5 Days In Venice, Help me find the "REAL" Venice Experience
 

Hello All. I'll be in Venice for 5 days this Nov. I'm really looking to
--unwind and discover the real venice. Not interested in running around.

--Looking for a B and B for 4 days add a nice hotel for one night.
I feel renting for five days would not make sense.

--Looking for real deal italy, non-chain tourist restaurants.
Are there homes that serve food or afew spots outside of venice that are worth the trip out?

--I'm way open to discover and walk around, leave up to 15 minutes outside of Venice. Ill be leaving venice and flying out of rome so also open to any ideas about how to get to rome, and what to do, eat on the way.

--Budget of 3000$ to spend on food, housing, hanging out for the whole trip of eight nights in Italy.

Thanks in advance

I guess I'm not sure what you mean by the REAL Venice. You can hardly be in Venice without seeing the real Venice. There are the usual sights - San Marco (piazza and chutch), the museums, the opera, the Rialto Bridge, the Doges Palace, the Frari, etc. And there is the Venice you see by walking the small canals and riding the Vaporetto the length of the Grand Canal and watching all of the water traffic.

Both are worth visiting.

transit - i would urge you not to change lodgings during the trip - just too much hassle to pack, move, unpack, all for the sake of one night. instead look for somewhere nice but perhaps slightly out of the centre so as to save those €.

IMO the "real" Venice is to found by walking - try the routes suggested by JG Links in "Venice for Pleasure" - though the vaporetti can be useful in taking you to a remote part of Venice from which you can walk back to the centre.

it's also to be found in the early mornings before the hoards descend and in the evenings after they have gone.

try reading the TRs by Peter_Aus for a long-term view of Venice.

I've seldom taken Rick Steeve's advice, but I have to say that his advice about Venice I love to follow.

Get Lost.

Ignore signs, wander and you'll be surprised at almost every corner.

Visit the Scuola's (Scuoli?). Go to a concert or the opera. Walk.

I too would say don't bother with the hotel splurge for just one night--it is a time-eater to change. Your call of course.

Talk with B&B owners or Hotel clerk for good restos--the further away from San Marco you go, in general, the less touristy places you'll find.

Have a wonderful time and be flexible--it's such a unique city.

I endorse the comments about not changing hotel, and with five nights in Venice, you will enjoy feeling at home your blocal campo.

Get hold of a copy of "Venice" by James or Jan Morris. That book is all about the real Venice, as distinct from the tourist destination.

I wrote a couple of trip reports about our time in Venice. Click mon my user name and you will ind them.

Changing hotels will waste your precious Venice time and is unnecessary if you choose a pleasant B&B, Corte 1321 in San Polo for example.

Get up early to see the Piazza San Marco and the Rialto. Take the No 2 vaporetto for a Grand Canal trip that doesn't stop at every stop. Eat in Cannareggio or another quiet area. (But I do particularly like La Zucca near the Campo San Giacomo dell'Orio.)

Seconding the advice aobut getting up early. The "real city" is awake early and doing stuff (delivering food, building materials, UPS, taking the garbage) before the tourists arrive. If you want to sleep, take a nap while the hordes inhabit the city.

Thirding the advice about just walking. Stop for coffee or gelato, even in November, when you get tired.

On the other hand, recognize that tourists have been part of this city for hundreds of years. Look at Maurice Prendergast's painting "Venice in the Rain" to see the crowds in about 1907. Watching the tourists from a comfortable spot outside their ebb and flow is plenty of fun.

There are a series of articles in the Venitian papers this summer about "face up to it chaps but Venice is all about tourism, so stop moaning about the crowds" and I'm afraid that since so few natives now live in Venice that the real venice is what you see. That doesn't mean you cannot eat in the sort of restaurants that locals would or go to church where locals would but it is probably sensible to recognise that the city of venice is very much "their factory floor".

I would recommend getting lost, eating late at night and walking home in the darkness and getting up early to see the delivery men and the garbage boats puttering around. Do learn a little Italian, it adds so much to a meal if you can at least listen in to the flirting and the joshing going on rather than just stare at a difficult to understand menu.

Sorry Ackislander, I didn't see your points (on autopilot this morning). You say it all better than me.

Husband and I took an early train out of Venice and the misty fog around the buildings made a magical view. I agree with the folks who say explore early.

Great info, Thank you all so very much!

- Any restaurants that burned a memory in your head because the food was great?

- In terms of nightlife in and around venice, any suggestions: lounges, clubs, nice bars, live music, maybe a concert? Is there a night culture? When do these towns close for the night?

- Any near by areas outside of Venice I should make a point to try and enjoy?

Thanks

We made an effort to eat at some place special on an anniversary and the hotel manager recommended Osteria al acareto. He also called ahead for us and made a reservation. It is a very polite thing to be expected.

