Yes, I'm still trying to get hubby to say yes to Venice.

We like to stay in apartments, as we find them more relaxing than a hotel. I think that a week in a Venice apartment, and then a week on the Amalfi Coast would be lovely. We shall see.....

Anyway, 2 locations I (not we yet) are looking at are in Dorsoduro (very near La Calcina) and Cannaregio - one is on Canal Cannaregio, and one is on Canal Della Sensa.

Can anyone tell me how Cannaregio compares to Dorsoduro as far as being a good location to walk, shop at local markets and small shops, and be a little away (but not so far away we won't feel like venturing out) from the "touristy" sites?

My boyfriend and I just returned from Venice- loved it! We stayed in Castello, but walked everywhere. We particularly liked the Cannaregio area- we spent most of our evenings there, there is a wide main "street" with lots of cafes, bars and shops. It is more residential than areas closer to St marks, so it feels more authentic. Dorsoduro seemed to us to feel more trendy and young, so I guess it depends on your age and preference ( we are 28 and 32). I wouldn't stress too much over the decision, Venice is so small that you can walk from one area to another easily, or take a water bus.
A side note....my boyfriend had to be talked into Venice, and he absolutely loved it!!

>...I wouldn't stress too much over the decision, Venice is so small that you can walk from one area to another easily, ...<

I agree. What you rent is more important than where it is.

Wrote you a long post this morning that never posted because the site wasn't working. Basically I agree with Ira.

Have a look at the website for a hotel called Ai Mori D'Oriente. It's on the Canal Della Sensa too and has a neat map. (Someone recently gave it a nice review here too.) The canal is long and this hotel is toward the eastern end which would be more convenient than the western end.

Both areas have a good mix of tourist sights, shops etc. Because I stayed in Dorsudoro I know there's a market near La Calcina and there's also a floating vegetable market at San Barnaba. I'm less familiar with the Cannaregio but I think you'll find the same conveniences. The benefit there might be you don't have to cross a bridge to get to San Marco.

we stayed in the Dorsoduro..young and hip? Not oppressively so, we're in our mid-50s. But, for a neighborhood feel, I liked the area around Campo Santa Margharita(sp). You will find vegetable carts and fishmongers there. It is the location of Margaret Duchamps, a particularly great place to pop in for an espresso. I agree with all others who suggest to you it matters not so much where you stay in Venice(as long as it's a distance from Piazza San Marco) and more that you like your apartment. Check out the market near the Rialto Bridge. We have several rolls of film of the vegetables for sale there alone. Tell your husband you will adore him for eons if he says yes to Venice(you will!)

For me the dwelling itself doesn't matter - just a place to be unconcious a few hours - but the neighborhood is impt. To me Cannaregio is about the dullest, least inspiring (architecturally and otherwise) part of Venice.

Dorsoduro has a lot of charm. Quiet if you want, but St Margh. square is the real heart of Venice for facilities and people watching. I've seen guidebooks that back this opinion up.

St Marks/Rialto/train station are the worst areas for what you are looking for, and perhaps the best match would be the little appreciated "fishtail" way east of Castello. At least visit the pleasant parks, wide blvds (Napoleon filled in canal for this) out there.

I have stayed in both Dosoduro (at La Calcina) and in Cannaregio (Locanda Ca Le Vele), and I liked both. Though, if I were to go back to Venice, I would probably stay in Cannaregio again.

Dosoduro is very quiet and relaxing...though I would have to disagree with viking and say that when comparing the two, Dosoduro is more dull and Cannaregio more vibrant with everyday Venetian life. More shops, markets, restaurants, and friends and family stopped in conversation along the strada between the end of the workday and dinner time. In my opinion it is more alive - less sleepy but not loud or crowded. (At least in March, when I typically travel.)

Re: <i>Dorsoduro has a lot of charm. Quiet if you want, but St Margh. square is the real heart of Venice for facilities and people watching. I've seen guidebooks that back this opinion up.</i>

Having spent a week only a few blocks from Campo Santa Margherita, I couldn't agree more. In fact, one of the reasons we chose to stay there was because of the rave for it by someone (an artist, as I recall) in the wonderful book <i>
City Secrets: Florence, Venice, and the Towns of Italy</i>, which is collection of recommendations and &quot;insider&quot; tips from artists, writers, historians and architects.

