2 day itinerary so far. Any comments appreciated.

SATURDAY:

Cruise on Grand Canal to St. Mark's

San Marco:
Campanile di San Marco (top/view / v. St. Mark's)
Piazza San Marco (St. Mark's Square) / Basilica
Palazzo Ducale (Doge's Palace)
Palazzo Grassi (Campo San Samuele, San Marco 3231 v. San Samuele)

Bacaro Jazz (Bar?)

Dinner:

SUNDAY:

San Marco:
Rialto Bridge / Market (Rialto Vaporetto Stop, Venice 31024)

Dorsoduro:
Peggy Guggenheim Collection (Dorsoduro 701 / Calle San Cristoforo: v. Accademia)
Galleria dell'Accademia (Campo della Carità, near Accademia Bridge, Dorsoduro 1050 / v. Accademia)

Campo Santa Margherita (Dorsoduro Venice 30170 / v. Ca' Rezzonico Line 1)
• Osteria ai Carmini (in the Campo)

Cannaregio:
Ca' d'Oro (Cannaregio 3933 / v. Ca' d'Oro)

Dinner:

The fish and vegetable market at Rialto is closed Sunday - I'd go Saturday instead.

My husband and I was there last summer (end of August) for our honeymoon...and it seems like you got all the sights covered...just don't forget to take some time wandering and taking in hidden areas. We got lost and we still talk more about the locations we found while trying to locate our hotel then our actual planned trip sites, except for Doge's Palace. We had a great time there too.

From what I understand, Baccaro Jazz dosn't have live music most of the time and sometimes there isn't even canned jazz! I've read that it's extremely touristy and the food is not good, so without live jazz, I'd skip it.

If you're looking for restaurant recommendations, click on my name and look for the thread about Venice restaurants. There's a ton of great information there.

You might want to look into taking a water taxi ride over to the Lido. There you can rent bikes very cheaply and ride up and down the beachfront areas. Also, you can park them at any of the beachfront restaurants and take a walk on the seashelled beach and gaze at the Adriatic!

Nutella:
<i>just don't forget to take some time wandering and taking in hidden areas. We got lost and we still talk more about the locations we found while trying to locate our hotel then our actual planned trip sites...</i>

Quoted for truth. The &quot;controlled directional misadventure&quot; is the very essence of the Venice experience, for me. Get a little bit lost, and find something unexpected!

thanks for the great tips! I am looking forward to &quot;getting lost.&quot; We're staying in the Jewish Ghetto, so I'm sure we'll find some off-the-beaten paths.

plafield, I have a fairly comprehensive resto list if you want to review it. I'd love feedback!

so far, my top places are Osteria da Fiore, Alle Testiere, Lineadombra, Osteria di Carmini and Trattoria Ca'd'Oro.

the full list is here:
Antiche Carampane (S. Polo, 1911)
Alle Testiere (Castello 5801)(closed Sun/Mon) $$$ !
Al Tre Spiedi (Cannaregio 5906) $
Anice Stellato (Cannaregio, 3272) $
Antica Trattoria La Furatola (Calle Lunga S. Barnaba, Dorsoduro) $$
Do Farai Osteria (Calle Capeller, Dorsoduro) $$$
Lineadombra (Ponte dell'Umilta, Dorsoduro, 19) $$
La Bea Vita (Fondamenta Ormesini 2754) (Lunch)
La Zucca (Santa Croce 1762 (on Calle Tintor)
MET (Metropole Hotel, Riva degli, Schiavoni, Castello 4149) $$$$
Osteria da Fiore (S. Polo, 2202) $$$$
Osteria Alla Frasca (Cannaregio, 5176) $$$
Trattoria Ca' d'Oro (Calle del Pistor, 3912 Cannaregio)
Trattoria Altanella (gnocci) (Calle delle Erbe, 268, Giudecca) $$
Vini da Pinto (San Polo 367, Pescheria) (Sat lunch - Baccala) $
Vini da Gigio (Cannaregio, 3628/A, 30131) $

You didn't mention it specifically so I thought I better mention the dueling bands in Piazza San Marco in case you plan to make dinner your last stop for the evening.
It was so special to us that we're going back to Venice this summer, in part, to repeat the experience.

