A perfect week in Venice
 

We are planning to spend one week in Venice in early October. What is your idea of a perfect week there? Where would you stay, dine, visit, shop, etc? I would like to invite friends to join us so I will be passing along all your good ideas.

Barb, to be honest you have to give us something to go by here. Many people have posted mile long threads about places to go and things to do in Venice. You should really start with those and come back here with a little more guidance of what you are looking for.

To some the perfect week would be a museum every day. For others it would be shopping till they drop. For others it would be going out of the city every day for a day trip somewhere. Do you have a big budget? Looking for world class hotels and restaurants? Or are you on a limited budget and looking for fun and inexpensive things to do. Looking for relaxation or looking for action?

To ask such a general question, to be blunt, seems almost like a waste of time for most posters. What is the point of giving long detailed suggestions, when we don't have a clue of what you're looking for?

This is not meant to put you off, but to suggest you answer those basics so that people with good and APPROPRIATE ideas can guide and answer you, not just ramble on about what their favorite things were which may be too cheap or too expensive, too artsy, too athletic, or just plain boring to you.

HI
I'll take a quick stab at it, but keep in mind this might be MY perfect week, not necessarily yours

I would stay at the Bauer Palazzo or at
the Europa Regina

I would dine at, among other places,
the restaurant at the Cipriani Hotel, and other nights at Da Fiore and Antico Martini
I would have lunch one day at Locanda Cipriani on the island of Torcello. It would be a sunny spring or summer day, and lunch would be on their terrace, which has a view of a garden. Before or after lunch I would visit the neaby Cathedral and the neighboring church.

I would have dinner one night at Trattoria San Toma, not because it is the best ever, but because it's pleasant and casual and I don't want to dress up every night. A table in the garden area.
Also dinner my first night, when I'm jet lagged (even in my dreams I can't get over being tired on my first night), would be at Da Raffaele which is quite near the hotel, not dressy, they serve dinner early, and I can dine outside overlooking a small canal.

I'd also have a meal or two at Vino Vino.

I would purchase major glass items at Pauly or Venini, at Piazza San Marco.
If I wanted another mask, I'd order it at Papier Mache: Castello 5175, Calle Lunga Santa Maria Formosa.

I would have afternoon gelato or a snack every day at Florian's on the Piazza,pay through the nose for it, listen to corny music, watch the people and the pigeons, and be very very happy for an hour.
I'd also have lunch or a snack at least once at Campo Santa Margherita

I would visit:
Doge's Palace
Correr Museum
the Basilica (and there would be no line)
Ghetto
Accademia Museum
Peggy Guggenheim Collection. Run through the art because it's not my cup of tea. Walk out to the terrace which overlooks the Grand Canal, and smile at the sculpture of a man on a horse, a sculpture that I have named
"The Happiest Man in Venice"--you'll see why.
Then have lunch in that museum's cafe--it's pretty good.

Bovolo Staircase
Ca Pesaro
Ca'd'Oro
Museo Querini Stampalia

Visit these churches:
Frari
San Giorgio Maggiore (and go to the top of the bell tower for a view of Venice's waterfront from the lagoon)
Redentore
San Francesco della Vigna
SS Giovanni e Paolo
Miracoli
San Giorgio dei Greci
San Sebastiano
also
Scuola di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni
Scuola San Rocco
Scuola Grande dei Carmini

I'd spend at least one afternoon aimlessly walking in a neighborhood like Castello that I don't know very well

Hi

My wife and I went to Venice in June last year. I have posted a trip report and pictures on my personal homepage www.gardkarlsen.com :-D Maybe you can find some useful information there. I have information about the hotel we stayed at (hotel Continental), best places we ate, what we enjoyed seeing around town etc. Have a great trip :-)

Regards
Gard
Stavanger, Norway

Stay in the Dorsoduro area off the beaten track.
Listen to a concert in St Marks Sq.
Go to 8am mass on San Giogio island.
Visit the Frari church.
Wander the back alleys at 8am and shop the markets.

Great Web site Gard. Fun to visit, particularly the parts on Norway and your family.

I would add getting up before the crowds and sun to experience a different side of Piazza San Marco's magic.

Visit the islands of Burano and Torcello.

Walk the back streets of Dosoduro, Cannaregio, and San Polo, eating gelato at every possible opportunity, while enjoying less touristy Venice.

Make sure to take at least one vaporetto ride the length of the Grand Canal. Why not do it each way? Once during the day and again after dark.

Stand on the Rialto Bridge and watch all the canal traffic.

Visit as many churches as possible; using Elaine's list is a great way to go. If you see only two, make them San Marco and the Frari. However, you really should take Elaine's advice and go to San Giorgio Maggiore's bell tower for a tremendous view of the city. It is a nice quick trip across and back.

Well said Elaine !
I want to go with you.

elaine,gard,e_roz, and dan_woodlief,
Many thanks. That was exactly the type of answers I had hoped to receive. Because we are an active group of five "60-somethings", all of your suggestions and experiences offer the kind of information that will add to the fun of planning our trip. I appreciated your replies.