Venice Vacations


	It's easy to forgive Venice for its eternal preoccupation with its own beauty. All the picture books in the world won't prepare you for the city's exotic landmarks, among them the Basilica di San Marco and the Palazzo Ducale, rising like mirages from the lagoon. With sumptuous palaces and romantic waterways, Venice is straight out of an 18th-century Canaletto masterpiece. Venice is called La Serenissima (the "most serene" one), a reference to the monstrous power, majesty, and wisdom of this city that was for centuries the unrivaled mistress of trade between Europe and the Orient and the bulwark of Christendom against the tides of Turkish expansion. The most serene also refers to the way in which those visiting have looked upon Venice, a miraculous city imperturbably floating on its calm, blue lagoon. Entirely built on water by men who dared defy the sea, Venice is unlike any other town. No matter how many times you have seen it in movies or TV commercials, the real thing is more surreal and dreamlike than you ever imagined. Its landmarks, the Basilica di San Marco and the Palazzo Ducale, seem hardly Italian: delightfully idiosyncratic, they are exotic mélanges of Byzantine, Gothic, and Renaissance styles. Sunlight shimmers and silvery mist softens every perspective here, a city renowned in the Renaissance for its artists' rendering of color. It is full of secrets, ineffably romantic, and -- at times -- given over entirely to pleasure. Founded in the 5th century, Venice attained a peak of power and prosperity in the 15th and 16th centuries. For 400 years the powerful maritime city-republic had held sway, but after the 16th century the tide changed. The Ottoman Empire blocked Venice's Mediterranean trade routes, and newly emerging sea powers such as Britain and the Netherlands broke Venice's monopoly by opening oceanic trading routes. Like its steadily dwindling fortunes, Venice's art and culture began a prolonged decline, leaving only the splendid monuments to recall a fabled past, with the luminous paintings of Canaletto (1697-1768) and the beautiful frescoes of Giambattista Tiepolo striking a glorious swan song. You must walk everywhere in Venice (Venezia, in Italian) and where you cannot walk, you go by water. Occasionally, from fall to spring, you have to walk in water, when extraordinarily high tides known as acqua alta invade the lower parts of the city, flooding Piazza San Marco for a few hours. The difficulty of protecting Venice and its lagoon from dangerously high tides has generated extravagant plans and so many committee reports that the city may sink as much under the weight of paper as under water. In spite of these problems, Venetians have mastered the art of living well in their singular city. You'll see them going about their daily affairs in vaporetti (water buses), aboard the traghetti (traditional gondola ferries) that ply between the banks of the Grand Canal, in the campi (squares), and along the calli (narrow Venetian streets). And they are nothing if not skilled in dealing with the armies of tourists that inundate their city in summer. Venice related links: Venice Hotels \| Venice Vacation Specials Europe Vacations

Weather & When to Go

The main tourist season in Venice runs from April to October and during Carnevale. For serious sightseers the best months are from fall to early spring. The so-called low season is cooler and inevitably rainier, but it has its rewards: less time waiting on lines; and close, unhurried views of what you want to see; and substantial hotel discounts.

Weather-wise, the best months for sightseeing are March, April, May, June, September, and October -- generally pleasant and not too hot. The hottest months are July and August, when the south wind called scirocco brings about sticky days in Venice. Brief afternoon thunderstorms are common (and welcome) in the whole Veneto region. Venetian winters are relatively mild but always include foggy days, some rainy spells, and the risk of acqua alta (high water, when portions of the city are flooded). Inland towns are generally colder in winter and hotter in summer than Venice, but they are less humid.

Attractions & Excursions

Sooner or later you will become lost in Venice, a city of more than 100 separate islands divided by roughly 150 canals and crossed by 400 bridges. Its narrow and closed streetscapes make it difficult to navigate. To help, signs all over town indicate the way to the train station, the Rialto Bridge, and Piazza San Marco, the heart of the city.

