Advantages: Beautiful, unique, hasn't disappeared yet
Disadvantages: Daily budget - ouch

...CINQUE GIORNI A VENEZIA I’ve not previously spent long in Italy, apart from brief forays into the north whilst ‘doing the passes’ from Switzerland, and a couple of docking manoeuvres courtesy of a cheapo-cruise in the Med. (I’m the person who took one look at the queue for the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, and went and had a beer instead) It is therefore fitting, that in the year I start to add Italian to my list of “languages of wine-growing nations” to which I can lay at least some claim to speak, that I should actually go there too. It was school half-term last week, and Mrs. Nibbles had been her usual profligate self with the holiday bookings, although to be fair, this was all done and dusted nearly a year ago, when she announced those momentous words “I’ve booked us 5 days in Venice next February”. “DOV’È?” – Or “I... Read review

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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... Read review

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Advantages: Possibly the most beautiful city on earth
Disadvantages: High tides in autum and perhaps too many tourists in summer months

...Well, where to start really when describing Venice....Its amazing, I lived there for 5 years and I can't get enough of it! Hopefully this breakdown will help. PEOPLE The venitians are lovely people, if somewhat eccentric. The majority of them seem to have developed a blind spot for the masses of tourists which fill Venice almost constantly and manage to go about there business fairly freely. In terms of helping tourists with directions ect., they're not the best. Probably because there are so many tourist points or places selling maps that its not really neccessary to ask them. If you do have to ask someone for directions though, you will get them but they are likely to be in dialect, which I can assure you is incomprehensible! In terms of danger, however, there is none. Venitians are entirely respectible people. FOOD/WHERE TO EAT... Read review

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Advantages: Absolutely stunning and romantic
Disadvantages: None for me!

...TRAVEL If you are coming from mainland Europe, you may be able to get a train straight into Venice to Ferrovia (the main station) which is right in the hub of Venice. We arrived into Venice Airport in January 2007. There are lots of methods to get into Venice from the Airport including Water Taxi, Train and bus. We intended to use our budget wisely, and so opted for the cheapest method - bus. We got on an ATVO blue bus which took us direct to San Roma (the cities bus station) for 3 euros' each. The station at San Roma is located very close to the River, and it is from here at one of the water bus stops that you can get into the centre of Venice. Venice has no cars and so your only choice is by water. We purchased a 72 hour ticket which enabled us to travel freely on all water buses for 25 euros (we also... Read review

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Advantages: lots
Disadvantages: expensive

...After been took away for a nice surprise holiday my boyfriend took me to Venice on a trip, it was called Venice by night but we had the whole day there to and how romantic it was. Venice will be a very memorable place to me as it was on the fourth bridge from st marks square to the boat back where my boyfriend asked me to marry him i said yes (in Venice directions are given in bridges not miles or yard.) we had a gondola trip which was nice but 16euros each and with six in a boat it was not as romantic as could have been but still it was stunning, the views the houses and all the bridges all i can say oh my a lovey place with so much to do and see. I don't know if you know but Venice is a lot of islands surrounded by canals it there where class and lace is made the venetian ladies dress lovely. Venice is a place for love... Read review

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Advantages: An unrivalled city of beauty: fascinating and an experience for life.
Disadvantages: Expensive but if you look around you can get good prices.

...Arthur Symons, a Welsh poet, once said that a realist, in Venice, would become a romantic by mere faithfulness to what he saw before him. My first thoughts in Venice were how surreal it was being there in a city that has been visited, loved and written about by millions. A multitude of miniature islands, milky jade water, bridges that stretch their backs imitating the moon, tiny streets with shrines to the Virgin Mary, somehow being there it felt like music should be playing... violins... and voices should be reeling poetry. Perhaps I was not the only one to think this, as I sat on some steps down to the water, ice cream in hand, an old man walked past and crossed a bridge and he was singing, just to himself, singing his heart out, and it struck me that that wouldn't happen in England, it was an operatic song, one you would all... Read review

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Advantages: Wonderful touch of the old world in a unique city
Disadvantages: None (ok I'm sure there must be!)

...Let me tell you something old and new. I just love Venice. I really do. The first time I visited, I was sixteen years old, but what can you appreciate at that age. Maybe just the ice cream, if that, and let’s face it there are other ice creams (now who told me that men were like ice cream? – someone). I decided to rediscover the city about three years ago and right there and then when I did, I just fell in love with that place. I mean, eleven years on sixteen and you know just what to look for in an ice cream, right? Getting there and staying there – Jules’ ideas: On a practical note, it’s easy to get to Venice from the UK, particularly from the Southeast. There are flights from all the London airports but it may be worth travelling a little further initially to Stansted airport to get... Read review

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Advantages: Wonderful colour, sights and sounds.
Disadvantages: Never known one.

...The place to fall in love with and the place to be with the one you love. Venice is my personal favourite holiday visit. If I could I would live there. We have visited Venice for the past seven years and we go again in March 08. We stay at the Loccanda Remidio Columbina just at the back of St. Mark's Square and on the canal with the Bridge of Sighs. Six of us in 2004 visited the Venice Carnival and dressed for the occasion. The "Theme" was "The Silk Road." It was in Feb 2004 and we had snow, and rain, but the atmosphere was great. The costumes wonderful and full of imagination, (they had to be to keep warm.) People promenade every afternoon in St. Mark's Square then onto the stage and winners are chosen, how and who votes we never found out. People come from all over the world to wear their costumes and to see and be seen... Read review

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Advantages: A beautiful unique city
Disadvantages: Okay, so it is a little smelly at times

...The glamour of Venice is something that I was aware of even before my first visit as a child. Iconic images from films are part and parcel of a visit to Venice, and for me it's extra special to see sights in the flesh that are commonly produced on TV and magazines the world over. Venice is special and very different to other places you might go to on a city break. I have been fortunate to visit several cities around Europe and the one that is most distinctive of all is Venice. The reason? Basically, water. Amsterdam has miles of canal and is a very beautiful city in it's own right but it still doesn't have the unique feel that Venice does. Visually and logistically Venice differs with strikingly ornate buildings, a transport intrastructure and the fact that in addition to the thousands of tourists who visit it, it is still home... Read review

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Advantages: paradoxal italian scent
Disadvantages: pricy for the EDT, hard to find

...I seem to have somewhat of an obsession with perfume. It actually grew naturally. The reason is that I collect scents that agree with me, and more and more of them did. I like perfume so much that it was hard not knowing how the stuff is made or who made it. After a while you can actually distinguish designers, and a little after that you can identify ingredients(besides alcohol;)). The only perfumes I can't stand are those that have what I would call - an iron or metallic scent. The newer perfumes tend to smell metallic to me and tend to do so the entire day, disgusting myself. I like the more floral perfumes that fade into the background when you wear them. The best perfume is the one you don't smell anymore after a good hour is my motto. That is why I have so many in my collection. Venezia is one that definitely fits my criteria... Read review

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