Trip to Vienna and Venice
 

We are planning a trip in August to Vienna and would like to visit Venice. How should we travel to Venice and how for is it from Vienna? We have a 10 year old child, also. What sites would he enjoy in Venice?

Regarding the travel, apart from flying there is a daily direct train from Vienna Sudbahnhof at 0734, train No.EC31, arriving Venice at 1537. I don't know how your 10 year old would handle an 8 hour train ride, but believe me the scenery is really great, so there is plenty to look at en route. There is also a restaurant car on board. <BR>It's a trip not to be missed really. <BR>Although I have been to Venice I'll let others who have much more knowledge than me handle this one. I'm sure if you type Venice in the text search at the top of this page, a lot of information will be listed for you.

Go to The Austrian Travel Network website, www.tiscover.com, and click up the Routeplanner. Plug in Vienna to Venice and the route planner will give you kms. covered, time it takes, map, etc. Happy planning!

Good evening, Cheryl <BR>Here is a variation to Tony's rail to <BR>Venezia and that is by taking an overnite train, with a sleeper compartment. e.g. one that departs <BR>from, Wien Sudhf (Sud) at 22:34 and <BR>arrives at Venice S. Lucia at 8:49 <BR>the next morning. This might be better <BR>for your child than making this journey <BR>during the day, actually loosing one <BR>day of vacation to travel. Reservations for the train and the sleeper compartment must be made in <BR>advance. I feel one of the main <BR>attractions for a ten year old would <BR>be the vaporettos and the many pastrie <BR>shops thruout Venice. The arsenal and <BR>the Naval Museum in the Campo San Biagio. There are not many attractions <BR>geared toward children. For small eaters <BR>you can always request "mezza portione" <BR>Richard of La Grange Park, Il..

If you have time and have not been there before, try to stop in Salzburg. It is one of the most charming cities in Europe. <BR>

Cheryl, <BR>While others here have more expert advice on visiting Venice, I can share my experiences last year in spending three days there with my family, including daughters ages 8 & 11. <BR>For them, the most impressive, interesting thing was just being in Venice. Getting to the hotel on the vaporetto 'bus', learning to find our way through the maze of little alleys, becoming a 'regular' at a gelati place nearby, and just settling in a for a few days and absorbing as much as possible. <BR>For example, on two different days we got great sandwiches from local mom & pop stores and ate our lunch while watching the Venice go by. One day we sat along the Grand Canale and watched the traffic, and on another day we sat on steps at Piazza San Marco with our lunch for some people watching. My kids get a kick out of seeing the Piazza on a few recent TV commercials and know that they were there last summer. <BR> <BR>You might wonder whether to wait in line to visit the Basilica San Marco with your child, but the interior with the fabulous mosaics is incredible and my daughters wouldn't have wanted to miss it. Get in line early, and the wait is no big deal. <BR> <BR>The gondolas are fascinating, and we took the inexpensive traghetti'ferries' that go back and forth across the Grand Canale which they found interesting. We also use the vaporetto 'buses' on several occasions while there as one more way to get them out on the water and seeing the Grade Canale. We used the vaporetto to get to the nearby island and San Giorgio Maggiore with it's bell tower looking across water to the Doge's Palace the city. It was a clear day and we could see the foothills of the Alps in the far distance. We had plans to visit one of the main islands, but with three days wanted to just see more of Venice. <BR> <BR>One day we picked a distant point in this small city and just set off to find it. Once there, we put the girls in charge of reading the map and getting us back to San Marco. They had a good time with that and it gives you a chance to get off the main tourist areas and see more of Venice. <BR> <BR>Again, there are many here on this site who can offer you detail and advice which I know I found very helpful. The uniqueness of Venice will appeal to your child. Enjoy!