Hi, Im a single gal, never travelled alone before, & am thinking of a short break in Venice I'm a bit anxious about it, & would be very grateful for any tips. I need a budget hotel in a safe area, & any other information of where to go, where to eat, best way to get from airport etc,would be a great help.Thanks!

I've been to Venice twice, once solo. It is a very easy city (small central area, no street traffic, etc.). I was completely comfortable being there alone.

I came in by train and took a vaporetto to my hotel so can't help with airport logistics.

I stayed at www.lacalcina.com which is a lovely 3-star hotel. If you could reserve one of the single rooms with a shared bath it might be in your price range.

Don't worry about where to eat, that's easy enough to figure out once you're there.

Venice must be one of the safest places all over the world, so don't fear anything. Venice is so very safe that even having given safety a thought will seem absurd to you as soon as you have been there and experienced it. There is not even any area in town where it could be less safe than anywhere else, and this is true around the clock. You can very well stroll through the town at 2 a.m. as a woman alone, and you will love the experience.
For transportation from the airport, please use the search function, we seem to answer this question twice a day on Fodor's.
And for restaurants, it is certainly easy to find anything, but it's more than difficult to get a good meal for a reasonable price. If you click on my name, I've already posted my choice restaurants on several threads.

I agree with franco. I'm a woman and I wouldn't hesitate to walk around Venice well after midnight and would not worry in the slightest about booking myself into a budget accommodation. Most budget accommodations in Italy are run by families, which make them quite safe.

If you go the website Slow Travel you will find many reviews of inexepensive bed-and-breakfasts and other accommodations.

I also agree with Franco that good food at a reasonable price is hard to come by in Venice. His recommendations and those you find on Slow Travel might help in that regard.

Another hotel option which is located right next to the Accademia bridge in the Dorsodura section is the Hotel Galleria- www.hotelgalleria.it . We've stayed in rooms with ensuite bath as well as shared the bath down the hall. Great location in a very nice and convenient area, near a vaporetto stop and affordable. Paul

I've recently returned from 10 days in Venice on my own and felt safe and welcome the entire trip. I rent an apartment, so can't comment on hotels, but there's heaps of info on this board (and on Slow trav) about good, inexpensive hotels.
As far as getting from the airport to your hotel, it depends to a certain extent on which area of Venice you're staying in and how extravagent you're feeling. I still believe that the best way to arrive is by water taxi - but it is extravagent at about 90 euro! I've not taken the Alilaguna as it is slow, only leaves every hour and (on the most recent trip) would have left me too far from where I needed to be. This last trip I took the ATVO bus from the airport - it goes every 30 minutes, costs 3 euro, takes 15 minutes and drops you off at Piazzale Roma from where you can get on a vaporetto. It was so easy!

Check out Hotel Marin, www.albergomarin.it.

Thank you all so much for your feedback, i feel so much better about going it alone!Ive only recently discovered Fodors,it's a fantastic way of getting info, so Im now researching other potential destinations, there'll be no stopping me! I think once I've done one solo trip the rest should be easy- i hope so anyway !Has anyone any other recommendations for places safe for single travellers?I would really like to visit Seville too.Thanks again, JJ

My recommendations for single travelers would be Amsterdam, Antwerp, London, Paris, Edinburgh and Tokyo. Sevilla has many enchanting sights, although overall I prefer Madrid, Toledo and Cordoba in Spain. I wish I could give the same stellar recommendation to traveling in Spain as I do to Venice and other places, but I don't think all areas of Spanish cities are safe, and I think one has to be very careful booking budget accommodations in Spain's larger cities.

Italy and France have a wealth of smaller cities that are safe and are good for short trips. Unfortunately, I've never been to Baltics or other eastern european destination, but I hear they are very nice for young people and singles.

Hi liverbird ~

Congrats on your first solo trip! I think you will find that it can be quite enjoyable. We recently returned from Venice and even though I was with my DH, I would not hesitate to return alone. We felt very safe at all times of day and night. It is such a magical city.

I think it may be helpful to know what your price range is for accommodations.

You can click on my name for our trip report for restaurant ideas.

Best wishes, and enjoy. I have done Italy both alone and with others and enjoyed both equally. Bring a good book and have fun!

Tiff

Once you travel alone you won't even want to get a travel partner. You have so much freedom and you can go/do/see exactly what you want. No downtime sharing the bathroom or waiting for someone else to finish breakfast.
You do spend more for you room Per Person, though. If you find that the suggestions above are to pricey, consider staying on the Lido. It is a less desirable area, away from the center of town and you have to take the water taxi or ferry to get there. You will get a nicer room for less than in Venice proper. The biggest drawback is that you won't be able to walk around very late at night. I didn't find much in the way of budget rooms for singles.
Also depending on when you go, remember that the area is basically a swamp, bring your mosquito spray. This was especially a drawback at a budget hotel with no air conditioning. With the window open all night, the mosquitos swarmed.

