Getting lost in Venice from 9am-3am, Started from the hotel that we stayed at which was across the canal from the train station, walking aimlessly and ended up at the very far end of Venice, trying to find our way back to our hotel at 2am and feeling safe enough to pass through dark narrow alleys. It was a wonderful experience, but tiring!

for dumas1870

One of my prized secondary guidebooks is a Frommer?s publication Walking Tours Venice but it seems to be out of print, according to Amazon.com. . If there is no such thing for you as having too much information, then think about buying the book Venice for Pleasure by J. G. Links. It is available from the Common Reader catalog www.acommonreader.com and possibly from other sources. This book has walking itineraries including places to stop for rest and refreshment, and wonderful details on things to look at while you are walking and even while you are sitting down. This book is not useful for restaurants or hotels or hours that sites are open.

Some travelers recommend the "Blue Guide to Venice", especially for its walking itineraries. It is a wonderful reference, perhaps bring it with you and read up on each site before you leave your hotel room, but it is very very detailed and, in my opinion, dry reading. I like the Links book better because there is much detail and history, but the tone is conversational.

The Eyewitness Guide to Venice imo makes a better souvenir book than a guidebook, although the walking tour suggestions are good.

There were also self-guided walking tours suggested in an article in Travel and Leisure magazine. You can access that article, and many more links about Venice by going to www.travelandleisure.com, do a search on Venice, and go to the article ?Venice Step by Step.?

Dumas...just follow the street signs, they have arrows directing you.

Actually, the tourist office in the train station has maps of Venice that will help you find your way around.

traveller212,

Venice has such a magical, mysterious feeling about it.

We walked everywhere, got lost, spoke to the locals.

Saw a classical concert with a soprano singer and string quartet....www.prgroup.it

Visited the excellsior hotel on the lido

Went to the Uropa Regina part of town, drank wine at a sidewalk cafe

Quatro Firmase pizza on the lido w/ gorgonza cheese

buying a leather belt and purse, CHEAP

putting my foot in the adriatic sea

putting my foot in the gulf of venice

watching my husband play guitar in a small venice shop that made handmade furniture and things. listening to the complements.

buying a mask

the rialto bridge

a gondola ride with wine

checking out the three story mcdonalds

getting around on the water busses

i could go on...

I Love Venice, and would love to visit it during carnival.

At least one day, make the effort to get up at sunrise and walk an hour or two. At that hour it is so quiet you can hear the birds' wings moving. Everything is bathed in a magical light that can't be described in words. The crowds aren't up yet, so you have the city to yourself. I remember walking down a street there and seeing a fat little chickadee that had gotten locked in a shop overnight. The shop was beautiful, full of antiques and baskets and paper goods, and this little bird was sitting on a basket in the window, looking out and occasionally pecking at the glass. He didn't seem panicked, just waiting. The owner of the store showed up and let him out. Seeing that beautiful little bird in that gorgeous shop was just a lovely moment for me that I will never forget. Obviously,I love Venice too. I was there 2 years ago and am going back in June. I have been "homesick" for it ever since I left. My favorite thing in Venice is walking. There is just something wonderful around every corner. This time I have a book called "Whistler's (the painter)Venice" I plan to try to see as many of the spots he painted as I can find.

My word, I was reading this post and writing in my head..and when I got to mdotsie's post, they'd already said it!

You must get up very very early , and walk the streets. The quiet, the mist, distant mumers of water and birds. Incredible is the only word for it.

Hey, me too, mdotsie and jody!!!! Looks like we've discovered a treasure. I arrived early early in the morning, after a rough night's ride on an overnight train from Naples to Venice. I stashed my bag in a locker at the train station and stepped outside, only to witness the magic of Venice just before dawn.

The mist does wonders to blanket the few visible modernisms of Venice, and I truly felt as if I had left the Naples of today and arrived in the Venice of many yesterdays. Nothing was open yet, and to walk along the canals in the fog is amazing. Every once in a while, a gondola would appear just feet in front of me and disappear again, as if it never came into sight.

I caught a bakery in the act of opening for the day and was the first to indulge in the day's fresh-baked goods. And I followed the ancient arrows to Piazza San Marco just in time to watch the mist lift off the water and the sun burn through the remaining clouds to reveal a perfect blue sky... Wow.

I also got intoxicated enough to request a favorite song of one of the quintets at the end of the day. The violinist actually knew my muddled request and he and his crew played it as I cried in disbelief that I was standing Piazza San Marco, listening to my favorite song. The wine contributed to the tears, of course.

It's literally a breathtaking place. Every moment there was surreal. I love Venetians: they're beautiful, stylish, and simple. I loved the Albergo Doni, hotel where we stayed, for its coziness, its canal view, and its gracious hosts. But I must say that I reminisce the most about the little wine bar across from the hotel for many beautiful nights spent there drinking liters of red wine, people watching, and snacking on little shrimp sandwiches smothered with mayo. And one thing i definitely miss about europe in general is the walking. I love walking and in Venice, it's the only way to get around.

My favorite thing about Venice is that I get to go back!! 8 1/2 months and counting! I only spent two days and one night there on my first European trip a year ago, and that's not nearly enough. Planning a week this time, which I figure is just enough time for me to completely fall in love with the city and start to plan my next trip.

No one has voted for gelato yet...what a great break from walking around. Sitting with a cup of gelato, resting your feet, and watching the world flow by!

Anne