Is it necessary to stay in the san marco area? We will only be in Venice for barely two nights, and want to see St. Marks, Bridge of Sighs, the 18th Century Museum, and the Rialto bridge. Where should we concentrate our hotel search?
thanks!

Check your other post on Venice hotels. Pensione Accademia will be closer to those places than La Calcina - but Venice is a walking city in any case. Taking vaporettos can shorten the time somewhat.

KC

I would stay almost anywhere EXCEPT San Marco unless you have mobility issues or do not mind being in the midst of mobs of tourists. It is hard to give more hotel info without knowing what you are looking for..budget, etc.

Do not stay in the overpriced, crowded San Marco area but either Cannaregio, San Polo, Dorsoduro
or the other areas away from the mobs. The city is small so that either by walking or taking a vaporetto you will be able to see everything easily.

Just make sure you stay in Venice proper - not in Mestre or on the Lido. (A lot of hotels in those places don;t make their locations exactly transparent - and you don;t want either.)

I agree w/nyt. Venice is so compact, and everything is so accessible by foot or vaporetto, it doesn't really matter where you stay on your first visit.

I just got back from Venice and based on postings on this site, we stayed at Hotel Foscari. Nice room, good breakfast, and great location. We could walk to San Marco in about 15 minutes. The staff was a little stiff, but it was ok. We were only there for two days.

I feel the same as previous posters – I would avoid San Marco. I would stay in either Cannaregio or Dorsoduro – both delightful areas (stayed in Cannaregio in Spring, but actually prefer Dorsoduro), away from the tourist hustle, but within a 10-20 minutes stroll to San Marco. I would also not stay in Mestre or on the Lido for a 2-day stay, regardless of how good the deal.

If you are targeting larger hotels, Venere.com is a good resource to identify the location of the hotel. If you search on “Venice hotels” on this site, you will find excellent recommendations for the smaller hotels and B&Bs.

You don’t mention WHEN or HOW MUCH you want to spend: from personal experience, the best small hotels and B&Bs are booked up well in advance, so I suggest you use the recommendations from this site and send off copious e-mails ASAP.

mnannie:
We stayed ar Al Gazzettion Venezia two years ago and I highly recommand this little cozy hotel. It was few minutes walk to the Rialto Bridge and few minutes to Piazza San Marco. We paid 120 Euro per night for a room for 4 people(2adults &our 2 teenagers). It is a family run hotel with a very very nice owner and excellent breakfast included for all 4 of us. Have a great time. www.algazzettino.com

I forgot to say we stayed at this hotel during Spring vacation two years ago.

Yes, San Marco has many tourists and you'll also find plenty of them looking at the Rialto and in other places.

Wherever you stay by all means visit San Marco either in the evening or in the early morning after most of the visitors have departed.

In the evening, especially, it becomes truly magical, and when the music is playing at Cafe Florian you'll never forget the experience.

Sorry, but I disagree with most of what has been said here so far. Sure, Venice is a walking city, and it's not that big, but on the other hand, it's an extremely confusing walking city due to her medieval-oriental layout. Thus, it's a convenient walking city for those who know her. Yes, I'm getting everywhere very quickly. Does a Venice newcomer, too? By no means.
Taking the vaporetto almost never shortens the time - that's an idea quite logical for 21st century people... of course, if you're not really familiar with Venice, you cannot imagine that in a medieval city built on water, nothing can be slower than a huge boat. But just think of the enormous detours the vaporetto has to make because almost all of the canals are way to narrow for it! And the landing and casting off, that's all so time-consuming! You're getting almost everywhere by far quicker if you're walking than with the vaporetto! But... if you know how to find your way, of course.
To sum it up: yes, for a short stay, location is important in Venice, not because of the distances (they're negligible), but because of the time expenditure of either going by vaporetto or getting inevitably lost when walking.
And it’s not as easy to determine a good location in Venice as most of you seem to be thinking. I, as a true Venice buff, always stay in S. Marco, two minutes walking from the Piazza, and it’s not at all crowded there (ok, coming home across the Piazza during the day can make you nervous; but when I come from the opposite side, I don’t see many tourists). One of the most important secrets of Venice is that it’s NOT an overcrowded town; just a few mainfares are. Turn around the corner, and you’re more or less alone, even in summer. And yes, that’s also true for S. Marco. On the other hand, there are terribly crowded areas in Castello and in Cannaregio as well. So S. Marco is not automatically "the overcrowded district". But: it’s as well not automatically the most conveniently located district to the main sights. If you stay at S. Luca or at S. Angelo, e.g., which are both in S. Marco, you won’t see many tourists, but it will take you considerable time to reach the main sights; if you stay at S. Silvestro, the main sights are quickly reachable, you’re not in S. Marco (but in S. Polo), and the amount of tourists differs extremely from one lane to the next... And if you stay where I usually stay (on the eastern edge of S. Marco), the tourists are one or two corners away, but don’t bother you where you are, and the sights are at your hand.
All in all, there is no general rule; you just have to see where a precise apartment or hotel is located.

