My wife and I will be three nights, two full days in Venice late in June, and a relative has suggested she wants to make a gift of lunch at Locanda Cipriani on the island of Torcello. Given our short time is it a wise way to spend a day traveling to and fro Torcello? I'm sure it will be lovely, but also the Biennalle art show is in Venice which we want to spend time careening through, and given our time at the art show I worry that the trip to Torcello will compress our visit to much. Any advice? I have read contrary opinions on the food at Locanda Cipriani. The cost of the luch would be hosted by family, so my question isn't about value of the meal, but rather is about value of the time spent visiting the island given our short visit?

I had four nights in Venice, and although I hoped to get to the islands, I didn't - and was fully occupied in Venice. There is so much to see there.

I'm sure many people would say to go, though. And a lovely family event, on an extremely historic island, is something that would be hard to miss too. And I think you get a private boat to take you to the Cipriani restaurant, if I recall correctly.

Have you tried writing out exactly what you want to do in your 2-3 days there? Be generous with your time allotments (it takes a while to get around Venice - it's quite unsuited to rushing). But then you'll have a better idea of what's possible.

If you haven't already, take a look at Venice by Jan Morris.

It takes less than an hour to get to Torcello: take line LN from Fondamente Nove to Burano then change to line T for the five-minute trip to Torcello. Burano is very pretty and it's woth spending a little time there. Schedules are on www.actv.it.

>..a relative has suggested she wants to make a gift of lunch at Locanda Cipriani on the island of Torcello. <

Gentle Reader,

Your relation has kindly and graciously offered you a gift which the vast majority of the world's population cannot hope to ever experience.

Lunch at the Cipriani is more of a Venetian experience than "careening through" the Biennalle.

The proper thing to do is to write your relation a thank you note (white or cream card, black or blue-black ink) accepting her very thoughtful gift.

Miss Manners

If you accept the invitation -- the setting (in the garden, under vines) is lovely, the food is only so-so -- by all means take the Cipriani launch; it used to leave from in front of the Hotel Danieli. It will save you a lot of time off the Burano-Torcello by vaporetto route.

The launch "drives" right up to the Locanda Cipriani, which is very close to the cathedral. Take a few minutes to look inside. They give you plenty of time for lunch and return you to the Danieli.

The vaporetto trip is quite long...It took us about 30 mins to get to Murano if I remember correctly. We then went to Burano, and the boat back took us at least an hour and a half. I don't know if there was a more direct boat, but this one took forever. It was relaxing, but I wouldn't do it if I only had 2 days, although the lunch does sound nice.

It has never taken me longer than about 80 minutes to go directly from Fondamente Nove to Torcello; GeoffH's idea, changing boats, may be a good one to save more time.

I love Torcello and so far haven't been to Venice without going there.
Locanda Cipriani is a wonderful spot; to sit on that terrace overlooking the garden, with the towers of the cathedral just behind it, and eat very good food (for lunch, anyway), is one of my ideas of heaven. I promise, you might forget what you see at the Biennale, but you won't forget having had that lunch.

Torcello was the original Venice; don't miss spending a few minutes inside the Cathedral; I think the golden mosaic inside the half-dome is breathtaking.

To Ira,

The thank you card was sent two months ago, the reservation was made then as well. And right before traveling to Venice my wife and I are going to be spending almost a week in Tuscany with the relative (sister) who wants us to go to Locanda Cipriani. Have no fear about the adequacy of our thanks and appreciation for their kind offer. BUT since we booked the lunch my wife realized that the Biennalle show is overlapping our stay, and she has expressed concern that her sister's invitation to lunch might not be the best way for us to spend our short time in Venice. My comment about careening through the Biennalle was intended to acknowledge that in no way will we do full justice to the entire art exhibit in one day, but still, we do want to check it out. This visit to the Biennalle exhibit is high on our list of things to do in our short time visiting Venice, and without being ungrateful to the offer to host us for lunch, finally our time is in shorter supply than our dining opportunities.

Dear Nadro,

Miss Manners has asked me to reply for her, as she has taken to her bed with a cold cloth across her brow.

You have already accepted a lunch invitation and you are thinking of cancelling because you found something that might be better?

Miss Manners-

Get over yourself! A good sister will understand that it's your trip and graciously treat you to lunch at the restaurant of your choosing. (I'm not clear ,will the sister be with you at that point?)

Go to lunch; spend time at the Biennalle; fit whatever else you can in the short time available. You will accomplish several things, not the least of which will be peace in the family.

Good morning, Luinch at the Locanda Cipriani which was many, many years ago
is one of our most fondest memories of
Venice. At that time, the Locanda was
running their own boat for the short trip. It was a wonderful experience
and would certainly do it again, if possible. Richard of LaGrange Park, IL

I agree with Ira, if you have already accepted the invitation and the reservation is made, it would certainly be rude to cancel it. Maybe you could leave Tuscany a day early to give you a full day for the art show. You could explain to your sister that this would give you time for both the show and her very generous gift.

The Cipriani launch goes back and forth to the Hotel/Reastaurant on Giudecca; I think you are on your own to get to Torcello (we've hired a boat and think would have gone for free if available). I don't think this would be a waste of time and not sure it would burn an entire day but I fear your reservations about doing it might make it somewhat less enjoyable than it's meant to be...and truly is! What a terrible thing to have to worry about, ha ha!

Nadroj: I'm afraid Coco is right; there is no longer a Cipriani launch to Locanda Cipriani on Torcello. (I found that out on the Locanda Cipriani Web site, where they kindly tell you that you can either take a private water taxi or the ACTV vaporetto.)