wandering in venice

Old May 29th, 2015, 11:08 PM
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wandering in venice

Hello everyone,

We will be in venice next week (finally!! the day is almost here!) and I would like to get suggestions for areas that are the best for wandering around with kids. My kids are 9 and 5, and enjoy walking and talking pictures. Would you recommend going to Dorsoduro and Cannaregio (on two different days)? Please let me know if there are any routes that we should try.

thanks,
meg
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Old May 30th, 2015, 03:38 AM
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I would make sure to take a couple of boat trips. Especially the vaporetto down the grand canal and out to a couple of the islands: Torcello (wonderful ancient church with byzantine mosaics) Burano (charming fishing village) and possible Murano (if you want to see glass blowing and buy some overpriced glass items).

They might also appreciate visiting the Lido - the island with public beaches.
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Old May 30th, 2015, 03:59 AM
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"Wandering" in Venice means getting lost. Everybody does. Try to get a good map for the mazes of footpaths (practically no streets.) If you have a specific destination, it may help to ask your hotel staff to trace out the route on your map. And with young children, close supervision could be on your mind.
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Old May 30th, 2015, 04:01 AM
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You might head toward the Giardini Pubblicci for some kid-friendly park time and a walk to the end of Via Garibaldi, a wide straight street, but nonetheless a street of Venetians going about their business at the local shops. At the end by the bridge to Isola di San Pietro you'll see a marina of local boats and catch a glimpse of the Arsenale walls.
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Old May 30th, 2015, 04:26 AM
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Perhaps take a ride up the bell tower in San Marco (go early; 9 am) or take vaporetto to San Giorgio Maggiore from San Marco. The church is a cool oasis and they have an elevator to top of bell tower (for small fee) for photo ops looking at San Marco and across the city.
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Old May 30th, 2015, 04:35 AM
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I second the idea of San Giorgio Maggiore, which is a short boat ride. Most children enjoy the glass blowing demonstrations on Murano (another short boat ride) and never notice the prices or the hard sell to buy (but you will need to be prepared for that!) I think the further out islands take too long to get to for a small child, and the Lido is a bore and the beaches rather depressing and unscenic.

But otherwise, I think a plan to get away from the super intense tourist scenes around San Marco and the Rialto bridge is the best idea. Both Dorsoduro and Canareggio are picturesque. If I am not mistaken, there is a cat sanctuary somewhere within Venice. Might make a nice destination if you can track it down.

I would definitely take 2 small girls on a gondola ride through the back canals. Pricey, but educational to see how people lived in a different way in the confusing city. And if the orchestras have started playing in piazza San Marco for the season, a late night out with a staggeringly expensive hot chocolate in the piazza might be worth it (or you can bring your treats and dance on the sidelines).
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Old May 30th, 2015, 04:41 AM
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It seems they have moved the cat sanctuary to the Lido -- and if you go to the Lido, I would put a visit to the cat sanctuary ahead of the beaches for interest (provided no one is allergic to cats!)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifest...2d5_story.html
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Old May 30th, 2015, 05:17 AM
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I found" wondering" around the city rather frustrating...even with a good map.
One mostly runs into tourists doing the same. The helpful signs point only towards
Rialto, San Macon and the train station.
Vaporettos were absolutely jammed all the time ( we came back 10 days ago) , a gondola would be much better with small children.
Dorsoduro and Giardini are good suggestions.

I would plan ahead of time ...wondering around with two small children
(in hot weather) in a city overrun by people might not be much fun.
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Old May 30th, 2015, 05:31 AM
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With two kids in tow, you'll want to avoid the crowds as much as possible. The promenades along the Zattere and Riva Degli Schiavoni -- at the east end to get away from the San Marco crowds -- might be nice. Nice water views. You can break up your walks with a gelato stop (or two).

Also, take a vaporetto to Giudecca and walk the promenade there for views and photo ops of the city. The kids might enjoy a meal there in the waterfront with a view of the city. La Palanca is nice for that. A lot of the menu is authentic Venetian seafood that may be a bit adventuresome for youngsters, but there's probably something suitable for them.

Dorsoduro in general is good for walking around, but I have my doubts about how much appeal that has for two children. And the the whole "getting lost in Venice" thing can start to get old quickly when it involves kids.
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Old May 30th, 2015, 05:45 AM
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The Riva degli Schiavoni is one the most crowded spots in all of Venice. Zattere (in the Dorsoduro) would be a better bet, and there is a famous gelateria there (called Nico) that could make a destination.

I have to say, having traveled in Italian cities with many children under 10, you are better off with a flexible plan than a fixed one of sightseeing. I, too, think "wandering and getting lost" is not all that interesting for adults, but giving children the freedom to linger over whatever attracts them, rather than "look at this -- look at that" works better. It is possible they will find Venice totally uncongenial -- or they might prefer the crowded places with the pigeons and the street entertainers and cheap souvenir stores! You just never can predict.

