I’ll be in Italy over the new year and will spend 4 days in Venice.
I’ve never been before and have looked at the usual websites.
Can anyone recommend some must do things/must see places?
Which bars/restaurants would you recommend?
Thanks in advance.

Go to old Jewish ghetto and Dorsoduro areas. They’re lovely but less busy and restaurants are quite sensibly priced compared to the honeypot area

+1 for the ghetto and dorsoduro. Burano is well worth a visit too.

Look at your bank balance after you leave and go wtf!

If you can, check the tide tables. If there’s spring tides, an hour or so before a high tide, pay the euro or whatever it costs now to get up to the balcony of St Mark’s and watch the square flood
From the railway station, catch vaporetto #1 and sit in the open bit at the back – possibly the best public transport trip in the world

You ask???

Seriously, the more you wander away from the main tourist routes and the whole San Marco area, the better you will find food and drink, and the cheaper too.

Am amazing place – a working city that is afloat. And the vaporetti are its lifeline – far more on time than busses!

The area around the Botanical Gardens (Gardinieri vap stop) is particularly fun.

Enjoy………..

1. The Doges Palace. Amazing place: you realise what a powerhouse Venice was.

2. The Guggenheim Museum. Most amazing 20th Avant-Get arde art collection.

3. Drink Aperol Spritzer. Hic

4. Eat cuttle fish black ink pasta. Mmmmm

Yeah, the area around Piazza San Marco is a bunfight but Venice is also possibly the most finest pottering venue I’ve ever visited follow your nose and you find all sorts of amazing little back alleys, bridges and hidden courtyards.

Ambling around is free and I can heartily recommend it. I’ve found plenty of decent places to eat as a result too.

Just don’t take a wheelie bag, there’s steps and uneven flagstones everywhere. Plus the locals hate them.

Just found this that I posted on here when someone else (boltonjohn) posted a similar thread asking for restaurant recommendations.

Its taken me ages to find the name of this restaurant so you’d better bloody well go. We had 4 nights in Venice for my wife’s fortieth and had some top meals but this place was absolutely outstanding.

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g187870-d1385701-r82195490-A_Beccafico-Venice_Veneto.html

It seemed like very much a locals restaurant as the majority of the tables were occupied with large family groups of all ages. One of the best meals I’ve had. Not cheap but not much is in Venice and it was far from the priciest meal we had.

POSTED 6 MONTHS AGO #

Pretend that you are Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie

(Don’t look now)

Just walk around. An amazing place.

The Lonely Planet Guide is good. Have a read of it before you go.

Also, put on a leather flying helmet and pretend that you are Donald Sutherland.

(Kelly’s Heroes)

Guggenheim is great, but really the best thing was just wandering the backstreets, getting off the drag between the bus station – Rialto – St Marks which is busy and crammed with tat.

Waterbuses are a great way to zip around.