I haven't looked up those pinpoint locations, but the core of Cannaregio is dull, dull, dull. The inner fringe can be nice, but the the rest has long dreary walks searching for the rare bridge and display the most mediocre tired-out brick architecture in a town known mainly for it's charming architecture. A lot of street life (probably due to cheap apartments) is something you could find anywhere in Italy.

Dorsoduro has a dull outer fringe but the core has just about the most architectural magic, shopping/eating serendipity, &quot;real&quot; street life, etc in town. It has a college, and the students sometimes line up into the street even until midnight at the best value eateries. It's on a walkers commuting path from the bus depot to Accademy bridge to Rialto area where tons of well dressed Italians commute to work. It's canals form a commuter path where water taxis parade in by the score every morning nose to tail. It has more non-disneyfied sparkle than I can capture in a few sentences. I remember the captain of a cement barge that sang and poled his broken down motorboat there, inspired by the picturesque bridges and tilting towers - inconcevable in banal Cannaregio...

Just back a few weeks ago and stayed in Dorsuduro - would recommend it over Canneregio. Both are nice, but I felt like Dorsoduro was more central (although Venice is a small place) and also has more sites you'll probably want to see (accademia, ca'rezzonico etc. . ) Cannaregio also feels different, maybe it's the wider canals, but it feels different. not bad, just different from the rest of venice. Just my 2 cents.

&quot;the best match would be the little appreciated &quot;fishtail&quot; way east of Castello.&quot; (Viking, I think.) Can anyone elaborate on this area? Does it have a name that I can use to search for more info? Thanks. J.

I stayed just inside Cannareggio in Campo San Apostole (Antico Doge). I thought the location was great. Just far off enough away to be off the tourist path but a 5 minute walk to the rialto bridge. Don't know where your particular hotel is located within Cannareegio but it is a fairly large district. We were probably just as close to P. San Marco as P. Roma.

I like the atmosphere of Cannaregio. The main street, Lista de Spagna, is very wide and can accomodate the masses, unlike many of the tiny passageways near San Marco. (If it is raining, sweetie, watch you don't get your eye poked out by someone's umbrella.) I would never, under any circumstance, stay near San Marco from May to September. The HORDES of people will be unbearable. (Imagine mid-town Manhattan during lunch hour on a beautiful June day.) I have actually seen people PUSHED into the canals.

Just my two shillings, sweetie.

I hope what this thread shows is not just varying opinions, but despite the fact that Venice is small, each sestiere has different areas and you come away with different perspective depending on where you went in that sestiere and perhaps what time of year. I was in Venice at New Years time and found Campo Santa Margherita quiet and mostly empty. I stayed in the Dorsudoro area and walked probably every calle. It has everything from tourist sights (Guggenheim museum, Accademia museum, Ca Rezzonica museum) to tons of restaurants at all price points, shops of all sorts, every age group from students to pensioners. I only went to the Cannaregio area 2-3 times. Once to see the Jewish ghetto which is, as you would expect, not the most &quot;charming&quot; area but well worth the trip. Ate and shopped near there and then got lost and wound up happily by accident at the Madonna Dell'Orto church (fantastic). and saw the Grand Hotel Dei Doge. Based on that visit I'd have called the Cannaregio area not very busy and not as charming as other areas. Then I went to check out and latter eat in a restaurant on the eastern end that was near the Rialto. That area is teeming with people and shops. Totally different feel.

In answer to jmw44 I think the area would be castello east. If you go to venere.com and click Venice, at the bottom of the page of hotels there's a map. They split some sestiere in east and west, Castello being one. If you click on that area of the map it shows hotels and apts they have in that area. The Gli Agneli b &amp; b shows up on the edge of the area. Several Fodorites have recently mentioned staying there and loving it.

