ok some tips on saving money in Venice!
Buy a 3 day vaporetto pass at the airport I think its 22 euros(available at the english speaking kiosk in arrivals) and rather than take the expensive waterbus into town you are already allowed to use the road bus no 5 from right outside the terminal which will take you to the top of the Grand canal at P Roma. It takes less time than the boat and at this time of year you arn't missing much. You can then jump on the no 1 boat which stops everywhere on the Grand canal to get to your hotel and use as many boats as you like to explore all the time you are there plus the return fare to the airport is covered too. I assume you are only going for 3 days?
I usually rent apartments when I go - you can buy wonderful food at the Rialto market and cook delicious meals for yourself. Usually cheaper than a hotel too - we paid 120 euros a night for a 2 bedroom place in Dec. Otherwise do pick up snacks and small drinks at the small wine bars - stand and eat and the wine and the nibbles are fantastic and cheap.
St Marks is free but its worth paying a bit extra to see the Golden Altar. V cold at this time of year, take really warm coats and possibly consider putting wellies in - we got stuck in a deep Acqua Alta in Dec and were so glad to be able to get around with them on.
Good cheap restaurants around the Misericorda area in Canneregio and also round Rialto on the San Polo side - but not on the G canal! Fish can be pricy, pizzas and pastas are of course cheap.
I think it is possible to get multipasses for churches and museums to cut costs too.
Have a wonderful time - its a magic place in winter without the crowds.

M

Does anyone know of reasonable places to eat? I don't wish to go to Cipriani every night.

It depends what you mean by reasonable.

In October last year, we went to 2 very good restaurants. We had an aperitif, a starter, main course, pudding, coffee and a bottle of very good wine. Both were around 115 euros, for 2.

If this is ok, I'll give names and directions.

It is possible to find reasonably priced restaurants in Venice, usually often they're pizza/pasta typical italian and as a general rule, just head away from St Mark's Sq.

There is a saying in Venice that restaurants get cheaper the further away from St Marks you get!

We were in Venice in January. We found that even a couple of minutes walk from Venice and prices became quite reasonable.

Never been to Italy before and was wondering the best way to book a short break departing anytime over the next few weeks. I have tried all of the usual websites, lastminute.com etc. to no avail.

There are 2 adults trevelling and can fly from either Cardiff, Bristol or Birmingham.

I was also concerned about the cost of getting from the airport to the hotels as one site I looked on said it will cost around 90euro on the watertaxi. Is this correct or a rip off?

Hope someone can help.

Try something like http://www.travelsupermarket.com - a quick look shows that Easyjet fly Bristol to Venice, or KLM from Birmingham.

We stayed in this hotel in Venice and absolutely loved it - it's only 2 minutes from St Marks and is full of character - if you look at the pictures we stayed in the room decorated in orange with the beamed ceiling.

http://www.anticavenezia.com/eng/index.html

We booked through http://www.venere.com as it has some good user reviews to compare the hotels at various prices for your dates.

Don't bother with a water taxi - you get get the allilaguna http://www.alilaguna.it (a water bus) for about 11 euros.

Hi, My boyfriend and I are thinking about booking one of the low cost flights to Venice in Feb/March time next year. I have read lots of info already on here but feel a bit daunted and have a few questions.

1. Is it just as easy to get from Treviso airport as it is from Marco Polo airport as the cheapest flights I can find are with Ryan air, or is it worth paying a bit more and flying into Marco Polo?

2. How do you know if a restaurant are going to add on a cover charge and tax etc are these noted on the menu's?

3 Do the Venetians speak English? I know this is a terrible question but we dont speak any Italian and so are afraid we might struggle to communicate.

4. Is it easy to get to the Lido as I would love to go for a quick look round.

5. We definatley want to stay in actual Venice itself, not the mainland. We would like a hotel with lots of character and nice views but dont want to pay the earth. Any recommendations?

6. Is March a good time to go? What will the weather be like?

Thanks

I''ll answer what I can

1 - don't know I'm afraid, we went to Marco Polo.

2 - it usually says on the menu outside - some places add both a cover and a service charge but you will find it cheaper a few steets away from San Marco, etc. You'll find plenty of places that do set priced tourist menus if you're on a tight budget.

3- We don't speak any Italian and had no problems at all, they're used to tourists.

4 - you can get the vaporeto or alilaguna to the Lido - we didn't go there but it's easy enough to get about on the various water busses.

5- We stayed in this hotel in Venice and absolutely loved it - it's only 2 minutes from St Marks and is full of character - if you look at the pictures we stayed in the room decorated in orange with the beamed ceiling.

http://www.anticavenezia.com/eng/index.html

6 - we went end of February, beginning of March last year. The weather isn't guaranteed but when we were there, it was bright and sunny but very cold - around freezing point at night - fine for sight-seeing and not too crowded. We had a great time and really enjoyed wandering round, riding up and down the Grand Canal on a water bus and generally getting lost round the maze of little alleyways.

Mmmm. Jaffa cakes!!

1, Flights to Marco Polo should cost the same as Treviso. Have you tried Easy Jet?

2, Not easy to tell but it shouldn't add too much extra anyway. Eat away from the tourist hotspots - St Marks, Rialto etc - and go to areas like Doursodouro, Cannareggio instead. Full of character and some excellent restaurants.

3, Some do some don't. Struggle through, it's fun.

4, Take a ferry from the front of the Doge's Palace. You can get to all the islands, and Croatia from there but to be honest there isn't much at Lido. Now Burano, that's a different matter

5, We stayed here http://www.venere.com/hotel/index.php?htid=8662& the Hesperia Hotel in Cannareggio and found it suited us perfectly. In nice area and picturesque too (and romantic, nudge, nudge)

Read the reviews on the page, we're in there somewhere. Also explore Venere.com a bit more too. Excellent website with thousands of choices.

6, Don't know about March but it shouldn't be too bad. Don't forget it's a bit further south than us.

Hope you make a good choice and you won't fail to be impressed with Venice. Probably the most romantic city in the world.

Posted in wrong thread.

Has anyone here ever bought an Orange Venice Card? I'm getting conflicting info about whether we have to order it in advance or if we can just buy it in one of the tourist offices when we get there.

Hi Corinne

I don't know if this will help, but I've found THIS website which contains Venice Card details.

Pippy

You can buy the card at the airport on arrival. Do get one. It covers all the vaporetti trips except the Allilaguna into Venice and gives you free entry into several museums and churches. This latter also saves queuing for entry into the more popular buildings.
Give my love to the Salute.

Hi Pippy and rpbristol

Thanks for the link and advice - I've already been looking at the Venice Card website but it only gives info on how to pre-book it. We don't want to do this as the places where you have to pick the cards up from are a long way from our hotel. We are flying into Verona (doing a twin centre) so won't be able to buy the card at the airport. According to our guidebook we should be able to get them at the main tourist office nr San Marco - but the website doen't say this. Has anyone got any experience of buying the card in Venice itself?

I'm just thinking about going to Venice over Christmas, but I'm worried that nowhere will be open on Christmas Day (except for the churches - we could always go to Mass). Can anyone advise? Also any idea what the weather will be like? Or how long is a piece of string?

Hi off to venice in a few weeks can't wait only for two day break not sure what to expect also what is the weather like out there in September? Thanks x

Hi Has any one stayed at the Clarion hotel river?If so what is it like staying there end of September .Thanks

Hi,off to Venice on Sept 26th for 2 days,just wondered if it is dear out there for food ,drink,gondolas so i can get an idea of how much money i need to take.Thanks