What were your favorite experiences in Venice? Museums, monuments, walks, restaurants, cafes, tell me what made it a great visit for you (specifics welcomed).
Thanks.

I am so in love with the city that for every item I name, there are 5 others

here are a few, in random order

churches
Frari church--Titian's altar painting
Miracoli church, beautiful interior
Zanipolo church--paintings, monuments
Salute Church--sheer magnitude
San Giorgio dei Greci--lots of gold
Redentore (church) for the architecture
San Giorgio Maggiore, for the view, from the top, of the Venice waterfront

Correr Museum, for the Bellinis
(paintings, not drinks)

Museo Diocesano
peaceful cloister, I like it because hardly anyone goes there

Ca d'Oro, for the architecture and the small art collection and the view of the canal

Peggy Guggenheim collection, for the view of the Grand Canal, not so much for the art. Nice cafe as well.

Doge's Palace, art and architecture

Ghetto, for the history and the perspective

The walk from San Marco to the Ghetto--not as touristed, good shops

The walk from the Accademia bridge to the Salute church

Campo Santa Margherita for gelato

an hour spent in the outdoor cafe of Florian, while the music is playing.
10 euro for gelato or coffee and a shared pastry is worth it.

visiting Torcello, for lunch and for the cathedral--dates to the 7th century, gorgeous mosaics

dinner at the Hotel Cipriani, or Da Raffaele, or Da Fiore, or Antico Martini, or Trattoria San Toma for pizza, or several other places

Walking past the place where they make the gondolas, in Dorsoduro

using a traghetto (boat) to cross the "street" (canal)

Having breakfast at my hotel, and knowing that ahead of me lies a day spent in Venice. Bliss.

Vaporetto #82....around & around the Grand Canal I go..........it was especially terrific when all the Botero sculptures were along the canal!

An early morning walk to see San Pietro di Castello!!
Here's a link to some of the photos I took!!
http://www.pbase.com/baileyzim/venice

<i><b>The first time you see the city you can't believe your eyes.</b></i>

I approached from the airport in the alilaguna. It starts as a speck, then it starts to look like a toy city. As you get closer you can't believe your eyes. I understand from threads here, the first view after arriving from the train station may be more awesome because it happens all at once.

<b><font color=orange>The light.</font></b>

I was there in winter when it was very misty. It makes the city look more magical &amp; mysterious.

<font color=green><b>People watching at Harry's Bar
<font color=red><b>Dinner at Antico Martini
<font color=blue><b>The mask shops
<font color=yellow>Discovering limoncello</font>
<b><font color=pink>The canal view out my window
<b><font color=gold>PROSECCO
<b><font color=purple>The Bridge of Sighs</font>
<font color=aqua>WALKING and discovering
</font></b></font></b></font></b></b></font></b></font></b></font>

Elaine probably covered it best.

All I can add is that my wife and I enjoy Venice as a place to walk, explore, people watch and enjoy the atmosphere....especially in the evening when the day trippers have departed. The other stuff is added pleasure.

It is expensive to eat and drink there, but they have you trapped in a great location. Just pay the bill and enjoy the town. I complained about the prices on our first trip in 1971 and still complain today...but would go back anytime.

Make it your own city and you too will have a great visit. Getting lost on foot is fun in Venice.

My favorite thing? That's easy: Getting lost as we walked the maze of little streets, small canals and narrow alleys. Every corner we turned was a joyous sight.

My favorite part of Venice was seeing St. Mark's Square for the first time. I didn't expect to be so blown away by its beauty. Also returning there at night for an (overpriced but worth it) tiramisu and glass of wine, while watching the dualing quintets play... heaven!

My other favorite thing... sunset. We sat near the lagoon and watched the most gorgeous sunset of our lives. I'll never forget that moment... nor any other moment in Venice.

A nice thing to do is walk right past Harry's Bar without stopping by to be ripped off and disappointed.

Seriously, Elaine said it well and she also has a great file on Venice.

Well said Elaine--but I expect no less.

One thing that I enjoyed when in Venice, besides the obvious, was getting bombarded by the salesmen from Murano offering you a free ride over to Murano to buy some glass.
I took them up on their offer. We got a free, private water taxi ride over to the island. You walk in their factory and then go out the front door. You are free to move about the island on your own time, enjoying the scenery which is less crowded than Venice but yet still looks the same. The cafes are pleasant and the pace seems even slower than Venice. For 3.50 EUR/pp, we took a vaporetto ride back to San Marco when we felt like it.

