Venice the city of Sighs!

Advantages: Absolutely breath taking views around every corner.
Disadvantages: Very expensive packed during the day with day trippers.

...Venice. I was under strict instructions to make sure I was off duty for my birthday but unfortunately I was unable to arrange to have the time off until the following week for what was supposed to be a special birthday surprise. Unfortunately due to a couple of circumstances beyond our control I actually found out that my birthday treat was to be a trip to Venice. I couldn?t believe it as I have always wanted to go there but never imagined it would happen this way. I would have probably gone into heart failure had I found out about it at the airport so it was probably for the best I found out about it anyway. Unable to cancel the trip we decided to go ahead with the visit and boy was I surprised and excited. The night before the trip to Venice we had gone to London to see a show and to have dinner and due to an oversight...

garymarsh86 24.09.2009 (26.10.2009) · Read review
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Review of Venice (Italy)

A Little Square in Venice

Advantages: Great location, comfortable, quiet, secure
Disadvantages: Single bedroom a little basic

...Last November I took my third trip to Venice. It hadn?t been my intention to go at all; this holiday was a joint birthday present from me to my parents but they insisted that I go along with them to show them around. Venice is a beautiful and unique city, so how could I refuse? ◄Discovering Hotel Campiello► I discovered the Hotel Campiello on my second trip to Venice a few years ago. We were on a 10 day trip to Italy and had decided to spend most of the time in Rome and Florence, trying to leave 2 or 3 days free to include Venice. We had booked our hotels in Rome and Florence in advance but left the booking of the Venice leg until we were in Rome. We were staying at Hotel Paba in Rome (itself a gem of a place) and told the owner that we were thinking of booking into one of the big luxury hotels in the Venice Lido for 2...

Mitsudan 10.07.2007 · Read review
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Review of Hotel Campiello, Venice

'Peaceful' Venice

Advantages: Sometimes can feel like you have the whole palce to yourself; Sheer beauty
Disadvantages: Having to walk to each place, or take the bus, and face the crowds again

...Venice does seem to be a place that is hit or miss with people. Those who love it cite the romantic location; the vibrancy; the sheer difference of being somewhere different. Those who hate it can't stand the pervading watery smell; the cost of everything; or the simple fact that it's always so very, very busy. I easily fall into the first category, and yet the crowds still annoy me. I like going somewhere to see different things, but I also like to relax, and I wasn't sure this was possible in Venice. Until our last visit earlier this year. So here are my tips for getting the most out of 'peaceful' Venice. Piazza San Marco We'll start with the obvious one, although you might not be thinking it so obvious if you've ever had to battle through the crowds of people and pigeons. But get there early, especially on a Sunday morning...

blackpuddinonnabike 13.11.2007 · Read review
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Review of Venice (Italy)

Near Death In Venice

Advantages: Location, decor and super-efficient concierge
Disadvantages: Pricey for some

...The Londra Palace is one of the oldest hotels in Venice, having first opened its doors in 1860. Perhaps its most famous visitor, at least in terms of what he did there, was the Russian composer Tchaikovsky who actually wrote his Fourth Symphony there. Having just heard a rendition of this work by the London Philharmonic Orchestra in Torino it somehow seemed appropriate to stay there. An initial word of caution. If you ever arrive in Venice in the middle of a storm, maybe it is best to avoid a water taxi. Quite apart from the prohibitive fares (a typical two mile or so ride from the railway station to Piazza San Marco will set you back over £40) it can be DANGEROUS! The boat lurches like a bobcat when it moors beside a jetty and as the driver hols you have to jump onto a rather narrow and possibly slippery pier.... one step wrong...

JoePoirot 23.01.2006 · Read review
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Review of Hotel Londra Palace, Venice

Sensory overload in Venice

Advantages: Great food writing, delicious recipes, interesting factual stuff
Disadvantages: Not enough recipes; overly flowery descriptions; unappealing characters

...to a romance, and romance there is - in bucketfuls. This is a love affair not only between two people but between one woman and a city: Venice, arguably the most romantic city in the world. The book is an account of how chef and freelance food writer, Minnesota-based Marlena de Blasi meets a mysterious Italian who, it seems, knows that she is "the One". He follows her to the United States and within days they are making plans for the future; within months, Marlena has joined Fernando in Venice and the couple are making plans for their wedding. If it sounds a little crazy that's because it is. A middle aged woman seduced by a complete stranger and one with whom she has so little in common. De Blasi reminisces about the various family homes she has lived in with her two now grown up children; houses she has turned into homes, full...

fizzytom 16.06.2008 · Read review
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Review of A Thousand Days in Venice - Marlena di Blasi

No fleas, just wonderful Venice glass.