The fishtail area is east of the (huge, excellant) Naval Museum including S Elena district and I guess east Castello. The heart of it is the long, straight, wide Via Garibaldi where Napolean filled in the canal for a Parisian boulevard look. It's all strolling families with baby carraiges and playful kids. Another unexpected gem it the spacious shady park that T's off the via - always a shady bench available for a picnic. You know you're out of touristic Venice when you find virtually every food store closes for siesta just when you want to obtain that picnic!

On the waterfront is an area where ritzy yachts tie up, and some more parks exist. Many are fenced off and only open something like every (other?) September for an art show. I only noticed one hotel near the Naval Museum; I think the norm is apartment rentals.

There is one week of the year the neighborhood has a festival with outdoor stages and big time entertainment. The Naval museum (morning only) is a wonder with amazing sea shells, boating historical stuff from Roman times thru WW2, even including considerable coverage of Viking visits to Italy!

Viking, is S Elena easy to get to? Via bridge?

Thanks y'all.

<i>The fishtail area is east of the (huge, excellant) Naval Museum including S Elena district and I guess east Castello. The heart of it is the long, straight, wide Via Garibaldi where Napolean filled in the canal for a Parisian boulevard look. It's all strolling families with baby carraiges and playful kids. Another unexpected gem it the spacious shady park that T's off the via - always a shady bench available for a picnic. You know you're out of touristic Venice when you find virtually every food store closes for siesta just when you want to obtain that picnic!
</i>

Good comments, viking. Prior to my first Venice visit, in 1987, I'd read that if one wanted to see the &quot;real&quot; Venice, one should head toward the &quot;tail of the fish,&quot; so that's what we did, exploring the area briefly, and taking a nice rest in one of the parks down there.

On my second visit, two years ago, I was with a different girlfriend so, once again, we fishtailed it, taking the vaporetto to the furthest stop (Sant Elena, I think) and then spending an afternoon walking around that area, exploring it quite bit more. In Sant Elena, we had it almost entirely to ourselves and had fun taking photos of the colorful buildings. While on our way back to San Marco, we got caught in a sudden cloudburst and ducked into the tiny Osteria Al Ponte for shelter as well as some red wine and fried fish snacks. We were the only non-Italians in the osteria, the older woman behind the counter seemed to really enjoy us being there, and it became one of the most memorable moments of our trip.

Leaving there once the rain stopped, we shortly came across the long, straight, wide Via Garibaldi you mentioned above, a very unique street in Venice. (I later read that, as you mentioned, it was where a canal had been filled it, but I hadn't known it was Napoleon who did it. That makes sense since, as you noted, it has a Parisian boulevard look. This website I just found calls it &quot;the widest street in Venice: http://www.tonyslater.co.uk/prints/garibaldi.htm ) We also enjoyed a rest in that adjoining spacious shady park you mentioned.

Days like this, spent away from the tourist crowds in less-visited parts of Venice, were what really helped to make our seven days there wonderful.

By the way, many of you may already know this but I enjoyed finding out, before that trip two years ago, how &quot;Dorsoduro&quot; came about. Dorsoduro means &quot;hard back&quot; (dorsal durable) and it's named after the particularly solid subsoil in this area.

Frankly, I love them both for very different reasons. Both <i>sestieri</i> have different histories based mostly on accessibility and location.

Cannaregio is &quot;old&quot; Venice. It's also home to many Venetian locals whose families have lived here for generations. Many tourists ignore this wonderful <i>sestiere</i> for two simple but very lame reasons: one, since it's home to Venice's train station it must be the least desirable part of town and, two, if you're a day-tripper (including those who insist on seeing Venice in only two or three days), Piazza San Marco is nowhere near and that must mean something, or nothing at all. Both notions couldn't be farther from the truth.

Cannaregio and Castello have some &quot;local&quot; similarities but Cannaregio offers much more excitement in terms of food and retail, mostly because it's considered a mouth into Venice and a shopping destination for locals. Also, especially in winter, Cannaregio is better lit. The residents of Castello really do get the short end of the civic stick but they seem to prefer what some might call their second-class status for a variety of reasons.