Hi traveller212
Everyone has told you what they think and I have been to Venice twice. My favorite experience was my first time there sitting in St Marks square listening to the music, paying too much for coffee and dessert and seeing St Marks by night. It stands out as one of if not the most romantic moments of our lives. My husband and I almost (we did) cried to think we were so fortunate to be there with each other. I am ready to go back. Happy travels.

I have just returned from my first trip to Venice. It was wonderful! Here's what we did: first day we did the Accademia area -Gallerie Accademia and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection! Talk about two extremes of art...and we loved both. Bought tickets for a Vivaldi Four Seasons concert from a nice young man in period costume for the next night (it was wonderful, by the way and we got to see the Rialto area both for dinner and the concert). Had cappucino at PGC in the cafe and would have had lunch if we hadn't already grabbed pizza on our way out of the Accademia. Passed by an exquisite Murano glass store between the 2, should have bought there because we never saw anything as unique as their pieces. Had to get back to our ship to go on a private tour of the Doge's Palace that evening so we were also able to see San Marco Square on Day 1. Day 2 took us back to San Marco for sight-seeing, shopping, lunch and then we went to tour the Jewish Ghetto which was very interesting. In the evening we enjoyed the concert. Day 3 was saved for going to Burano and leaving for the airport. So much to do, so little time! We loved the Vaporettos because each time we took one we saw fabulous buildings and met interesting people. There are wonderful restaurants everywhere you go. Where are you staying? We stayed very close to San Marco Square at the Hotel Ala and really liked the hotel and its location. Make sure you buy a vaporetto pass for as long as you are going to be there. I started out with a 24 hour pass but should have bought the 72 hour one, it would have worked out to be cheaper in the long run.

I should mention one thing more: the person I travelled with really wanted to go on a gondola but everyone we spoke to said that it cost $150 for an hour's trip-with or without singing, with or without the luxurious upholstery. Did not appeal to me to spend that amount. Wouldn't you know as we were leaving from our hotel I noticed a pamphlet that said you could pay $30 to share a gondola at 7:30 p.m. for an hour-and-a-half trip through the canals. Turns out there are several such opportunities.

Most romantic city I've been to,just beautiful and unique ,the views , the atmosphere... like a fantasy , a dream.If you're alone ,the place probably would make you fall in love with somebody...

Just being there! I've been back from Venice for over 2 months and I still get &quot;homesick&quot; for it. It has a magical pull...

My favorite thing probably was sitting in Piazza San Marco at night drinking prosecco, while listening to the dueling band. It as a warm evening and I felt I could stay there all night. The next day, we walked all over the different little alleys from Piazza San Marco to our hotel which was near the train station. I can't wait to go back and spend a week there, just exploring the city.

Besides the obvious attractions of Venice that have already been mentioned numerous times. My favorite thing about Venice was how quiet it was. After leaving the almost psychoticness of Florence, the absolute lack of any kind of wheeled form of transportation, was the most peaceful thing to me. Just imagine, no cars, no bikes, no mopeds (in Florence they outnumber the art and tourists combined) no rollerblades, skateboards, you get the point. Just people walking and floating. Don't get me wrong the sights are amazing, but I just thought a different view point might help.

Besides the well-known sights, museums, churches, experiences, and such you can find in all the guidebooks--and all worth seeing--we enjoy walking away from the heavily touristed areas and finding a small, uncrowded campo with a cafe or bar where we can sit, talk, watch the local folks go about their business and the occasional tourists wandering through concentrating on their maps and guidebooks. I learned to enjoy Campari and soda while sitting outside a bar at sunset in just such a campo.

Three words: Controlled directional misadventure. Wandering lost in that fair city is far more enjoyable than any single place, thing, monument or destination.

Does anyone know of any self-guided walks you go on? Where do you download the info or what books are they found in?

Our favorite thing about Venice was also St. Mark's Square, listening to the different orchestras with a bottle of wine to share. I was also crying and didn't want to come back home our last night there. It's an unbeleivable city. We did Florence &amp; Venice, in Floence we ran around and saw every attraction. Venice we decided to take it easy so we could be relaxed when we got back home. So we walked around, got lost and enjoyed the city. St. Mark's Basilica is also unbelievable. Can't wait to go back to buy more glass jewelery.