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By travelanswerman | October 28, 2009

: Image by llamnudds via Flickr

Travel Answer Man gives his comments and suggestions from a recent visit to Venice, Italy. A glorious city of canals started more than 1,500 years ago in a lagoon and one of Europe’s best-preserved big cities.

Imagine a city with almost 400 hundred bridges, countless canals and a few thousand alleys built on a number of islands. Oh, and no cars. Locals and visitors alike move about on foot or by Vaporetto. The public transit system consists of a number of motorized bus boats called vaporetti. Of course, there are no bus stops, just boat docks for passengers to embark or disembark. Isn’t that a novel idea? From a tourist point of view, the system enhances the overall experience due to it being so different from a visual perspective than the typical bus transportation in most cities. I would definitely recommend purchasing a pass for unlimited use of vaporetti and ACTV buses, especially if you will be in the city for a few days. They are sold in 12 hour blocks and allow you to get on and off at your leisure.

The small, compact nature of the city allows for most locals to personally know one another. This helps to preserve a small ”home town” feel among each other.

What to do: Venice drips with an atmosphere as thick as honey. Piazza San Marco . The city’s ceremonial stage set of a square. Napoleon once dubbed it as “the finest drawing room in Europe.” It is a place for the people to see things and be seen. The Rialto Market http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/rialto_food_markets.htm . This section of Venice is still a fascinating place for the wandering tourist to see many fish and vegetable markets along with the famous Rialto Bridge photographed by thousands over the years. It wonderfully spans the Grand Canal and is an architectural masterpiece. The Accademia is the best collection of Venetian art in the world. It includes the Renaissance masterpieces and Byzantine panel paintings. The collection is housed in La Carita. Doge’s Palace. This was the seat of the Venetian government for approximately 800 years. It became a symbol of political stability and independence. The Grand Canal. This once upon a time was a waterway for merchant vessels and great galleys, the canal now welcomes simpler craft, from gondolas to garbage barges. Gondola ride. This should be on everyone’s “bucket list.” Try and make sure the majority of your ride is in the back canals and you hire a musician to sing Italian love songs.

Where to eat: It could be said in just about every restaurant in Italy, “the food is like eating manna from Heaven, only a little better.” We found a delightful place called Ristorante Marco Polo and considered it the best in Venice. They specialized in piazza, risotto, pasta, gnocchi and tiramisu. All the restaurants were exceptional, this was the best!

Where to stay: Fortunately, Venice is not that large and most hotels are within a reasonable walking distance from all major attractions, activities and cafes. We would suggest being as close as possible to Piazza San Marcos due to its centrality to all points of interest. Our hotel was the Best Western Albergo San Marco www.bestwestern.it/sanmarco_ve. The staff always made us feel welcome and the hotel provided the level of service we expected. Their location was a 30 second walk from the center of Piazza San Marcos. As I checked out on day of departure, I said we will return as soon as possible…definitely a satisfied customer.

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