If you have a good map of Venice marked up with a mix of indoor sights and gelateria, and interesting shops like paper-making shops, bakeries, mosaic shops and, yes, the dreaded mask shops, I say it is a good plan to play it by ear, doing wandering when wandering is engaging them, or heading off to the glass blowing when they start asking "Where are we going?"
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Old May 30th, 2015, 06:39 AM
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one of the best days that we had in Venice with our kids was when we used the vaporetti to hop from one part to another - you need a vaporetto pass of course, but once you've got one, you can do a lot of exploring quite easily - down the Grand Canal, boat over to Santa Maria della Salute, walk along the Zattere a bit, boat to the Giuidecca, walk along to san Giorgio, go up the tower [cheaper and less crowded than the one in San Marco] hop back to the Zattere, walk round to Ca 'Rezonnico [which the kids may enjoy as it's set out in C18 rooms] hop over the Grand Canal again.... the options are endless.

our kids, a bit older than yours, also enjoyed the boat trip out to Burano and Torcello - in fact we liked it so much we did it twice!
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Old May 30th, 2015, 07:01 AM
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When we did this, we didn't have any plan, just avoided the tourist sights. If the sign pointed right to the Piazza San Marco, we went left. When we ran into water, we turned whichever direction looked more interesting. When we got tired of this, we started following the signs. Venice isn't all that big.

In addition to the areas previously mentioned, I'd suggest Canneregio and Castello. Next time I'm going to investigate Giudecca.
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Old May 30th, 2015, 07:16 AM
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The area from the Jewish ghetto to Madonna dell' Orto in Cannareggio will be quiet and mostly free of tourists.

Fondamenta Nove and area around Giovanni e Paolo is usually manageable.

Zattere. Public Gardens. Via Garibaldi.

Make no mistake about it, Piazza San Marco and surrounding area will be so packed with tourists you will lose your mind.

The area around the Rialto will look like a scene from Gone with the Wind where everyone flees Atlanta to escape General Sherman.


I am not exaggerating.


Hang on to those kids.



Thin
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Old May 30th, 2015, 09:18 AM
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If it rains or it is too hot to walk around comfortably, you and your children might enjoy visiting the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, where the entire high ceiling is covered in Tintoretto paintings, and visitors are given mirrors to look into to see the ceiling so they don't have to strain their necks looking up. Your youngest daughter might need some assistance with the mirror, but it is a more interesting experience than looking at paintings on a wall.

Which reminds me, it is good to have flashlights and small binoculars for some of the darker decorated churches, and don't set out wandering without lots of change in your pockets. Some of the churches are only lit if you insert some change into a light box. There are audio phones that you can listen to if you want, describing the history of the church, but they also cost some change. And while most bars will not charge if you ask to use the loo, some do, and even if they don't, it is nice to make a small purchase to help with the water bill.

Since someone put in another pitch for Torcello, I wll say that it is also kittycat central. Might work if you get a heat wave and want to catch a breeze out on the lagoon with a longer boat trip.
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Old May 30th, 2015, 02:02 PM
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Depending on where you are staying, getting to the magnificent Scuola could take a long walk.
A five year old interested in Tintoretto might have a remarkable future in the art world.
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Old May 30th, 2015, 02:42 PM
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"The area around the Rialto will look like a scene from Gone with the Wind where everyone flees Atlanta to escape General Sherman."
Brilliant!

Definitely the place to avoid. Half the bridge is covered for some kind of maintenance work.
The Rialto Market is mostly rows of shops selling the worst touristy junk
I have seen in a long time.
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Old May 30th, 2015, 04:16 PM
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We really enjoyed the costume museum, which also has a perfume museum. http://mocenigo.visitmuve.it/en/home/

The perfume museum has a facility where you can smell many different ingredients that go into perfume.

Maybe an afternoon at La Certosa might be fun. A lot of open space, virtually no people. We saw a herd of fifty goats there one time. Fifteen minutes by vap from Fond Nove or Ospidale.
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Old May 30th, 2015, 04:34 PM
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The area around Campo San Giacomo is alive with kids fooling around in the late afternoon. Soccer balls, scooters, toys, that sort of thing ...
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Old May 30th, 2015, 06:18 PM
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danon, sounds like you had a terrible time in Venice!

Anything in Venice could be a long walk, depending on where you are starting from.

One can never predict what a child will find interesting -- and they usually don't find anything interesting much longer than 15 minutes or so. My point (probably not lost on the OP) was that it is good to have the OPTION of some interesting indoor spaces marked on a map in case needed, either because of weather or kids demanding a destination. Perfume museum would be something I would mark on a map as an option, and yes, a room where you are given a mirror to look at all the paintings on the ceiling. All 5 year olds have a remarkable future, let's hope, and some do, indeed, never forget their earliest encounters with painting and art.
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Old May 31st, 2015, 02:07 AM
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Definitely the place to avoid. Half the bridge is covered for some kind of maintenance work.
The Rialto Market is mostly rows of shops selling the worst touristy junk
I have seen in a long time.>>

danon - did you get there early enough to see the fish and vegetable market? the time to go to the Rialto is either very early or very late; never at midday.
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