I have booked apartments in Rome and FLorence near the city center for our (husband and I) forthcoming trip to Italy in mid September.

For Venice, we do not mind being a little away from the city center. We are looking for a vibrant neighborhood with restaurants, markets and fairly easy access to the train station and fairly walkable to the main sights. Lets say a budget of around 125-150 per day. Small apartment ok as it is just 2 of us as long as it is clean.

Looking forward to your recommendations!

Hi

Is that 125-150 euro or US? How long for? Some have a minimum weekly stay.

Try VRBO, and look for places in Dorsoduro.

Our favourite part of Venice.

Euros. (Euro and US dollar almost at parity, yay!) And for 4 nights.

Thanks, I did book the Rome and Florence ones through VRBO. If there are any specific recs for Venice I would appreciate it!

We are currently staying in this apartment: www.vrbo/412963.

It is very near the S. Angelo vaporetto stop and within easy walking distance of both the Rialto Bridge and St Mark's Square, and there are nice restaurants nearby.

jandee - I stayed near the S. Angelo stop in February and I agree that it's a great position to stay in. Really easy walking to Piazza San Marco and the Rialto, and just a hop, skip and vaporetto or traghetto ride across the Grand Canal.

Margo - that apartment looks great. I never actually got to eat near the apartment I stayed in just round the corner from yours - do you have any specific restaurant recommendations in that area as I'm likely to stay around there somewhere if/when I go back to Venice.

We stayed in the Santa Stefano area. Good location. Easy walk to most of the highlights, restaurants, attractions. Besides, VRBO.com, take a look at venicerentals.com. It's run by a husband/wife team. You tell them what area you want and how much you want to spend, and they'll give you a list of available places.

You mention easy access to the train station. That may be a bit tricky, depending on how you define "easy." As you can see on a map, the train station is at the northern tip of the city, and that neighborhood isn't my favorite -- too crowded with day trippers going to and coming from the station.

However, there's a vaporetto stop near the station, so if your apartment is near a stop, it's just a simple matter of hopping on and hopping off.

the easiest way to get to and from the station, is to stay close enough to a vaporetto stop so that you don't have to lug your bags over any bridges. then you have only to get your luggage on and off the vaporetto.

We ate at Rosa Rossa tonight and enjoyed it. There's a little takeout pizza place a few did down from there (Angelo's) that is good, and our apartment owner also recommended Al Traghetto, which was basically across the street from Rosa Rossa.

Margo - I remember walking that way, I think, looking for a place to buy some milk!

i'll have to remember the restaurants for next time.