DonnaCape

We are traveling to Venice in September. This is a tag at the end of our Italy vacation. we will only have 2 nights there and the only full day is Sunday. Is this going to be a problem. Are things open there and do they run tours on Sundays? Any help is appreciated. Also where to stay with such a short visit.

annhig

hi donna,

apart from some churches being closed during services [including san marco] there is no reason why everything should not be open for business as usual - the accademia was open on Easter sunday, i remember!

as for accommodation, we'd need to know a bit more - how are you arriving [by plane or train] and where are you going next? what is your budget?

franco

Many churches are closed all Sunday - all churches of the Chorus association, that is, which encompasses 16 of the most important churches of Venice. And there's of course no market at Rialto on Sundays. Plus most restaurants are closed, as well. So it's definitely not the best day to visit Venice. Museums, as Ann said, are of course open, however.

annhig

franco - you are right of course; however, access to churches, including san marco, can be gained by the old fashioned expedient of going to a service.

i seem to remember that even the most devout were ushered out of the basilica after the service on Easter Sunday so that the hoi poloi could come back in.

franco

As far as S. Marco, you're of course right - not a member of the Chorus association!

stepsbeyond

Do be aware, however, that if you go to a service, you will be expected to sit through it and behave as a worshipper, and there are church ushers patrolling the aisles who will ask you to leave if you attempt to wander and sightsee.

I thought it was worth it on the Christmas morning I visited. But the enforcement was strict.

elaine

Plenty to do. Museums. Old Jewish Ghetto. Islands of Burano and Torcello.
Doge's Palace. Basilica is open after 2pm or so, as are some other churches.
You might like to look at this website http://www.churchesofvenice.co.uk/

nancythenice

Sunday evening mass at San Marco is a treat because they turn on all the lights, making the incredible mosaics shine. You have to sit through the service, rather than wandering about, but it is well worth it. When I was there in November, a side door was open, and those wanting to tour were turned away, but if you told the attendant you were there for the service they let you in.

tuscanlifeedit

franco, I could be wrong but I seem to remember using my Chorus Pass for at least one church on a Sunday.

franco

tuscanlifeedit, once upon a time, yes. No more, though.
(Btw, did you notice? I posted a lengthy response on your Tuscany/Umbria thread.)

KERRYAJS1

I was in Venice a couple of years ago in November and found that the shops, markets etc(especially the ones near the railway station), were all open Sunday until quite late at night (around 11pm, I think) but on Monday a few shops were closed all day and pretty much everything around the station closed early. I can't recall if this was the case in the St Marco area, but I have an idea that Mondays is the day off there for small businesses.

franco

11 pm is just plain wrong, sorry. Not even all restaurants are open until 11 pm in Venice, let alone shops - Venice goes to bed earlier than perhaps any other place all over Italy.
And shops were "all open Sunday"...? Well, there are certain shops open on Sundays: the ones selling tourist stuff. Masks, glass and the like. Plus ONE real shop: Coop on Piazzale Roma. That's the only place where you'd get an apple on a Sunday in Venice. Or a piece of soap. Or of butter. In short, the things people need in real life. To sum it up, shops are "all" closed on Sundays, and yes, more than just a few also on Monday mornings. Just a few businesses with a tourists-only clientele are an exception.

kappa1

> Coop on Piazzale Roma. That's the only place where you'd get an apple on a Sunday in Venice.

That's not correct as far as I know and have experienced last time being in December. Large (relatively for Venice) Billa supermarkes are open Sunday something like 09h00 to 20h00, the one on Strada Nova in Cannaregio and one in Zattere, Dorsoduro. Also many tourist/souvenir shops (there are many of them especially in Venice) are open too. I don't know if you are going for shopping in Venice but since that is being talked about above. But of course most "everyday" shops are closed.

kappa1

But agree that most shops are closed by 21h00 or earlier especially in Novêmber that is a low season.

franco

Great to know, thanks - this must be Billa's answer to the Piazzale Roma Coop (which was the first and, until recently, only shop, I repeat, open on Sundays). So next time I'll forget to buy something on Saturday, I won't have to go as far as Piazzale Roma.
9 pm, though, is incorrect, as well, sorry. The large supermarkets (i.e. the ones you mentioned) are open through 8 pm, normal "supermarkets" (i.e. large grocery stores, in Venice) through 7 or 7.30, very small groceries until 7.30 or 8. After 8 pm, no "real life" shop is open.

kappa1

> 9 pm, though, is incorrect, as well, sorry. The large supermarkets (i.e. the ones you mentioned) are open through 8 pm, normal "supermarkets" (i.e. large grocery stores, in Venice) through 7 or 7.30, very small groceries until 7.30 or 8. After 8 pm, no "real life" shop is open.

