scrb

Looks like the La Fenice tours are with the audio guide unless you can muster up a group of 10 and arrange a group tour?

http://www.festfenice.com/index.php?...94&lang=en

Also, what about Ca' d'Oro? Worth checking out?

s1951

We will be traveling to Venice June 23-29 with our 18 year old daughter.
I have read in all of the travel books we need either a Blue or Orange card for discounts and should buy a Rolling Venice card for our daughter, and museum passes and church passes....not sure what to purchase in advance.
Which card should we purchase and does our daughter need a Blue/Orange and Rolling Venice card?
Girlspytravel******a special thank you for your tips. Trying to figure out how to navigate has been a little overwhelming and your input has been wonderful.

Big_Red

Thanks Everyone,

We are booked for tours of Doges Palace and also Museo Accademi (?spelling?). We'll be in Venice miday Friday.

Now, any recommendations for quality, medium priced restaurants near the Rialto bridge? please

jrandall

bkmk

sarge56

bookmarking.thx!

job816

For Girlspytravel: Your suggestions are great and we are actually considering a night at the opera. I have never been to an opera, but always wanted to. Venice seems a good place to start. There aren't many tickets left the night we want to attend, but we can choose from the Loggione and Galleria at 59, 29, & 23Euros; and Palchi Laterali at 29 & 23 Euros. There are some more expensive tickets in PL area at 106 and 135 Euros, but I really should limit the budget to around 60 Euros a piece. Do you recommend any of these areas for listneing and viewing? Does it matter? Oh, will a casual dress for me and slacks and a collar shirt for DH be sufficient? We don't bring fancy clothes when we travel and besides that DH is not the jacket and tie kind of guy .Thanks for your help.

Bokhara

Thanks everyone!

WillTravel

job816, the cheapest areas allow practically no or even no view of the stage at La Fenice. However, people do move from their assigned seats to stand at the back. And the advantage of the cheapest seats is that they are actually quite comfortable, because they are individual padded chairs, with sufficient space between them. But not being able to see anything is not so great. Also keep in mind that any supertitles will be in Italian, not English.

I can't advise you of the best seat to buy, but do consider what you want from the experience.

As for how people dress, I saw a full range from formal to not.

mrsjoujou

bm

Girlspytravel

Job-sorry to answer your question at such a late date, but I've been busy doing my thing south of the border!

You absolutely should go to La Fenice for a night at the opera-it's a wonderful way to experience the real Venetian scene-and there's going to be a world premiere there this upcoming season, I believe-SO MUCH is going on in Venice right now-there's a BRAND NEW FOURTH BRIDGE!!! It's up, (structural beams) and the YouTube video of the major parts of this bridge coming in and passing at midnight some weeks ago to the thousands of cheers and whistles of Venetians and tourists alike standing along the banks and up above on the Rialto bridge as it made its way on a special barge at low tide to its new home there at Pze. Roma-connecting Pze. Roma and the train station-was WAY COOL! Venice City Hall even put the video to a jazz track-you can view it still on their website I think: comune.venezia.it. It will be some months before it officially opens for business-the first new bridge on the Grand Canal since the 19th century-a new contemporary work of art on the Venice scene by the famed Spanish architect Calatrava-with high symbolic value as it represents the Venice of the future. The naming game begins (it will NOT be Ponte Calatrava) say city officials.

But I digress. Back to your seats, you know, if you pick the right Loggia and Galleria seats at 23 Euro, those seats directly in front of the stage, not on the extreme left and right sides, then you will have an excellent, unimpeded view, albeit rather high up. So look at the seating chart, and pick those seats accordingly.

As for dress, it depends on what night, and what seats-if you sit way up high in the Galleria/Loggia seats-casual dress is fine, but if it is a big premiere night, and you get the more expensive seats, then people do dress up for those nights and in the boxe seats-suit and tie for the men, dressy dress for the women, those premieres are typically, a Friday or Sunday night premiere.

AmanteDelLimoncello

Thanks for info, bookmarking

dperry

girlspytravel - welcome back! I'm leaving for Venice in 5 weeks and your suggestions have been very helpful in my trip planning. Can't wait!

trumps

Thanks for the info bookmarking

bfrac

bookmarking

scdreamer

What a great thread! we will be in Venice for three days in late October - these suggestions will be studied carefully! Thank you to everyone who took the time to write.