Here is what we ate: olive and French bread
sadines with onions and oil
pasta & fagioli
pork marsala
sea bass

too full for dessert so they brought us cookies (we had been searching for some we had in Rome into which one dipped after dinner wine) so we had strega and prosecco. Below is their location:

http://www.osteriaalbacareto.com/dove-siamo

For the real Venice, read a couple of fiction sources to pick up the atmosphere.Any Donna Leon is good, but I favour Michael Dibdin's Aurelio Zen mystery set in Venice 'Dead Lagoon'.

You might wish to go to Il Ghetto, the Jewish area of Venice and then stroll the Cannaregio area, where there are many residential streets to explore. Or the Dorsoduro to see the university campus if you have a yen for real life beyond the tourist sites...or as both the above poster and Rick Steeves urge, "get lost!".

Venice in November will be empty so you will be able to enjoy Venice almost to yourself without throngs of tourists. On the down side the rain and the morning high tide water level will require you to walk on elevated gang planks on the touristy parts as Venice will be under water (around a foot deep). Usually the water level would go down around 10-11 am otherwise buy a pair of rubber boots (or ask to borrow from your B&B if you're ok with the idea) so you won't be trapped in your B&B in the mornings as it gets dark in the afternoon).

Acqua alta (flooding) is not a daily occurrence, nor does it happen only in the morning. It is a tidal event that occurs most often at the new and full moons (plus the days immediately before and after those days) and at other times of the month if certain conditions are present (low pressure, heavy rain and wind). Elevated walkways are placed throughout the low points of the city and not just the tourist areas. The city issues forecasts up to three days in advance.

Here are some links to learn more.

http://www.veniceword.com/weather.html

http://www.veniceforyou.com/highwaterprev.html
[notice the times of day of highest/lowest tide levels]

http://www.comune.venezia.it/flex/cm...?508415f17bf76

http://www.comune.venezia.it/flex/cm...IDPagina/49364

Dax's post says acqua alta occurs, as if, every day but it's not. Read Jean's post and links. On the other hand, acqual alta is not an occurance that's limited to November. I remember there was quite a good (bad) one happened in September about 10 years ago. In 2008 the worst in last 30 (or 40?) occured in the beginning of December. And I had experienced several others of lighter and various degrees in Nov to Mar myself (not every day of course). More than half of my visit to Venice ( 20 + times), I have done in Nov - Dec and I'm doing it again this December for 5 days like OP.

On the other hand, recognize that tourists have been part of this city for hundreds of years. Look at Maurice Prendergast's painting "Venice in the Rain" to see the crowds in about 1907. Watching the tourists from a comfortable spot outside their ebb and flow is plenty of fun.>>

Byron was there too - Venice was part of the "grand tour" taken by many rich people in the 18th and 19th centuries, and Napoleon described the Piazza San Marco as the drawing room of europe; tourists come, and tourists go, but Venice goes on forever.

I think "tourist" Venice is the real Venice. Many if not most of the people who work there do not live there, as living in Mestre is less expensive. But Venice in the evening and in the early morning is very different from Venice during the day because of the crowds; mornings are spent preparing for the tourist, and evenings are spent serving the smaller number of tourists who stay overnight.

We enjoyed our week in Venice as there is a lot to see and do. At St. Marks in the evening they have the battle of the bands, where small orchestras set up outside about five of the restaurants, and you can sit at a table and enjoy a not-inexpensive snack and the music. Some people look down their noses at this, but we enjoyed it. The music, however is not Venetian, or even Italian; one we sat at played waltzes; a couple of others played predominantly American show type tunes, often at the request of someone in the audience. The quality of the music and patter is quite good.

Activities I enjoyed in the morning included visiting the fish market, watching the deliveries at a fruit market; and watching the refuse collectors. Non tourist activities we enjoyed during the day included watching a yard where they build and repair gondolas, and watching some of the craftsmen repairing some houses. We didn't ride a gondola, as they are expensive, particularly with music, so we just lounged on a bridge they all passed under and enjoyed them vicariously.

I didn't think much of Lido, but we enjoyed Murano and Burano, touristy as they are. I would suggest when you arrive, you take a shuttle to Mestre and take the train to Venice (one stop). The first view of Venice when you walk out of the train station is a memory that I will never lose.

No live band music at Piazza San Marco in November when OP is going. They stop for the winter.

My favorite meal these days is the roasted meat platter at La Cantina in Cannaregio. It is not cheap but it is SOOOOO good. They also do a pretty incredible fish plate - sometimes two, one with raw fish and one with cooked. It is not your typical restaurant, it is a wine bar with food. Insanely good food.

Try to eat some cichetti standing up at a bar. Good places for this would be do Mori and All Arco in San Polo, Alla Vedova and Osteria da Alberto in Cannaregio, Gia Schiavi in Dorsoduro....

