Lonely Planet Pocket Venice: Top Experiences - Local Life (Pocket Guide)

Product Information

Don’t miss Santa Maria dei Miracoli, a tiny, jewel-like church clad from inside to out in precious marble, or San Sebastiano, which was frescoed and painted all over by Veronese and is known as his ‘Sistine Chapel’. Eat standing up How to get to Padova from Venice: The easiest way to get there is by train. Fast trains can take as little as 26 minutes, and slower (cheaper) regional trains can take double that time. 2. Pay homage to Romeo and Juliet in Verona Its streets are canals. Its cars are vaporettos and gondolas. And that, mixed with the stunning buildings left behind by more than a millennium of history, might make it hard to think of Venice as a city with green spaces to enjoy. Residents and their relatives of Venice and the wider Veneto region, children under 14, and people staying at least one night in local hotels will not have to pay an entry fee. People with disabilities, students enrolled in the city and those visiting the city for the day for health reasons or a sporting event or concert are also exempt. How do I pay?

Furthermore, as a response to warnings from UNESCO about the damage caused by cruise ships, Venice officially banned such ships from the historic city center last April. Instead, large ships are now redirected to alternative ports like Fusina and Lombardia, alleviating the pressure on Venice's infrastructure. Buses run to Piazzale Roma or Tronchetto (for the monorail to Piazzale Roma). Buses run to Treviso train station for trains to Santa Lucia station. Venice is your oyster! By this age, your offspring will have likely developed an appreciation for the culinary arts and Venice delivers in the form of chicchetti – the Venetian answer to tapas.How to get to Chioggia from Venice: Take a vaporetto from the city to the Lido, where the number 11 bus route whisks you eastwards, transfers to a ferry to Pellestrina, continues to the end of the island, and then drops you off at the ferry for Chioggia. Note that this route is only active in summer. Otherwise, it’s about an hour’s drive (but on frustratingly slow roads) south of Venice. 6. Soak up the cross-cultural history of Trieste What is Venice like? For starters, it’s not a theme park, as many tourists seem to think it is. Like other major Italian cities, Venice has fines for bad behavior – but here, things that might be acceptable anywhere else could land you with a hefty bill. Swimming in the canals and sitting on the pavements to have an impromptu picnic can land you triple-figure fines, for example; walking around in swimwear, feeding the birds and even pushing a bicycle (not even riding it) also bring penalties. Sprain an ankle as you sprint across a bridge? Feeling faint and overwhelmed by all the art? Venice has one hospital, helpfully at the vaporetto stop called Ospedale, but you don’t have to go to the ER for help. There are two first aid centers (“Punto di Primo Intervento”), one in Piazza San Marco and one at Piazzale Roma. They’re staffed by doctors, who can tell you if you need to go to the hospital, but who can also save you the wait if they can deal with it themselves. In an emergency, call 118. 24. Hold on to your valuables The coach drops you at Piazzale Roma, the vehicle terminus on the very outskirts of the city; from there you’ll likely have to get a vaporetto to your hotel, which costs €9.50 for a single (other options are available – see below). One floating city, three ways to get in from the airport. The chi-chiest way is by water taxi, which will whisk you from the airport’s pontoon area straight to your hotel (or as near as it can get, depending on the canals). However, it’s pricey – think €130 and up.

