Venice Travel Forum

Hi all,

We would love to extend our Garda Lake trip with 4-5 days to Venice this summer (jul-aug) and were looking for some tips from the pros / experienced...
We are 3 persons, 2 adults and a little boy that is good on his feet, but I would still consider taking the stroller with me.

We are Dutch and therefor love to spend money on vacations, but hate to waste money when not necessary. We are not looking for "Hostel-budget" (not that there is anything wrong with that)

My questions:
- I read that you can park your car cheap "above" or "below" the city and take a busboat from there, any tips ?
- Taking the train into town is also an option, in that case I would want to park some stops away from venice (or even from Lake Garda) to save money on parking.
- I heard Hotel prices differ when staying inside / outside the city.
We don't mind a little (boat)trip to the city centre. Does anyone have any experience of reasonably priced hotels in or around Venice (I know there are many travelguides about this, but tips from experience are always welcome)
- Any tips we have not thought of ?

Thanks a lot in advance, regards,

Jenny, Roul and Daan

Venice is expensive for accommodation (and everything else, imo), but there are some reasonably-priced (for Venice) options around. www.venere.com is always a good site to check: I booked my Venice hotel (Locanda Marinella) through them. It was fine, and might suit you. www.locandamarinella.it

Accommodation in mainland towns such as Mestre is slightly cheaper (and there are regular cheap buses to the city), but staying within Venice itself is very special. It's a very different place once the tours have departed......

Hello,

I would leave the car in Lake Garda, especially if you are returning there, and take the train to the S.L. station. Then you can take the vaporetto into the city. As for hotels, try venere.com for specific hotels. Try the Canneregio or Dorsoduro areas for the best rates. As for the stroller, I would leave it in the car. With all the bridges you will have to cross, it won't be worth carrying it around.

Donna

We stayed at a B&B in Venice - http://www.centopietre.net/html/indexeng.htm and cost 115 Euro/night for 2 adults incl breakfast. Just checked their web site and kids under 3 = free.

Depending on age of little boy, may be worth buying one of those back pack style toddler seats. Let him walk some of the way and then carry him on back pack for all the bridges rather than using the stroller (previous post regarding bridges and strollers is great).

Venice is one of the real must sees but it is VERY expensive.

Sorry can't help on car park as we went in and out by train.

I've only been to Venice once, and I will definitely go again, but I must say I was bored stiff after 3 nights.
I was travelling alone, with no children. In terms of food and culture, it is not a "world" city, but a local Italian city. I couldnt find any restaurant that didnt serve Italian food. All the retail shops look the same. You can take the boy to Burano to see the colored houses, and Murano for the glass-blowing, but even that was depicted in a dry, clinical fashion, without any narrative by the guide. I can't imagine how you would amuse a child for 5 days in Venice. I went in 2007, when the Euro was "only" $1.37 (ah, the good old days!), and the restaurants were frightfully expensive then! maybe E20 or so for the full course dinner (is there any other kind?!)

O my goodness.........only Italian food in an Italian city?? You should come to the UK: you'd be hard pushed to find anywhere serving 'English' food. :-)

20 euros is actually a pretty good price for a full meal, although Venice is certainly more expensive than other Italian cities. In the UK the same thing would cost at least 20+GBP (around 40USD). Europe is no longer a 'cheap' destination for any of us, if it ever was.

The little boy will enjoy wandering around/eating gelato/chasing pigeons etc: it is not essential to occupy small children for every minute of the day as long as they get chance to run around/explore every so often (there are lots of little squares etc where this is entirely possible).

Venice isn't to everyone's taste, of course (it's not my favourite Italian city by a long way) but it is worth visiting, even if only once.

I would consider Lido for hotels if you have a child with you. the vaporettos which run up and down the grand canal start and finish there, so getting into the city is no problem. You COULD even take the car there (but not really a lot of point unless yoummuch prefer to drive for some other reason). I am not sure how much cheaper the accom is, but it would be easy to do a search and see. I htink you will get a lot more rom for your euro. cos hotel rooms in venice are SMALL