I am just being realistic about the difficulty " wondering" without
any planning might present , the distances on foot , and the crowded vaporettos.

We stayed five minutes from Realto Mercato...
I did not get to the market early in the morning , the junk shops
are an eyesore any time of the day.

It was our second visit to Venice ( this time for a week)
In spite of its beauty, incredible art and history
there some unattractive aspects of the city ( like everywhere).
Why pretend they don't exist.
My comments , in no way, indicate that we had a "terrible time in Venice".
Quite the contrary.

As one of Fodor's biggest naysayers about Venice, especially the notion that it is inevitably magic and everybody will "love" it, I hardly pretend the difficulties of Venice don't exist. I actually think (and often say) that it is a tragedy what mass tourism has created in today's Venice.

But I do think Venice is a good place in Italy to take children, and that "wandering" is a good plan for allowing kids to engage at their own speed. And I do want to point out that the OP is asking for some general guidance about this, how to avoid wrong moves. So the OP is not blindly assuming all wandering is a pure joy.

I'm glad your trip wasn't as bad as the tone of your posts conveyed without your realizing it.

I guess it was inevitable that we'd start splitting hairs over the definition of "wandering."

My intention was to honestly represent some ( possible) obstacles OP might encounter .
It was not a trip report.

If someone sees the junk shops around Realto as a charming addition to the market
or considers taking overcrowded vaporettos a pleasure, I beg to differ.

If you step behind the junk shops on the Santa Croce side of the Rialto, you will be in an arcade with ceiling frescoes.

The frescoes don't exactly warrant a trip in their own right, but are a bit of fun.

I think it takes a while to get a handle on Venice, to discover what lies under the tourist facade.

We encountered few visitors at Museo Civico Correr , die Frari, Scuola Grande di San Roco and even Accademia..
The junk shops ( and restaurants) around Realto were doing a business.
Cannot blame the locals.

Thank YOU very much for wonderful ideas! Really, there is no better way to get this "inside scoop". A special shout-out to nytraveler, sandralist, peter_s_aus, annhig for helping me plan my entire trip :)

We have decided to stay away from San Marco area between ~10am-~5pm. These suggestions are going to come handy :)

This might be of interest http://www.playgroundaroundthecorner...kids-can-play/
The last time we visited Venice,we rented a flat close to the Arsenale. We did most of our food shopping in the Via Garibaldi. That's one area where you can find actual Venetians. There are eating places ranging from snack bars to fairly posh

Ok, danon, but the next time someone writes about pickpockets in Barcelona, please bear in mind what you wrote here!

Dani, what hotel did you stat at near the Rialto?

In July, 2012, Keith and I stayed two weeks at Hotel Ca' Fravetto San Cassiano.

The hotel was great, but it was like a nightmare out of a HP Lovecraft novel to get over the Rialto Bridge.

So grateful for the traghetto near the fish market.

Hope you tried the cicchetti bars Do Mori and Al Merca.

Thin

Thin,
We stayed in a lovely apt. on a quiet street only a few minutes
from the market.

http://www.vrbo.com/1129059ha

I highly recommended it.



Sandra, I consider myself warned!
LOL