Johnmango

I will be going to Venice with friends in Sept.

One friend in particular doesn't care much about the artistic or cultural things, but like various sports like biking, hiking etc. etc. - so she's thinking of skipping Venice because she's afraid that she'll be "bored".

Are there things to do in Venice if you don't want to see museums, paintings or old palaces?

ellenem

Does she like to walk? Most of the fun of Venice is just walking around getting lost. Plenty of bridges to climb. Does she like sitting at cafes? Another good activity. How about boats? Plenty of boats in Venice. There's even a beach and the weather should still be nice enough in September to enjoy it. Howeer, she may get lonely while the rest of you are enjoying all those palaces and museums.

It sounds as if she has already decided that she doesn't want to go, so perhaps she shouldn't. Her idea of fun doesn't have to be the same as her friends' idea of fun. If you let her stay home, you may avoid hearing all her bored complaints. Your next group vacation can be to a destination with more appeal for her.

Linda0515

My 13-year-old son also isn't into art or architecture but he really enjoyed Venice for exactly the reasons ellenem described. The walks and vaporetto rides are just plain fun. It's like a treasure hunt...you never know what you're going to see around the next corner.

Two other options: if your friend likes shopping/window shopping, there are tons of tiny shops with interesting items that are great for browsing. (For that matter, you could go to Murano or Burano for lace and glass and to watch them being made.) Also, Venice has a surprisingly lively cultural calendar. If your friend likes operas, orchestras, or plays there are plenty of options.

capo

Hi John. If this is a situation where she's going with you regardless, then if she gets to Venice and is bored she can take a hike, figuratively, to the Dolomites where she can proceed to hike literally.

She can walk all around Venice but I suspect that's not the kind of hiking she has in mind.

Natalia

I would suggest that she go over to the Lido, where she can romp in the sand and swim in the water, it should be warm enough in Sept. If it isn't warm she can still walk on the beaches and in the area. She can bike over there too. It isn't as "old" over there.

BrimhamRocks

Searched on Google. Found a few things in September that might interest your friend:

From August 27th to September 6th, 2003: Venice Film Festival. Fiction films, documentaries and shorts are screened, with the prestigious Golden Lion awarded for best film. Various venues.


September 7th, 2003 (first Sunday of September): Regata Storica (Historical regatta). This annual boat race, a test of the gondolieri's mettle, takes place on the Grand Canal. Boats are decorated, spirits run high and the competition is fierce.


Sept 21st, 2003: Regata Burano


Health clubs/fitness centers in Venice: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractio...ce_Veneto.html

Venice events calendar: http://www.meetingeurope.com/cultura...e_incoming.htm

Johnmango

Thanks for all the suggestions.

1) Where are the Dolomites for hiking? how far is it from Venice?

2) can you bicycle in Venice in addition to walking? are there bike rental shops?

3) What about sailing? I don't mean hopping onto a vaporetto. Are there places in Venice where I can rent a sailboat or do some water sports?

Thanks

Ryan

She can go for swim in the Grand Canal. I believe the record from Piazza San Marco to San Giorgio Maggiore is 50 laps.

suze

Well I don't like museums either, never have. Managed to squirm out of them every trip to Europe so far. But I'm not a sports nut either.

In Venice I sat around in public squares watching people, drank lots of wine in various outdoor cafes and stand up bars, ate good food, bought cool stuff in a hardware store, wrote silly postcards, found (not as easy as you might think) a grocery store and bought some fruit (long story but also not as easy as you might think) scoped out the post office, rode the vaporettos.

But I agree with the poster who mentioned, if someone is all busy thinking they'll be bored, I wouldn't want to be the one to talk them into a city they firmly believe has nothing to interest them! (although to say this about Venice is mindboggling at best!!!)

capo

John, here's a nice website I found about the Dolomites.

http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Trails/6876/

I don't know how far they are from Venice but they can't be that far since the outfit at the website below offers a daytour to them from Venice.

http://www.venice-day-tours.com/dolomites_day_tour.htm

We saw children riding bikes in Venice, mainly in campos, but I don't recall seeing any adults riding bikes. Whether adults are forbidden from doing so, I'm not sure.