I am a cautios kind. Wrote MOST (there could be exceptions) AT LATEST and BY (so earlier closing possible), bacause I cannot tell for all the shops.

On the other hand, you were wrong by writing COOP was the only shop open on Sunday. As far as I remember, Billa Strada Nova has been open on Sunday since some time, a few years or from when they opened, about 8 years now?

KERRYAJS1

Sorry if I seemed to say that all shops such as supermarkets are open Sundays. I meant tourist/souvenir stalls and shops are open late especially near the station. Some smaller pizza and ice cream stalls/restaurants in that area are open late as well though perhaps I was wrong about 11pm. Maybe not the most scenic area of Venice (though I love every inch of the place!) but great if you want to shop for knick knacks after all day sightseeing. I really enjoy the late night stroll back to St Marco after souvenir shopping at the railway station as well.

annhig

I think that the message from this thread is that you won't be able to count on as many things being open on sundays in Venice as there would be in Rome or Paris.

but so long as you are prepared to visit museums rather than churches, and/or sit still during a church service, and sit down to eat before 9pm you won't starve and you won't be bored.

<<Sunday evening mass at San Marco is a treat because they turn on all the lights, making the incredible mosaics shine. You have to sit through the service, rather than wandering about, but it is well worth it.>>

we sat still through the entire easter sunday mass in San Marco, including the 30 minutes plus before it started. Even our hyperactive DS managed it. Really, what with people-watching, the music, the mosaics, and meeting the Patriach [well getting within 3 feet of him] it wasn't difficult.

you should enter the Basilica through the north door for services, and just try to look as if you mean to be there.

franco

Yes, exactly. I'm of course aware that the question of buying food on Sundays is of limited relevance for the thread starter, who's going to spend too little time in Venice to buy food at all, but since so many more people are reading these threads (now and later), I just think it's important to tell them: if you've rented an apartment in Venice (which is what many tourists are doing), don't expect to buy the necessary food and drinks on a Sunday. I conclude that I've been stupid to go to Coop on Piazzale Roma for so many years now whenever I had forgotten to buy anything (luckily, it doesn't occur really often), and I'll go to Billa on Zattere in the future (which is much handier to where I usually stay), but whether there's one supermarket open or four (there's another Billa in Cannaregio's far west), it doesn't change much... you can go and carry a bag of polenta across town, but you wouldn't want to stock up on mineral water, and carry it home from any outlying supermarket, whether it's Coop or Billa. (Believe me, I've carried many bottles of mineral water in Venice.) And you won't be able to find a loaf of fresh bread on a Sunday, which is why many Venetian bakeries are offering a pane della domenica on Saturdays - a bread that's going to be still fine on Sunday, as opposed to their normal, every-day bread that's already getting stale as soon as you've reached home after buying it. (Don't ask me why they don't bake that superior bread all week long!)

annhig

And you won't be able to find a loaf of fresh bread on a Sunday, which is why many Venetian bakeries are offering a pane della domenica on Saturdays - a bread that's going to be still fine on Sunday, as opposed to their normal, every-day bread that's already getting stale as soon as you've reached home after buying it. (Don't ask me why they don't bake that superior bread all week long!)>>

because that's what they've always done, and if they went to the trouble of baking it, no-one would buy it as they only buy that type of bread on Saturdays...which is why people like you [and may I say me] go to Venice because in so many ways [though obviously not in the matter of supermarkets] it is like it always was.

next time i go to Venice I will make a point of asking for pane della domenica on Saturday....can you get it in Rome too?