Sorry I made the assumption that the high tide in November happens all the time since I experienced it twice in November. We didn't let it put a damper on our time in Venice, it's really nice that the city had no crowd. Maybe that is the real Venice that you're looking for before the crowd descends on the city.

Cross the Grand Canal ousing the traghettos for €1 - a public gondala service - the locals stand. There are three crossing points - one is at the Rialto Market.

Second Al Arco in San Polo for cichetti. Their Italian Sauvignon Blanc was outstandingly good.

Sorry - Cross the Grand Canal using the traghettos...

Tragetto - I thought there were more than 3 points so I checked : There seem to be 8 of them.

San Sofia / Pescheria (This is the Rialto Market one )
From 7AM until 8:55 PM (Sundays from 7:30 AM – 6:55)

San Stefano / San Toma'
From 7 AM until 8:55 PM (the Sunday from 8AM until 7:55PM)

Ferrovia / S. Simeone
From 8 AM until 2 PM (closed on Sundays)
Phone: +39 041 718 543

Riva del Carbon / Riva del Vin
From 8 AM until 2 PM (closed on Sundays)

San Marco / Dogana
From 9AM until noon and from 2PM until 6PM (In winter from 2PM until 4 PM)

San Marcuola / Fondaco dei Turchi
From 7:30AM – 1:30 PM (closed on Sundays)

Santa Maria del Giglio / Salute
From 8AM until 6:55PM (In winter from 8AM to 6PM)

San Samuele / Ca' Rezzonico
From 7:30 AM – 1:30 PM (closed the Sundays and holidays)

Don't know where I got three from!

I actually enjoyed spending a few hours on the Lido. There were what felt like some authentic (though newer) neighborhoods to stroll through and I found a wine shop that would fill your bottle (or you could purchase an empty plastic bottle from them) very inexpensively from their barrels. Not that those don't exist in Venice proper... And the beach was interesting to see-just for the contrast from central Venice.

The traghetto is now 2 euros for tourists. For those with the IMOB card .70. Out of all those traghetti, the only two that seem (to me) to run with any kind of continuity are San Toma and San Sofia. I have NEVER seen the one at Ferrovia running.

I thought I read recently somewhere traghetto costs €2. So that's true Rialtogrl? So not an quick - cheap gondola experience anymore I guess ( ok, some might think €2 is nothing).

TTT

The traghetto was never meant to be a cheap gondola experience. It is public transportation. The tourist price has indeed gone up but I screwed up on the price for IMOB holders - they pay .50 but it is suppose to go up to .70 in January.

Taverna del Campiello Remer
Cannaregio 5701 | Sestiere Cannaregio, 30121 Venice, Italy

I had the 20 Euro lunch-a plate of homemade pasta, a plate from the buffet table, bread, a 1/4 carafe of wine, water and a coffee.
the happy hour is 5 euros for a drink and lots of little plates of nibbles..
a real local place

and for a memorable meal:
Hosteria Galileo
Campo Sant Angelo 3593, 30124 Venice, Italy (San Marco)
you can sit outside in the campo or better yet indoors where its warm and cozy

stay in one place.. moving around eats up way too much time..explore different neighborhoods
and you can take the train to Rome for your return trip home.

Visit the Island of Giudecca, and enjoy the typical restaurants

"Mostly tourists" live in Venice???

You are saying that those people who collect the garbage, man the transportation, run the shops, serve the food, etc., are tourists???

Wikii reckons that there are roughly 60,000 inhabitants with another 30,000 on the smaller islands. On average there were 50,000 tourists a day, so based on the seasonality there may will be more tourists on the main islands than inhabitants on a day by day basis, Great question Dukey, makes me think.

You are saying that those people who collect the garbage, man the transportation, run the shops, serve the food, etc., are tourists???>>

no, but the majority are not Venitians, either.

apart from the obvious chinese etc. people serving in bars and cafes, many are italians and non-italians living in Mestre etc. That's why most restaurants close so early compared to the rest of Italy - their employees have to get home to the mainland.

Ok, some great info!!! thank you all. So I still need to book a place in Venice for Nov 10 thru Nov 15. Where should I stay. All the recs I got so far are booked.

Have you tried Corte 1231? A reasonably-priced, pleasant B&B in San Polo, easily accessible from San Silvestro vaporetto stop.

I'll bet Corte 1321 is booked. We loved our stay there. If they are booked, look for last minute apartment deal. You say not worth it for 5 days, but I've rented apartments for fewer days than that. VRBO or SleepInItaly are good places to start.

For an excellent meal: La Zucca. Small, you will need reservations. Two seatings per night. Mostly vegetarian, but some meat is served. All our food was delicious.

http://www.lazucca.it/

Buon viaggio!

and you don't HAVE to cook if you stay in an apartment.

the last one we rented in Rome we never ate in for the whole week, not even breakfast.