Liverbird, as a fellow "single gal" traveler I want to tell you that you'll love the entire experience! Venice is on my "to do" list. I've been to other areas of Italy, Paris, Provence, Austria and Germany alone and have never felt anxious. As other posters will tell you, just use common sense! My trips to Spain have always been with my "sweetie" but I wouldn't be uncomfortable traveling there alone. Half the fun is the research, at least for me! Hit the bookstores and find a couple of travel books on Venice that you like and then use all the wonderful info you get from the fine folks here at Fodor's and I know you'll find exactly what you're looking for. Trust me on this one, once you've "gone solo" you'll be hooked!! And welcome to Fodor's!

For transport from the airport to your hotel, you have several choices: (1) free shuttle to the water, where you can catch the Alilaguna "waterbus" (http://www.alilaguna.it/) or a faster by expensive water taxi; (2) inexpensive bus from the airport to the railway station at Piazzale roma, and by vaporetto from there. We like the Alilaguna; you get a tour of the lagoon on your way, past the islands of Murano and Burano.

As for other places to travel solo, as a female I would happily travel alone anywhere in Norway, Denmark, or Switzerland; also London or Paris. But Venice would be my number one recommendation for a first-timer, so you have chosen well.

I liked La Forcola hotel. Venice hotels tend to be cheapest Sunday to Thursday. If you're going on a weekend, you'll likely pay more.
www.laforcolahotel.com

I took the #5 ACTV bus from the airport. I purchased a 3-day pass at the airport, which now costs 25 Euros, and this included the ACTV buses as well as the vaporettos. This was very convenient for getting all over Venice.

tinarose,
I don't agree with staying on the Lido. The Lido is not part of Venice; it's a separate small town on a separate island, very well linked to Venice center by water buses, but it has nothing in common with Venice. The main problem is that on the Lido island, there are cars - staying there means to deprive yourself of one of the most striking features of a Venice holiday: the experience of not seeing or hearing a single car for a few days, which is certainly one of the main contributions to the unique out-of-the-world atmosphere of Venice. Thus, I do not only suggest not to stay on the Lido, but rather not even to go there for a visit (anyway, if you don't want to see the two historic Jewish cemeteries, there almost nothing what you'd want to do there - apart from seeing Venice center from the Lido and from the boat, which is certainly the most stunning sight you can have anywhere in Venice).
On the other hand, it is not true that (if you do stay on the Lido) you couldn't stroll through the center by night - the water buses are going all around the clock.

Especially solo I would definitely not want to be out on the Lido, it would be very inconvenient to sight-seeing.

There are budget hotels around the train station, or I really like the Dosoduro area, where I mentioned La Calcina among several others.

I traveled solo to Venice in Oct. 2003 and I stayed in Istituto Artigianelli, a convent on the zattere. I had a single room with bath and paid less than €60 per night. The location is good, in Dorsoduro near the Accademia and right next to a "bocca de leone". The downside of staying there is that it does have a bit of an insitutional feel to it and they have an 11:00pm curfew. Neither of these were a problem for me.

Suze, how far is la Calcina from Rialto Bridge?
Last June we stayed at la Pensione Guerrato at Rialto, just around the corner from the fish market, great location..great place also.
La Calcina prices are very good indeed..

I agree that the hotel Galleria is a good choice in a great location. If it is full, you might try the Locanda Fiorita that is across the bridge and about a 100 meters in the Campo San Stefano. It is also quite nice. Both are under a 10 minute walk to St. Marks and are reasonably priced (for Venice). Venice itself has to be one of the safest cities in Europe. Seek out the office near St. Marks that sells the tickets for the "Gondola caravans." These are shared Gondala rides and are great fun, particularly if you are alone. The tourist info center will tell you how to find the office. Have a great trip and enjoy!

Good for you, liverbird; I'm going solo to Venice for a week in June (and again in Sept,. with the hubby); I'm staying centrally (Loc. Orseolo) and having just stayed at this small locanda I know I'll feel very comfortable and well taken care of there. I'm also a walker and look forward to long walks in the evening as well as daytime. I've been following the other posts on solo dining there to get some hints, but I know the innkeepers will have some excellent ideas and recommendations.

I would recommend that you be particularly good about restricting the amount of baggage you take (i.e., one carry on) since you may end up carrying or rolling it some distance to get to hotel, especially if you don't get a water taxi to and fro (which as noted gets expensive).