Who has been to Venice, Italy?

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Irish Wander

Was there in Aug 06. Very nice and romantic

No cars or motor vehicles in Venice itself. You can drive to mainline and walk or take a boat to other parts of Venice.

Imagine boats doing everything a motor vehicle does in normal land based cities. Taxis, hauling supplies, delivering newspapers, police, ambulance and garbage service.

Unless you plan on boating all over the place, you will walk a lot.
This is doable unless you are caring heavy packages.

Lots to do and see. Check out the days tours they can save you time when you try to get into some of the more popular attractions. Tour companies have pre-arrangements with attractions.

Great food - but the help is almost rude. Eating places get very crowded at peak times - and they - the help do not honor the amount of time who have waited.

Last of all --- it is a very expensive place. Breakfast $15 to $20 --
lunch $20 to $30 -- diner $50 to $60 these are per person for average kind of places. The better places are a lot more.

Also do not feed the pigeons -- they can carry very dangerous diseases

jat

Venice is a wonderful city and very unique! Yes, it is true that Venice has no cars. It is a city built on mudflats in a lagoon, and the "streets" of Venice truly are the canals. The main one is the Grand Canal (Canale Grande in Italian) and is about 2 and a half miles long. Amazingly, everything is transported via the canals: people, food, and all sorts of products as well as services such as ambulances and the police.

There are many many small canals which are fun and fascinating to ride through on a gondola. We got to see many wonderful Venetian buildingsin beautiful pastel colors, including Casa Nova's house while cruising the canals in a gondola.There are about 409 little bridges going over these canals. I enjoyed both walking over them and sailing under them in the gondola.You can get around Venice on foot-it is not a large city-or you can use some sort of water transportation. Water taxis are expensive (could be 90 euros) so if you are on a budget you can try the Vaporetto which is a water bus that makes many stops along the Grand Canal.

There are so many fabulous things to see in Venice. Piazza San Marco is the main touristy area and contains the St. Mark's Basillica. The Doge's Palace is also there as well as the belltower (campanile) There are wonderful shops right at the Piazza and also in the maze of alleyways in Venice. I particularly enjoyed shopping for things that Venice is known for, such as masks, lace, and the famous Murano glass. It is easy to get lost in the maze, but ask the locals for directions and they are good about helping you. If you know a few Italian phrases, they will really go out of their way for you!!! I found the Italian people to be very friendly and cheerful, and had many interesting conversations with the local people and shopkeepers. People in the shops warm up to you if you greet them as you enter with a "buon giorno" (good day) or buona sera (good evening)

The Rialto Bridge is about 500 years old and one of the three bridges crossing the Grand Canal. It is a beautiful bridge and should be on anyone's Venice must-see list. There are great restaurants in the area near the Rialto Bridge right on the Grand Canal and we enjoyed dining outside there as the sun was setting.

Be sure to visit some of the less touristy areas too (the five other neighborhoods or sestieri of Venice are less touristy than San Marco sestieri). And things seemed to be a bit less expensive too!

Two islands worth visiting are Murano where they make the famous Murano glass, and Burano where they make lace.

The food in Italy is out of this world!!Since Venice lies within a lagoon, seafood is big there and it is fresh and delicious! I loved the seafood salads there as well as the seafood main courses. Of course the pasta dishes are wonderul too, and don't forget to have gelato. Ice cream will never be the same once you have gelato!!

In fall and winter the is the chance of aqua alta (high water) especially in Piazza San Marco. They do set up ramps to walk over the floods, and you can bring a good pair of waterproof boots if you go at a flood prone time of year. That is the only down side I can think of about Venice. And I must say, I felt quite safe there too. Italy has a reputation for pickpockets, but if you use common sense and are careful with your belongings you should be okay.

Whatever you do there, you will enjoy this very very unique, romantic and fascinating city. Ciao!!!

cholilagros

i have been there. it is beautiful. no cars. no polution only water all over.

keralafan

Yes. No cars- even garbage gets collected in boats. It is a small city through. You can walk across the city in an hour. On any given day there are more tourists than residents. It is wonderful early in the morning or late in the evening after the day trippers leave.

johnsredgloves

I haven't been there yet, but I'm going in December. From what I've heard, there are no cars. All travel around the city is by boat (water bus or gondola).

Ace Librarian

I have been there. It is a bit unreal. There are no cars. There are boat buses on the major canals. The main square--St. Marks-- floods about a dozen times a year. They put up ramps for people to walk on when flooding occurs. Most average people do not live IN Venice. They commute from outside the city. If you get a chance to go, it is a trip you will remember.

tonalc1

No cars; it's all boat travel on canals. It's really walkable, though.

rukidding

I've been. Nope, no cars in the immediate city. It's kind of cool! There was a small fire nearby when I was there and they have fire boats instead of fire trucks, but they sound the same.

sweetirsh

I have. The are cars. They just sank.

shoe s

no cars ,follow the arrows along the walls on the narrow passgaeways called sleeves so you dont get lost, water taxis cost a fortune ,water busses are much better the gondola ride is not cheap

Y-7-Y

sorry but my friend did go ther , and she told me it is wanderful , and its perfict for new couple

but also you can search in yahoo (VENICE PIC)

i deserve the best

spikybeagle5

Really nice. no worrying about being run over. it easy to get lost in the many square, street and canals. But getting lost lets u find interesting buildings and sights. A map is a most have and u will still get lost. i even had a GPS and i still get lost. Take lots of pictures this city in unique to the world

JULIE S

I have for my honeymoon lovely romantic city ride on a gondola a must though try and negotiate a deal as can be expensive. Yes you do get some cars

Le Miccine

I've been to Venice several times. It's true that there are no cars at all. Buses, taxis, police, ambulances, fire fighters, and even hearses are all on the water. I like Venice at all times of the year--except when it is flooded.

stan l

I have, no cars, lotsa boats, great place to visit.

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