Central Venice is divided into six neighborhoods, or sestieri (San Marco, Castello, Dorsoduro, Cannaregio, San Polo, and Santa Croce). Addresses consist of the name of the sestiere and a number, though the numbers don't go in any sequential order, so San Marco 3672 and 3673 might well be several streets apart. When necessary, addresses give the nearest calle (street), campo (field -- a piazza in any other Italian town), or bridge. If a street runs alongside a canal, it is a riva or fondamenta, and a street with shops is often called a ruga or salizzada.

You walk everywhere in Venice, and where you cannot walk you go by water. While the city has hundreds of bridges, the Grand Canal can only be crossed on foot at three points: Ponte degli Scalzi, near the train station (Ferrovia); Ponte di Rialto, at the Rialto; and at Ponte dell'Accademia. As an alternative, take the traghetti, essentially gondolas that ferry across the canal. The vaporetti (water buses) that circulate through the city on set routes are best used to cover long distances.

Entertainment

Your first impression will probably be that Venice doesn't live much at night. As the last bit of daylight slips away, so, too, does the noise of an active if not busy town. Boat traffic drops to the occasional passing vaporetto, shutters roll down, and signs go dark. Even most bacari (wine bars), which seem like natural spots for after-hours gathering, turn out the lights around 9 PM. But there is a night scene in Venice, subtly spread among many neighborhood locali (nightspots) that stay open until 1 or 2 AM, many with live music. Still, things never get too wild, except perhaps during Carnevale. There are no venues suited to loud concerts and few options for dancing on weeknights. Aside from the piano bars, nightlife tends to be student oriented.

Venice is a stop for major traveling exhibits, from Maya art to contemporary art retrospectives. In odd years, usually from mid- or late June to early November, the Biennale dell'Arte draws the work of several hundreds of contemporary international artists. Classical music buffs can rely on a rich season of concerts, opera, chamber music, and some ballet performed at the Palafenice theater. Minor venues and churches offer less-expensive shows, often focusing on Venetian Baroque music. There is no English-language theater or cinema in Venice, but during Carnevale foreign companies act in their mother tongue, and all movies participating in the Biennale del Cinema are shown in the original language, which most often happens to be English.

Most nightspots fit into three categories. The so-called osterie musicali offer full meals, cicheti (little savory snacks), beer, inexpensive wine, and live music several nights a week. Many of them also serve as galleries for local artists, whose paintings decorate the walls and are for sale. Then there are the English- and Irish-style pubs, with beer on tap and occasional live music, which are especially popular with the younger crowd. Finally, there are the late-night cafés and piano bars that offer more nocturnal diversion.

For a detailed listing of what's going on, pick up the monthly Venezia News from a newsstand. It has plenty of information in English about concerts, opera, ballet, theater, exhibitions, movies, sports, sightseeing, and a useful "Servizi" section with late-night pharmacies, operating hours for the busiest vaporetto and bus lines, and a listing of the main trains and flights from Venice. The tourist office puts out Venezia da Vivere (www.veneziadavivere.it), a seasonal brochure in Italian with weekly listings of what's going on in most of the nightspots. More entertainment and lifestyle information can be found in Meeting Venice (www.meetingvenice.it), Leo Bussola, and Un Ospite di Venezia (www.aguestinvenice.com), all in Italian with English translations. They are free and available at the tourist office.

Shopping

Alluring shops abound in Venice. You'll find countless vendors of trademark Venetian wares such as glass and lace. The authenticity of some goods can be suspect, but they're often pleasing to the eye regardless of their heritage. For more sophisticated tastes (and deeper pockets), there are jewelers, antiques dealers, and high-fashion boutiques, on a par with those in Italy's larger cities but often maintaining a uniquely Venetian flair.