Intrepid

Does she like....MEN???? If she does, and she's smart, she probaly won't have any problem while the rest of you are in those oh, so boring, museums and palaces. Seriously, I would hope she could find something to enjoy while there..lots of really good ideas above..I particularly liked the idea of "scoping out" the post office and trying to find the fresh fruit..LOL!!

pollyesther

Have her take a vaparetto to the island called Lido a few minutes away and she can bike until her heart's content. We saw people sailing off the island too, just have her go and ask around the hotels there.
The Lido is more like a resort. Do a google on Lido.

ellenem

While a child could have fun tooling around a campo on a bicycle on the main island of Venice, an adult would find it more challenging. The main island is actually about 180 little islands connected by 400 bridges--lots of carrying the bike up and down bridges (every minute or so) and too many people in the way. However, pollyesther's suggestion of the Lido for biking is right. This strip of land is a land barrier island for the lagoon and she could bike for quite a distance.

e_roz

WIth her attitude she may just want to skip it! We enjoyed walking around the back streets, exploring shops, took a boat out to San Giorgio and saw a Gregorian Mass, talked to the locals, went to a farmers market, sat in St Marks Square, had picnics and listened to the dueling symphonies......... Yea, she'll be bored.

Therese

Venice is just a cool place to be. I spent a week there with my kids this spring, and we didn't go to a single "real" museum. We did go to St. Marks and the Doge's Palace, but you could even skip those (this was my third trip to Venice and the first time I'd been to the Doge's Palace).

If she really can't appreciate any experience that's not sport-centered then I could see skipping Venice, but otherwise she'll enjoy it. It's a great place to hang out alone, too, so the others can go to museums and she can do other stuff.

One alternate activity would be canoeing and kayaking on the lagoon, very cool. A bit of searching on the web should come up with some possibilities.

Bitter

Just a thought: I know you are trying to help her have a good time (and thereby allow yourself to have a good time). However, I really think the only way she is going to have fun is if she figures out what she wants to do. My experience is that even if you hand feed some people information they don't absorb it or appreciate the situation the way the would if they did their own homework.

PalenqueBob

take a stroll along the Via Garibaldi, well away from the tourist hubbub and a place where many Italians still live, unlike most of a Venice that has been changed into restaurants, hotels and tourist shops. This is a lively plebian street full of small shops - the perfect Italy because in Venice there are no cars to ruin the otherwise quaint scene. Or take a vaparetto to the Venice Lido, a bathing beach, which, alas is like most beaches, not really unique but a relief on a hot day.

Johnmango

The canoeing in the lagoon, or hiking in the Dolomites sound ver appealing.

I did a search on Google and came up empty-handed on both. I found some hiking and biking tours but they are unfortunately for 3,5 or 7 days. The only one-day hiking tour of the Dolomite starts every Thursday, and we'll be in Venice Friday to the following Monday only.

Does anyone know where and how to rent the canoe or the bikes? I may have to do a new posting in the forum just to get the information.

Thanks for all the help.

capo

Author: PalenqueBob, we came across the Via Garibaldi on the way back from Sant Elena, after taking a vaporetto down there, and we really enjoyed it. Such a wide street for Venice, and I read that's because it's a filled-in canal.

John, I don't know, but there may be hiking trails near Lake Garda which I believe is not all that far from Venice.

I can't see why an adult would want to ride a bike in Venice itself, with all the bridges, but I'm curious if it's even permitted. The little kids we saw sure had fun careening around the campos.

HuwMorgan

My most enjoyable experience in Venice had nothing to do with museums or palaces. At one restaurant off a side canal, my wife and I were placed at a table of six. One of the couples was a German couple in their sixties and the other was a newlywed couple from southern California. The food was great but the company, especially the newlyweds, was great fun. We had such a good time that we closed the place down, downing about two or three bottles of wine. Mr. McDonnell was a Bill Murryish type of funny guy, loudly proclaiming a wish to see the Palace of the Dogs,and declaring Buon Journo to some of the people leaving the restaurant. Though we never saw the McDonnells again, my wife and I will always treasure our dinner with them that evening.