I don't want to hijack the OP's thread but I find it fascinating that Mr. Biscuit's Venice restaurant list has only one name that over laps with mine! Where did you get most of these recs from? When do you go? Did you read the thread where I asked for feedback on my Venice restaurant list? I have to wonder, are there so many great restaurants in Venice (not what I have been led to understand, especially in Dorsoduro, where we're staying) or are people's tastes in restaurants so subjective a recommendation is useless?

Maybe we should move this discussion back to my post on Venice restaurants?

Plafield-I know virtually all the restaurants on this list, and sure, I can write out a list that is longer than this one, and there really are a zillion little bars and restaurants in Venice. But what's the point in that? These are all restaurants listed in guidebooks-and many of them I would not recommend. For example, I wouldn't recommend, &quot;Osteria Da Fiore&quot; (which by the way, my good friends live right next to) because dinner for two will run you over $300.00, (that's usually without wine) and many people say that their meal was not that great.

Alla Vedova at Ca d'Oro is one listed in every guidebook, it's good, yes, it's a bacaro/trattoria, yes, but it is definitely crowded with tourists, (I walked by there a couple of times a few weeks ago, and all I saw were tourists). I go to a bacaro just about 20 yards from Alla Vedova that I not only think is better, but it's cheaper as well. That would be &quot;Ai PROMOSSI SPESI&quot; on Calle d'Oca, which the NY Times Travel section recommended a couple of years back. It's great. It's right off the Campo SS Apostoli, at Ca' d'Oro vaporetto stop.

Again, if you want to go to the very expensive restaurants on that list, you can, the Metropole Hotel dining room is very expensive-but there are all tourists there, as well. Is it worth all the money? I don't think so. I've been to the Metropole-I'd go there for a drink though.

I recommended restaurants that Venetians go to -and there are only a very few on that list that qualify.

Ai Tre Spedi, Antiche Carampane (right around the corner from Pinault's favorite &quot;Vecio Fritolin&quot; are two restaurants I'd recommend, because they are very good, not that expensive, and Venetians go to them. Antiche Carampane has a sign in the window that says &quot;NO TOURIST MENU HERE&quot; (I found that kind of funny!) But Vini da Pinto, for example, has at least 3 separate tourist menus, just to compare and contrast.

Lineadombra, by the way, is a relatively new, but modern restaurant, in back of La Salute-they bill &quot;modern Venetian cuisine&quot;-i.e., not an old fashioned trattoria-but it does have a nice terrace. Those sorts of places in Venice mean you're going to be paying a lot for usually rather mediocre food.

If one wants to go to restaurants where you'll see nothing but tourists, and pay top dollar to boot, obviously one can-and you can choose from that list. I happen to think it's better to go to those not listed in every guidebook, but yet are known for their good cuisine, known, because Venetians wouldn't go there otherwise-and there are a number of them.

Plafield. Thanks. No intention of competing, but it's nice to have some options for comparison. Had a look at your list and didn't see anything I recognized, so I posted mine for an alternate view. I find it shocking to discover my places are so pedestrian, since I went to great lengths to avoid the Frommers and Fodors of the world, only really coming here for itinerary issues.

I found most of my places on Chowhound, Concierge and the New York Times. But I guess it's inevitable that when dealing with a city like Venice, you will hit some well-travelled spots, unless you are truly &quot;in-the-know&quot; as Girlspy seems to be.

I will have to seriously reconsider some of my recommendations. I do want at least one special occasion place, but I am not trying to break the bank and eat overprice, so thanks for the insight.

Thanks a ton, Girlspy. I am whittling my list down as we speak. If you think any others on my list raise a red flag or are worth keeping, let me know.

This is exactly why I comb Fodors as opposed to &quot;Foodie&quot; sites. I look for people who have traveled and eaten in the off the beaten track places, not the places that have been recommended in every guide book or foodie site. Sometimes I just follow my instincts about someone's ability to be trusted for a rec. My nose tells me that girlspy really knows what she's talking about! LOL! it doesn't take a genious to figure that one out though. Thanks so much to so many well traveled folks who are willing to share! Mr. Bisuit, don't forget to post back when you return!

I think we'll have to agree to disagree on that one. I find that the foodie sites are far less visited than the big travel sites and are more likely to have opinions based on quality rather than popularity. A lot of foodies are similar to people like Girlspy in the fact that they spend great effort seeking out great places that aren't heavily visited. I personally know very few people like us who are willing to even bother.

I have noted that you have managed to find some people here who break the mold and that's great, but I would think that the general consensus is that the majority of people on these boards use recommendations from the guides and sites like this.