I loved the Dosoduro area along the Guidecca canal. It's close enough to everything to be very convenient, has a good vaporetto stop right there, but is slightly out-of-the way so not as hectic as right on San Marco or Rialto bridge areas. (La Calcina is the hotel I have stayed at twice there.)

Just DO be in Venice proper, not out in Mestre or the Lido or something.

Thanks to everyone for your help! I'm leaning towards San Marco. I'm still deciding, but I am really curious about Casa Cosmo, Albergo Doni, and Al Gazzettino. At this point, as we keep adding destinations, cheap is key!

San Marco is the WORST place to stay and to shop! YES, Dorsorduro is great as is San Polo. I also found that at times, walking WAS faster than taking vaparettos and, you see more by walking. There is another hotel in Dorsoduro, Hotel American that is on small canal, it is near to the Accademia museum (and the Accademia vaparetto stop), the Guggenheim museum, and on the side of the canal near to the campo San Barnaba and Campo Santa Margherita..both wonderful places. Venice needs more than 2 days. It is a treasure that needs time to absorb and appreciate.

There are tourists everywhere, but you can escape the crowds and still be in a convenient place for catching the vaporetto boats that act as buses (best to buy a pass).

I usually stay in the San Marco area, because it's convenient for the sights, the Alilaguna boats to the airport and vaporetto to outlying islands. Its great to wander round the area after dinner or before breakfast.

There are plenty of little places on side alleys. Locanda Al Leon is friendly and cosy; it's about 100 metres from St Mark's Square, behind the Hotel Danieli and the Bridge of Sighs and beside a tiny square with a few stalls. For those on a budget, their nearby B&B, Casa Cavanella, has nice rooms with en suite bathrooms.

I like Dorsoduro very much, and would consider staying there if I go for a fourth visit. My preference would then be to stay at Villa Maravege, but a less expensive option would be Salute da Cici.

mnannie-are you going soon, in other words, in winter? If so, I would stay in San Marco, since you have only two days, you want to see those sights (Palazzo Ducale, next to San Marco) and definitely, take the vaporetto over to Rezzonico to see Ca' Rezzonico-(not sure what you mean by 18th cent. museum) Ca Rezzonico is a must-see, a real highlight of your trip-I've spent hours here in this gorgeous 15th cent. palazzo.

Although I always stay in Cannaregio myself, I also rent apartments, and stay for far longer periods of time. If you were going to Venice in the spring/summer/fall-I'd suggest staying away from San Marco, but not in winter-not for two days and a first visit-I think you'll like staying there-and do try to get a room with a water view.

Mnannie-now I understand your reference to the "18th century museum" but that is in error.

I just noticed Fodor's reference on their website regarding Ca' Rezzonico. In Italian, this palazzo is the "Museo del Settecento Veneziano"-which translates as Museum of the SEVENTEENTH Century Venetian" NOT, as Fodor's has it written on their destination guide "18th century." It is much older than that.

This is a palazzo built in the 1600's, hence it is a SEVENTEENTH century museum. Fodor's needs to fix that on their website.

Actually, settecento does mean 18th century (1700s). 17th century is seicento (1600s).

Good Issue. And it depends on whether you are translating it in English or Italian.

"Settecento" means 1700's in Italian-i.e., the time period from 1700-1799, therefore, the museum's name translates in Italian to, as I stated, "Museum of the 17th century Venetian"

However, in English, we would say that the 1700's is 18th century. But the Italians don't put it that way.

I submit, it is NOT correct to call it the 18th century museum, since that is not how it is translated into Italian.

See, wikipedia entry on the term "settecento"

en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Talkettecento