In spite of finding all of Venice expensive, Dorsoduro is upscale for sure and it shows. There is a reason Peggy Guggenheim settled here. There are plenty of other artful highlights that contribute to the high-rent status of this quarter. Yet, Dorsoduro is on the south side of the Grand Canal and a big-bridge-with-steps away from San Marco so many tourists can't be bothered to explore here, either, which contributes to its famous &quot;quiet&quot; status.

City Secrets was featured in Vogue magazine before it was available to the masses. Initially, you could only get it via mail-order. Because of this keen marketing launch, thousands of Italy loving New Yorkers (ie: the majority of Vogue readers) jumped on the mail-order band wagon (yours truly among them).

I believe some idiot in the book (or possibly some reviewer) coined Campo Santa Margherita as the equivalent of Manhattan's Upper West Side, Venice's version of Columbus Avenue. Gag me with a spoon! So, needless to say, visit this charming campo in high season and guess who you'll see occupying all those cafe seats, and eating in the abundance of mostly overpriced, mediocre restaurants while soaking up the &quot;scene&quot; and speaking in high-volume English?

Now, in June, Campo Santa Margherita does remind me of a visit to Columbus Avenue on a weekend in Spring, or worse, a weekend in Southampton in summer. Yikes! I'll pass. On a cool day in October, it's sheer heaven, because many of Venice's under-40 set live in this area and hanging with them is a hard-to-find experience in Venice.

NYC, Cannaregio was the only sestiere we spent very little time and that's one of my only regrets from an otherwise great trip.

<i>In spite of finding all of Venice expensive, Dorsoduro is upscale for sure and it shows. There is a reason Peggy Guggenheim settled here.</i>

True, but my understanding is that the upscale part of Dorsuduro is mainly the eastern &quot;sword-tip&quot; between the Accademia and Santa Maria della Salute, where the Guggenheim is located and that the rest of Dorsoduro, while certainly not low-rent, isn't nearly as upscale.

<i>Yet, Dorsoduro is on the south side of the Grand Canal and a big-bridge-with-steps away from San Marco so many tourists can't be bothered to explore here, either, which contributes to its famous &quot;quiet&quot; status.</i>

Especially the infamous day-trippers who, I suspect, rarely make it far from San Marco.

I discovered the <i>City Secrets</i> book for Rome before my first visit there three years ago. Then I picked up the one for Venice, Florence, and Tuscany for the trip two years ago. We ran into one other couple, at our locanda in Venice, who had it with them. They were from San Francisco and had gotten married in Tuscany. In addition to the great &quot;insider&quot; tips, both of those books are, as you know, beautifully designed.

<i>I believe some idiot in the book (or possibly some reviewer) coined Campo Santa Margherita as the equivalent of Manhattan's Upper West Side, Venice's version of Columbus Avenue. Gag me with a spoon!</i>

I only recall reading one, fairly-lengthy piece on the campo in <i>City Secrets</i> by, as I mentioned earlier, an artist (I think) and I don't recall him making that particular comparison. What he did was draw contrasts with Piazza San Marco.

Perhaps, in high season, the campo is flooded with New Yorkers. But we sure didn't notice anything of the kind when we were there in April.

<i>On a cool day in October, it's sheer heaven, because many of Venice's under-40 set live in this area and hanging with them is a hard-to-find experience in Venice.</i>

That was one of the things that drew us to the campo. Our hangout became a place we found on our first evening, the Margaret Duchamp (a play on the name of the campo, Marcel Duchamp, and Rene Magritte) bar, run by a very striking Italian with a great taste in music named Luciano. He kindly gave us a couple t-shirts and, last fall, I returned the favor by sending him some compilation CDs since he loves music so much.

On Friday night athe Duchamp, we met four people in their 20s from London there and had a great time talking with them and on the next night, I had a very amazing serendipitous experience, running into a group of landscape architecture students from the U. of Minnesota and their professor. Turns out the professor had gone to landscape architecture school at the U of M with a guy I used to work with in St. Paul.

Next time you're in Venice you should pay a visit and say &quot;Hi&quot; to Luciano.

Besides the Duchamp, we loved the fruit and vegetable market in the campo as well as the nearby fruit and vegetable boat on Rio San Barnaba. There's also a very cool mask shop -- painted yellow on the outside -- on the way from the campo to San Barnaba.