Girlspytravel

Thanks, DPerry, I DO wish I could be there now!

And everyone who will be in Venice this coming two weeks or so (my very favorite time to be in Venice) will REALLY be in the thick of things! First, the VENICE FILM FESTIVAL kicks off this Thursday, Aug. 30-Sept. 8, Woody Allen's new movie, George Clooney's new movie, Brad Pitt's new movie, Kenneth Branagh's, and a favorite of mine, French director Eric Roemer's new movies, as well as an interesting post 9/11 movie by American director Joe Haggis (In the Valley of Elah)among many others-one of the strongest American film offerings in a long time will be premiering and vying for top honors. If that were not enough, Venice and Italian Govt. officials will be announcing this week the magnificent NEW Palazzo del Cinema which is going to be built on the Lido for all the future film festivals to come! Molto eccitante!

Then, as is the case every first Sunday in September, Venice's most glorious festival (I think!) THE REGATA STORICA will be held, with all the magnficent historical boats, and boat races all day-I was at the Regata last year, on a PERFECT first Sunday in September- the weather was so gorgeous-I have one of the pictures I took as my cell phone screensaver-it is really a magical event to see- anyone staying in Venice, along the Grand Canal particularly, this Sunday will have first-class seats, plus all the parties that go on in all the palazzi - great fun!

There are new WEBCAMS for Venice-now, there's a webcam at Rialto Bridge put out by Venice City Hall, (Comune di Venezia) in addition to the two of Piazza San Marco and Ponte Noale, here:

http://www.comune.venezia.it/flex/cm...T/IDPagina/893

You can refresh the page for the Rialto webcam, by pressing F5.


And last but not least, you can see the new "quarto ponte" (fourth bridge-as it is called until it is officially named) here at the Santa Chiara Hotel's webcam, which is where one side of the bridge is anchored:

http://www.hotelsantachiara.it/

And that incredible YouTube video of the pieces coming down the Grand Canal at midnight you can see here-and I highly recommend everyone going to Venice to watch this video-it's really something!

http://nuovavenezia.repubblica.it/mu...a/home/1046206

Buon Viaggio!

amyb

I had three and a half days in Venice and did most of what's on girlspy's list (except the Fenice tours were already sold out when I got to the city). I just walked a lot otherwise and visited churches and things. I highly recommend going out to San Giorgio Maggiore and also going up in the Campanile for a gorgeous view of the Grand Canal and Piazza San Marco.

I went to Burano and Torcello, and while they were pretty, quaint and interesting enough, I wished I'd spent that day in Venice proper exploring more. It took a while to walk to the vaporetto on the opposite side of Venice and then to get out there and back. With less time than I had, I'd suggest you just stay in Venice for that reason.

Cindywho

This thread has been so helpful. One more question: what would you advise doing on the first day after arriving early morning following an overnight flight from the USA? Is there anything that fits better for the jet lagged traveler w/o much or any sleep?

tuscanlifeedit

Cindywho:

If it is very early and you're sure you can make, you may want to visit the Basilica San Marco. Early morning is a good time, being among the first to enter, because there are less crowds.

I am one who thinks a big impact is good while I'm suffering from flying overnight. Boom! Oh my gosh, look at that... I sort of forget how awful I feel.

One of the worst arrivals I can recall is landing in Rome early in the morning, getting a car, driving to our vacation rental outside of Florence, then having to wait around, then having lunch with the people I was working for, then waiting a little more. Waiting when overtired is not fun.

I say make a reservation at some place easy to visit, such as the Basilica, and jump right in. Then have lunch and you will really feel like you deserve a rest.

I think the Basilica is stunning.

I think the Torcello mosaics are also stunning, but you don't really want that after a long flight and on a short trip.

amyb

Another thing about the Basilica, visit it at several times during the day. The facade changes color with the daylight. In the early morning, it's soft pinks and pastels, mid-day it's bright white with the streaming sun and at sunset it is a soft peach. It was here that I finally realized what Monet was seeing with my very own eyes.

I went to Piazza San Marco at 5 a.m. on the day I left Venice (had early flight) and I was all alone with the pigeons. Just heavenly.