quizusa

Hi everyone
We are planning to visit Venice this summer for a few days and need some advice:
My husband can not walk very far, so we would like to stay somewhere very close to where the action is, preferably with a very nearby stop of the water taxi for getting around. Which hotels would you recommend? We are thinking about spending about $150 to $200 per night.
We also would like to know, if the hotels have parking spaces or some kind of valet parking, as we are arriving in a rental car.

Thanks for your help
Be Blessed
Bea and Rob

Grinisa

I'm sorry I can't help out with hotel suggestions. Finding an inexpensive hotel for this summer near the center of things and a vaporetto stop might be difficult at this late date. As for parking, there are no hotels in the center of Venice ("close to where the action is&quot that have parking. You will need to park your car at one of the main garages (Tronchetto or Piazzale Roma) and take a vaporetto or water taxi to the hotel.

cmt

There's no driving in Venice. The whole city is built on water! The only way to get around is by walking (or wheelchair) or boat. If your husband uses a wheelchair, you need to be aware that there are many places where there are stairs up and down when you cross over a canal--not big flights of stairs, but stairs nevertheless, and they can present a problem if you are using wheels. There are many many hotels that are just a short walk from boat stops and many sights that are also a short walk from boat stops. But you really need to be able to walk in Venice. However, if your husband CAN walk, he'll probably find it an easier kind of walking than in most cities--no vehicular traffic and it's just plain flat, with no climbing, except for those little stairs to get up and down some little bridges.

LJ

While a great push is on to make Venice more friendly to the less-abled, it is early days yet. IMHO, it is not a very good place to go if you are not a walker. You might want to check out the sections of travel guides that are devoted to this subject for more specific information.I know I have seen books that are solely about this and they would be bound to cover Venice. But the short answer is, there is no way to get from the central parking facilities (which are large in themselves) and into a vaporetto without a walk. Add to that your need for an inexpensive hotel near the action and you may be out of luck. I was recently guiding a group of teens and they found the walking stressful from our hotel which was very near the train station and fits your budgetary needs, though it was pretty basic. However, it was 30 minute brisk walk to Piazza San Marco.

Eloise

Please, please don't think about using a water taxi to get around in Venice: it would impoverish Bill Gates himself! By all means, use the vaporettos and the traghettos (small gondolas that cross the Grand Canal at certain points).

The only hotel that I am aware of that is "very close to where the action is, ... with a very nearby stop" (of the vaporetto) is the Monaco & Grand Canal at the San Marco vaporetto stop, but its prices are nowhere near your budget.

There is a small and inexpensive but very clean and well-run guest house not too many steps away from the San Toma vaporetto stop, and there is also a traghetto that goes from San Toma to the other (San Marco) side of the Grand Canal. By looking at a map, you can figure out which -- vaporetto or traghetto -- will get you closest to where you want to go. (But even the vaporetto on the Grand Canal is 5 Euros for a one-way trip.)

This is the Web site for the guest house:

http://alcampaniel.tripod.com/venezia/

As Grinisa has pointed out, you cannot take a car into Venice; you have to leave it at one of the main garages. If you have a great deal of luggage, you might have to take a water taxi to your hotel, but it may well cost you between US $ 50. and 75.

suze

As mentioned you can't bring a car into Venice 'proper'.

I'm not sure if stairs are a problem for your husband, but the hotel I've stayed at which is in your price range (La Calcina) had lots to get up to the room and no elevator; I'm guessing that might be true of other hotels too.

Venice is tricky with lots of bridges, steps and ramps. Even to get into a water taxi or board a vaporetto requires some agility.

To find a place to stay that is central and inexpensive for this summer, my suggestion is to book as soon as possible because popular hotels do get booked solid in the tourist season.

clevelandbrown

You might consider taking a train, rather than a car, to Venice. The train station is very close to the grand canal, and the initial view you get is memorable.

I am not very agile, but I was able to get on and off the vaporettos easily. Water taxis would have been more of a problem. Often the vaporettos are crowded, but I would hope that people would give up a seat to the apparently needy. In your place, I would buy multi-day passes for the vaporetto and use them for your touring; it worked well for us.

I too would suggest that you find lodgings near St. Mark's, but I don't know which are there. From that area you can enjoy the bands in the evening, and the crowds. The bell tower in the square has elevators, and is a great place to see over the whole islands.

Enjoy your trip.

marty

We stayed at the Comfort Hotel Diana two summers ago. It is about 1 minute from San Marco Bascillica on Calle Specchieri. You can get there without crossing any bridges from the vaparetto stop. The price is about $117 per night. It has an elevator which is important, because lots of Venice hotels have only stairs. You could get to and from the vaparetto easily from there, and, of course, very easily to Piazza San Marco. Venice is a very "walking" city.

ira

Hi quiz,

You might find it easier to leave your car at a parking lot near te train station in Mestre and take the train into Venice SL station.