So put aside what you may have heard – you absolutely can visit Venice on a budget – and you don’t have to do it in an unsustainable way, either. Instead of being a ‘hit and run’ daytripper, you can take your time in this magical city without breaking the bank. Our local tips will help you find the cheapest way to travel to Venice on a budget. Work out which airport is really the cheapest to fly to Learning to voga (Venice's signature stand-up rowing technique employed by gondolieri throughout the city's canals) is another fantastic option. Row Venice will have the kids piloting their own gambero (shrimp-tailed boat) in no time. Planning tips Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more. If it wasn’t so close to Venice, Padova (or Padua) would be one of northern Italy’s most feted cities. As it is, not many tourists make it to the place that changed art history – yet it’s one of the easiest day trips from Venice by train. Here, in the Cappella degli Scrovegni – the chapel of the Scrovegni banking family, which now sits in a little park, just 10 minutes’ walk from the train station – Giotto spent two years from 1303 to 1305, frescoing it from top to bottom. What he produced shattered medieval artistic conventions, introducing perspective and humanizing his figures, instead of keeping them stiff and sculptural. If his Nativity and Flight to Egypt scenes are familiar, that’s because they make regular appearances on Christmas cards around the globe. The Biennale, an annual cultural exhibition held in Giardini and Arsenale is understandably a huge draw for fans of contemporary art and architecture.Much like Jesolo – and not too far from it – Cavallino-Treporti, sitting at the very tip of the peninsula that closes off the northernmost part of the Lagoon, is known for its Blue Flag-certified beach. But unlike Jesolo, the atmosphere of Cavallino-Treporti is less commercial and more easygoing. Of course, their volcanic origin should give you a hint that Italy’s famous thermal spas will be nearby. The small, neighboring towns of Montegrotto and Abano are home to various springs and spas that have been going since Roman times. Today, along with other nearby towns Galzignano, Battaglia and Teolo, they’re said to form the oldest, and largest, thermal spa in Europe, with 240 thermal pools between them. One of our favorites is the Abano Ritz Hotel Terme – family- and female-owned for three generations. The thermal mud they use in balneotherapy treatments comes from right beside the hotel and the pools in their 6,000-square-meter waterpark stay a constant 33 degrees (91.4F), thanks to the thermal waters that spent 25 years and 100km (62 miles) underground before gushing out here. Unfortunately, there’s no real off-season in Venice these days, but the second half of December through to Christmas, and then New Year through to the start of Carnevale (Venice Carnival, whose dates vary every year, but is usually late January or early February), generally see the fewest tourists. The downside is that some restaurants are closed in January. Whatever time of year you go, aim for midweek – weekends in particular see vast numbers of daytrippers. Calculate the best way into town – for you Don’t spend all your time wallowing, though – the whole area is designated the Euganean Hills Regional Park, and there are trails for hiking, biking and horse-riding, as well as breathtaking views from behind the wheel if you prefer a road trip. Visit one of the sprawling Renaissance country villas on offer (try Villa Barbarigo, known as the hills’ answer to Versailles, near Galzignano). Can’t go to Italy without seeing some Roman remains? You’ll find bits of 2000-year-old spas at Montegrotto and Abano.

Then there’s the Alilaguna ferry, which has various routes and stops around the city center – at €16, it’s much cheaper and the views are the same. Finally, you can get a coach or bus to Piazzale Roma, the road terminus on the edge of the city (€10). From there, walk or take a vaporetto (€9.50). 2. Know your boats… You’re on vacation, as are 90% of the people around you – so we’re not going to tell you to try and pass as a local. Do you need to dress up in Venice? No – Venetians are actually pretty dressed down unless they’re going to a fancy restaurant. However, there are practical clothing rules to know about.Everyone knows that water is what makes Venice unique. It’s all part of its mythos and charm – the Serenessima floats in the middle of the Lagoon, with only a strip of land connecting it to the mainland. Another great Venetian celebration that's also free to enjoy is the Festa del Redentore. Each third Sunday of July the city gets together to commemorate the end of the terrible 16th-century plague epidemic with spectacular fireworks that light up the canals – especially around the area of the island of Giudecca. For obvious reasons, Venice isn’t the most accessible city, but don’t assume that it’s a no-go if you have mobility issues. The bridges along the Riva degli Schiavoni – the main waterfront leading off from Piazza San Marco – have ramps, and the same goes for the Zattere waterfront, which also enjoys spectacular views.

It’s hard to link this particular event to climate change – it’s to do with low lunar tide and high pressure over Italy,” he explains.So you want to buy something locally made to take home with you, and you’re confronted by shop after shop with wonderful-looking masks, stationery and what looks like Murano glass – how do you know what’s real and what’s fake? The first clue is the price – if it’s on the cheaper side of what you’ve seen, it’s likely made in a factory. Often described as a mini Venice, Chioggia certainly shares a lot with La Serenissima – a settlement clumped over islands, linked by bridges – but where Venice has an elegant feel of decay, Chioggia is a living, working town. Instead of tourist gondolas, you’ll see fishing boats lined along the canals, and there are even cars driving along the streets. Don’t miss the church of San Domenico, where a painting of St. Paul by Renaissance artist Carpaccio sits in the dark, alongside votive paintings by fishermen. It’s a brilliantly atmospheric yet cheap day trip from Venice. Older kids will also be awed by Venice's extravagant palaces. Palazzo Ducale and its Vatican-evoking 24-carat gilt stucco-work Scala d’Oro tops the list. Venice is, of course, synonymous with the Carnevale. The exact date depends on when Easter falls that year, which determines Lent and in turn decides the date of the Carnevale. Regardless, it’s a truly breathtaking time to visit when the city fills up with colors, masks and extravagant costumes. One of the main events of the Carnevale is the Volo dell’Angelo – the flight of the angel – when a performer hanging on a zip line descends onto St Mark’s Square from the Campanile. While Venice's public toilets do have baby-changing facilities, you'll need money (and good timing) to use them. Bars and restaurants cannot be counted on for baby-friendly bathrooms. A portable changing mat for on-the-go changes, wherever there's a flat surface, is the way to go.