it but I'm sure if you slipped the guy a 20 he would sing for you too. What a deal! ;-)

Feel free to get in touch if you have any other questions. Safe travels!