We decided to go to Venice for my wife's 40th birthday. She had been there herself some 20 years earlier when she was a nanny to an Italian family who lived in Portafino.
Even back then my wife cannot remember the canals having had a bad smell. However perhaps they did she was only there a ... Read review
NH Hotels, the hotel chain leader in Europe, with more than 300 hotels in 20 countries in Europe, Latin America and Africa. Enter into our web site and find the best available tariff at all times
...
FINALLY, The Hotel MANIN was the third stop after passing under the rialto bridge. The entrance to the hotel is stunning, the concierge spoke clear English and the cases where whipped away, passports checked and he escorted us up to our room. It had a small balcony looking right onto the Grand Canal, the Rialto Bridge was to our right, and so close you could hit it with a tennis ball.
The room was large and spotlessly clean whilst ... ...the rear which you can have your breakfast in. Concierge 24 hours per day, air-conditioning control, wake-up service, hair-dryer, telephone, minibar, satellite TV, digital safety-box. Our hotel was a 3 star out of 5 stars and cost us £1000 for a 3 night stay.
Back to the view…., to sit there looking out on the canal cannot be underestimated, watching the water buses, water taxis, personal boats and of course Gondolas passing up and ... more
We decided to go to Venice for my wife's 40th birthday. She had been there herself some 20 years earlier when she was a nanny to an Italian family who lived in Portafino. Even back then my wife cannot remember the canals having had a bad smell. However perhaps they did she was only there a few hours. They certainly do not smell now, in fact the water is crystal clear and have a bluish tint up the side canals.
We flew from Liverpool airport, which was an uneventful and as usual cramped flight. Word of warning, if you travel on a cheap flight as we did then beware, friends of my wife's turned up at Treviso airport to come home and where told by check staff that their flight was cancelled… your on your own ! There are no reps here, they had to get a taxi to Marco Polo airport, then get from Marco polo to Leeds and then from Leeds home.
The arrival at Treviso airport was however an eye opener, it has what must be, the smallest carousel in the world, when you collect your case you pass into another room of similar dimensions and here you can buy your coach ticket to Venice and your boat/ water bus ticket. TIP, buy a return ticket for the coach, a single costs around € 5 and a return around € 10, this saves hassle when you are leaving Venice. Also buy you water bus tickets for the duration of your stay i.e. 3 days, 4 days etc.... (Three-day Travel Card for € 22) When you go outside the heat hits you hard, TIP, take in your hand luggage one of those hand held fans, the air blowers on the coach where rubbish, and you have an hours trip to Venice. TIP, also have a bottle of water to hand, its 30 km to Venice.
You will know when you get to Venice bus depot because everyone will get up to leave, don't get confused with a train station half way to Venice as some people did when we went, they quickly jumped back on the coach. There is a train station IN Venice, but we did not visit it. Finding which water bus to take is not too bad, some only go to certain stops; others go directly to Lido Island, some go around the outsides and some go to every single stop up the Grand Canal, get on this on! Bus route 1.
FINALLY, The Hotel MANIN was the third stop after passing under the rialto bridge. The entrance to the hotel is stunning, the concierge spoke clear English and the cases where whipped away, passports checked and he escorted us up to our room. It had a small balcony looking right onto the Grand Canal, the Rialto Bridge was to our right, and so close you could hit it with a tennis ball. The room was large and spotlessly clean whilst the bathroom was immaculate. There is a secluded garden to the rear which you can have your breakfast in. Concierge 24 hours per day, air-conditioning control, wake-up service, hair-dryer, telephone, minibar, satellite TV, digital safety-box. Our hotel was a 3 star out of 5 stars and cost us £1000 for a 3 night stay.
Back to the view…., to sit there looking out on the canal cannot be underestimated, watching the water buses, water taxis, personal boats and of course Gondolas passing up and down was a joy, (this is the best word I could come up with to describe how we felt). And at night, everywhere was lit up, the rialto bridge looked stunning.
Out and about. Keep your water bus ticket on you at all time you can be fined on the spot, although we where never asked to show it, (must have looked very touristy). If you get a water taxi then the price is about 95 euros, not cheap. The food around the Rialto and St Marcs Square is ok but not as good as when you travel over to lido island, last stop on the water bus, here they get everyone off and then let everyone back on ? Don't know why. The shopping again around the rialto bridge and the square is quite expensive but down the side streets is much cheaper. However the shops around Venice are repeated over and over again, ie bar, leather shop, ice cream, parlour, jewellers, pane (bread shop), shoe shop, etc dozens of similar shops. The pizza here, is as you would expect, Exceptional. The bars are friendly as are the restaurants. There are small theatres you can go to and watch operas, (though they are amateurs) Graffiti is everywhere, kids eh! But at night you can walk anywhere and feel very safe. TIP, Take a comfortable pair of trainers you will thank me for this tip!! Sense of direction, forget it. The buildings are 4 stories high and twist and turn all over the place, we ended up at the canal side on more than one occasion, oh there are signs pointing that a way, but when the pavements turn every dozen metres, you will find yourself thinking "have we passed this jewellers before"?
St Marcs Square is really stunning, expensive but it has a real wow factor. The Campanile is a 300ft tower with a lift that gives you a full 360 degree view of Venice. Also here is St Marcs Basilica, the beauty inside here is awesome, with a visit inside to the treasure room, other places of interest are Ca'd'oro which is a beautiful Gothic palace, the bridge of sighs given its name we where told because prisoners passing underneath would sigh at its beauty knowing they would never see it again, Ca' Rezzonico which is a Venetian museum, we didn't visit this. At St Marcs Square we got our Gondola. TIP, don't seem to keen and barter, I managed to get them down from € 120 to € 80 for an hour trip. You start on the Grand Canal but then go into the side canals. This is not a problem as the Grand Canal is very choppy and the side canals are so tranquil. Before going on the Gondola we bought a bottle of wine in St Marcs Square, they leave the cork in and give you 2 plastic cups (how romantic), we drank this whilst on the Gondola.
The island of lido is very peaceful, the food here is far better than around Rialto and the people seem very laid back.
In conclusion, if your going to Venice just the once, then stay along the Grand Canal, if you go back again stay on Lido. (Which is what we will be doing).