Your husband will have to walk down about 5-6 stairs to get to the vaporetto stop.

quizusa

Hi folks Thanks so much for your quick relpies! We checked on the MONACO AND GRAND CANAL HOTEL and found rates around $200 per night. It looks like exactly what we are looking for.
We won't have much luggage and Rob can walk a little bit (not too far) but from the picture we have seen on the hotel web site, it looks like he can make it to St. Marks Square.

How far is it from the parking garage and can we take a vaporette to get to the hotel? I had no idea, water taxis are so expensive! Wow!!!
Thanks everyone for your help.
Be Blessed
Bea and Rob

Statia

Bea, I can't comment on your last question, but wanted to add that I found Venice to be much more compact than it seemed on most maps. So, in essence, the distances on maps will probably seem even shorter in person.

Eloise

I'm delighted that you've found a rate of US$ 200 (not 200 Euros?) for the Monaco & Grand Canal: Nail it down fast!

You can take a vaporetto from either Tronchetto or Piazzale Roma to the San Marco (or Vallaresso) stop, and the Monaco & Grand Canal is almost immmediately on the left. (Just across from the famous -- or notorious -- Harry's Bar, if that interests you at all...) The vaporetto will take, at a guess, between 30 and 50 minutes.

From the hotel to Piazza San Marco is a five-minute walk at most, even if you take it VERY slowly. Up Vallaresso to the next cross-street and turn right, a little bit onwards and you come to columns through which you go into Piazza San Marco.

But I agree with those who have suggested that you park and leave your car near the Mestre train station and take the train into the main Venice station (Santa Lucia). It's a much nicer introduction to Venice, and there is no walking involved, except for the stairs already mentioned.

Depending on how much you want to get around in Venice, the suggestion to buy a pass for the vaporetto system is a good one. A one-day pass (which is valid for exactly 24 hours from the time when it is first stamped) costs 10.50 Euros (which is only a tiny bit more than two trips going more than a single stop on a vaporetto along the Grand Canal) or a three-day pass for 22 Euros (valid for exactly 72 hours).

Enjoy your trip! There is nothing in the world like Venice!

Eloise

I should clarify the above: for two people, you will have to buy two passes.

quizusa

Hi again...
we "nailed" it down today! Booked the Moaco Grand Canal Hotel for 180 Euro at http://www.summithotels.com/hotel_ho...DIATA=XL864692

I think we will also follow your suggestion and take the train into Venice. Is it safe to park the car at the train station for 3 days?
Great to hear about the Day Passes for the Vaporettes. We'll definitely get one of those . Are they also driving to the lido?

Thanks again for all your great help. We're really excited
Be Blessed
Bea and Rob

Eloise

I'm glad you "nailed" down the Monaco & Grand Canal: good rates sometimes go very quickly. I know you meant well, but you really should not provide such details as your account number on a public forum. I'm not sure what a dishonest person could do with it, but you might be wise to e-mail Summit Hotels again, explain what you have done, and ask them to give you a new account number (which you should not reveal).

As far as I can recall, you can get to the Lido with the same vaporetto that you took to get to San Marco. There is a Venice tourist office near Piazza San Marco (but you might want to go there without your husband), and you can ask them for an ACTV map (which provides information about all the vaporetto lines). A good map of Venice is also very useful; unfortunately, the ones handed out at the tourist office tend to be not quite detailed enough. By examining a good map carefully, you will see that there are many places where you can go that do not involve much walking or going up and down bridges.

I am no expert with respect to the safety of parking a car for three days near Mestre station, since I do not drive and always take the train to Venice. But if Ira and other knowledgeable Italy posters suggest it, I'm sure it must be a safe thing to do. I hope Ira sees this and confirms, perhaps with more precise information on where to park in Mestre.

Enjoy your trip!

clevelandbrown

I am certain that some vaporettos go to lido, as we were there as part of our grand vaporetto tour (which included Burano and Murano, islands that you will probably want to see). I am less certain of which route it was, but I am thinking it was number 1.

I also recall reading about a Venice pass or card, orange, that includes both unlimited vaporetto rides, and admission to some of the museums around St. Mark. We didn't get the card, so I can't speak from direct experience.

This, I think, is one of the web sites that seemed to have a lot of good information: http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/...s/vi-index.htm

Statia

Yes, vaporetto # 1 goes to the Lido.

jtune

I would like to second parking in Mestre,You can drop your husband off at the station and there is secure parking accross the street.WEhen you arrive in Venice it is a very short walk to the grand Canel vaporetto.

ira

Hi quiz,

Vaporetto routes and schedules are at http://www.actv.it/eng/home.php