It's always a good idea to mark the location of a shop that interests you on your map; otherwise you may not be able to find it again in the maze of tiny streets. Regular store hours are usually 9-12:30 and 3:30 or 4-7:30 PM; some stores are closed on Saturday afternoon or Monday morning. Food shops are open 8-1 and 5-7:30, and are closed all day Sunday and on Wednesday afternoon. However, many tourist-oriented shops are open all day, every day. Some shops close for both a summer and a winter vacation. If you plan on a major purchase, take advantage of tax-free shopping with the value-added tax (VAT, or IVA in Italian) refund, whereby non-EU residents are entitled to a tax refund (roughly 13% of the purchase price) on purchases greater than EUR155.00 (pretax) of clothing and luxury goods made in one store.

Dining

The quality of Venetian restaurants has suffered from the effects of mass tourism, but it is still possible to eat well in Venice at moderate prices. A great Venetian tradition revolves around bacari, the local name for the little watering holes -- called osterie elsewhere in Italy -- where locals have gone for centuries to have a glass of wine, cicheti (little savory snacks), and a chat.

Venetian cuisine is based on fish and seafood -- granseola (crab), moeche (small, soft-shelled crab), and seppie or seppioline (cuttlefish) all are prominently featured. It's usually priced by the etto (100 grams, or about ¼ pound) and can be quite expensive. Antipasti may take the form of a seafood salad, prosciutto di San Daniele (of the Friuli region), or pickled vegetables. As a first course, Venetians favor risotto, the creamy rice dish, prepared here with vegetables or shellfish. Pasta, too, is paired with seafood sauces -- Venice is not the place to order spaghetti with tomato sauce. Pasticcio di pesce is pasta baked with fish, usually baccalà (salt cod). A classic first course here and elsewhere in the Veneto is pasta e fagioli (thick bean soup with pasta). Bigoli is strictly a local pasta shaped like short, fat spaghetti, usually served with nero di seppia (squid-ink sauce). Polenta, a creamy cornmeal dish, is another pillar of regional cooking. It's often served with fegato alla veneziana (liver with onions).

Though it originated on the mainland, tiramisù is Venice's favorite dessert, a heavenly concoction of mascarpone (a rich, soft double-cream cheese), espresso, chocolate, and savoiardi (ladyfingers). Local wines are the dry white Tocai and Pinot from the Friuli region and bubbly white Prosecco, a naturally fermented sparkling wine that is a shade less dry. Some of the best Prosecco comes from Valdobbiadene, rivaled only by the slightly more expensive Cartizze. Popular red wines include merlot, cabernet, Raboso, and Refosco. You can sample all of these in Venice's bacari (local watering holes), where wine is served by the glass (known as an ombra in Venetian dialect) and accompanied by cicheti (traditional Venetian appetizers such as marinated fish, deep-fried vegetables, and meatballs), often substantial enough for a light meal.

It's always a good idea to reserve your table or have your hotel portiere (concierge) do it for you. Dining hours are short, starting at 12:30 or 1 for lunch and ending at 2:30 or 3, when restaurants close for the afternoon, opening up again to start serving about 7:30 and closing again at 11 or midnight on weekend nights and earlier (10-11) on weekdays and in the low season. Most close one day a week and are also likely to close without notice for vacation or renovation. Few have signs on the outside, so when the metal blinds are shut tight you can't tell a closed restaurant from a closed TV-repair shop.

Lodging: Hotels & Accommodations

Venice's luxury hotels are located in the heart of the city. Many hotels can be found bordering canals and are within proximity to many attractions.

Enjoy an Venice vacation package at the top luxury hotels!
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	Doge's Palace (Palazzo Ducale) The most impressive secular building in Venice served as a senate and adminstrative building until the fall of the Republic in 1797. Grand Canal Enjoy Venice's main throughway and its Renaissance atmosphere. Embrace the atmosphere including chic shops and gondolas. Teatro La Fenice Embrace the world-famous opera house that burned down in 1996 and has been reconstructed amid much tension and scandal.


	Hotel Danieli Hotel Gritti Palace Bauer Il Palazzo The Westin Europa & Regina Bauer Hotel Luna Hotel Baglioni San Clemente Palace Hotel & Resort Hotel Londra Palace Palace Bonvecchiati The Westin Excelsior, Lido Savio & Jolanda

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