On Octoger we plan to visit Venice for the fifth time. Guess we've been to all the "must see' places.Suggestions for beautiful places that u don't usually see will be gratefully accepted. We would also like to visit furnished middle ages houses/palaces.
Thanks, Molly and Dan

Have you done the Brenta Canal tour?
http://www.ilburchiello.it/England/default_eg.htm

Hi korindan, don't you have another thread on this subject? I am sure I saw it and you had some responses. If you can't find it just click on your name which is next to the Welcome sign at the top upper left of your screen. You will then pull up all your posts. Hope this helps And have a wonderful time in Venice.

Thanku loveitaly for practical advise.

Your very welcome korindan.

And btw, I have a beautiful book that you might enjoy owning. The title is "Venetian Pallazi. The English version ISBN # is 3-8228-7050-1. It is printed in Italy. Absolutely gorgeous photos of the exteriors and interiors of the fabulous palaces of Venice along with the history.

My daughter and SIL purchased it here in N CA (Barnes and Nobles maybe) but perhaps Amazon might have it available also. I think you would really treasure this book, I certainly have. Best regards!

mcLaurie,

Thank you for posting that link for the Brenta canal tours, I have been searching for it, without any success.

This is one of the things I'm considering doing when I'm in Venice in 2 weeks (Yeah!)

Have you done the tour? If so, do you you remember how long it takes? Would there be enough time after the tour for me to walk around Padua and explore the city then just take the train back on my own?

We did the Brental Canal tour linked above in June. It was a wonderful day -- starting at 9 in Venice and arriving back there about 6 or 7 in the evening.
The only problem for us was it was incredibly hot on the upper deck -- that won't be a problem in October.

I have not done the tour but have it on my "to do" list for a future visit. It's been discussed here a number of times and sounds great.

I just did a search here though on it and came up with lots of previous mentions. Some people seem to feel you don't see enough of the Palladio homes from the canal and would be better if you did a land tour to see more. Here are 4 of the threads that have info you might want


http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=34829634

http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=34778336

http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=34731292

http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=34658461

my suggestion is on your duplicate thread

I enjoy the neighborhood along the Guidecca canal, Dorsoduro, Zattere...

A minor suggestion:

While "everyone" likes doing the elevator to the top of the Campanile at St. Marks, the much nicer view is from the tower across the Grand Canal at San Giorgio. You get a much broader perspective and better views in my opinion.

Incidentally, regarding that idea of driving to see more of the Palladio houses -- while that seems like a good idea, two of the villas we visited by boat were closed and we were met there to privately open them for our boat tour. Many of them have very limited and obscure hours if open to the public at all.

You can now visit the Cini Foundation on San Giorgio Maggiore. It's open on Sat & Sun for guided tours. Here's the link www.cini.it/indexe.html. The info on the tours is right at the bottom of the page - Guided Tours. I visited in february and was the only one on the tour! I also love the Vespers organ recital at Salute on Saturdays at 4pm. Another favorite is the Fortuny Museum at Palazzo Fortuny.

Hi Dan - If you enjoy opera you might be interested in the 'Music in the Palace' experience.

http://fodors.com/forums/pgMessages....sica+a+palazzo

Hope this helps ...

Steve

If you enjoy opera & specifically Wagner, you might also be interested in the tour of Wagner's old apartment in what is now the casino. It's necessary to book in advance : I found conflicting instructions online so asked our hotel to book for us.

The Ghetto is very interesting to visit.
You buy a ticket at the Museo Comunità Ebraica (Jewish Community Museum) in the Campo Ghetto Nuovo and are taken on a tour of three magnificent synagogues. They are all up flights of stairs and you enter them via very plain exteriors, from the outside you'd never guess that they were there.
Men should take head covering with them, although there are caps available for borrowing if necessary.

The Venice City Council just announced, (and it was in the Venice newspaper today) that the Torre d'Orologio in the Piazza San Marco will now be open for visits to the tower. As many of you know, the Clock Tower was just unveiled again this past May after a 10 year renovation effort that kept it covered the whole time, however, the Tower has not been opened, until now.

This is interesting, I think, because the Tower was originally begun in the late 1400's with additions and refinements added during the next century. The clock custodians and their families actually lived in the Tower for many centuries. Presumably, the tour will encompass the history, as well as allow you to get up close and personal to the Magi figurines that come out and bow to the Madonna (only during Epiphany/Ascension) when the clock strikes the hour. There should be a really great view of the Piazza and the San Marco Basin as well.

The tours will be on reservation only, limited to 10 persons, and cost 12 Euros for foreigners. Venetians will be allowed in for free during the last tour time slot of the day.

Girlspytravel, thanks for that info. Do you have a link to the article or details on how to book?

Maryk-good question, but since it was just announced today in the Venice newspaper, it's possible that the tour details are not yet finalized, however, there is a link, tele. number and email on the official Venice Museums website for the Torre d'Orologio (Clock Tower)information:

http://www.museiciviciveneziani.it/f...;sezione=musei

If I see more information about the tour details I'll be sure to post them here.