Advantages: Easy find, easy found, with some great bargains.
Disadvantages: None other than baggage allowance.

...away from the tourist crowds, I would recommend that you take a walk, follow the signs for the hospital and find the Venice Flea Market....

bostonianbeer 29.03.2009 · Read review
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Review of Venice Flea Market

Pizzas to beat the credit Crunch in Venice

Advantages: Beats the CREDIT CRUNCH
Disadvantages: Cant go every week.

...As the exchange rate Pond v Euro is very poor at the moment in fact last week it was almost one to one, we were a little more careful than usual in selecting places to Eat on our Venice trip. This one fits the bill very well, even at 1 euro to the pound. It is located in the San Palo area of venice, not far from Da Sandro Restaurant which I reviewed after last years trip. Cross Rialto Bridge, you pass down past the TOURIST TACK Cabins, when you come to the end of those turn left down the shopping street. About 100 yards down keep looking down the small streets to the right and you will see ANTICO PANIFICO. As I was in charge this lunch time, I had been scanning Menus, I looked for the Magareta Pizza price as a quick guide, most had been about 8 or 9 Euros even 12 near St Marks, so when this one showed at 5.5 Euros...

poshtroika 27.03.2009 · Read review
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Review of Pizzeria Antico Panificio, Venice

My Venice experience

Advantages: A must-go city to visit in Italy, before it disappear!!!
Disadvantages: No

...My first trip to Venice was via a package holiday. We spent a day there and I am going to share with you my fantastic day. We had an early start. by taking the train from the station behind the hotel to catch a boat to take us on the Grand Canal(Canal Grande) to the St Martin's Square(Piazza San Macro) in the centre of Venice. Got off the boat to take a walk on the waterfront-I could already see the gondolas parked. Venice is a very special city as it consists of many islands and canals-very interesting indeed. Walked passed the Palazzo Ducale, which used to be the office of the Mayor of Venice, took a picture of the Bridge of Sights with replica all over the world. The bridge connects the office of the mayor/governor to the dungeon opposite and it was the bridge that any sentenced prisons would walk pass to see Venice...

medgenie 28.06.2008 · Read review
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Review of Venice (Italy)

VENICE - YES, YES, YES

Advantages: OH YES
Disadvantages: NONE

...We decided to go to Venice for my wife's 40th birthday. She had been there herself some 20 years earlier when she was a nanny to an Italian family who lived in Portafino. Even back then my wife cannot remember the canals having had a bad smell. However perhaps they did she was only there a few hours. They certainly do not smell now, in fact the water is crystal clear and have a bluish tint up the side canals. We flew from Liverpool airport, which was an uneventful and as usual cramped flight. Word of warning, if you travel on a cheap flight as we did then beware, friends of my wife's turned up at Treviso airport to come home and where told by check staff that their flight was cancelled? your on your own ! There are no reps here, they had to get a taxi to Marco Polo airport, then get from Marco polo to Leeds and then from Leeds...

Maximus-Qualitus 16.02.2008 · Read review
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Review of Manin Hotel, Venice

Venice - a photographer's dream

Advantages: A totally different environment, traffic-free with wonderful sights and shops
Disadvantages: Cost of food & drink in St Mark's area.

.... Yet dive into any of the shop-and-bar filled alleyways leading away towards, for instance, the Rialto Bridge and prices slacken off markedly (and there's always McDonald's, if you really must!). The whole of the main city of Venice is easily covered on foot and every alleyway has its fascination, many opening suddenly into large squares or to little bridges over the enormous number of canals that thread throught the city. For a photographer there are so many challenges: trying to capture the sense of peace in some places, dealing with the strong contrasts in lighting, choosing the perfect vantage point to photograph the reflections of the buildings in the canals... If you want to see the maximum possible in the time you have, it is worth buying a day's runabout ticket. This will enable you, for about 13 Euros, to travel as much as...

Floon 16.01.2003 · Read review
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Review of Venice (Italy)