*RS = Rick Steve’s Italy 2009 Book (Must have book)
Really helpful with the lodging, sites, and food. All the restaurants that were mentioned in the book had delicious food. We went to a few tourist trap restaurants, just because of the location, BIG MISTAKE. You can never go wrong with Rick Steve’s book. We also had lonely planet’s Italy book, and that we didn’t use. The descriptions of the sites, and restaurants weren’t as detailed compared Rick Steve’s.
*Go to the Rick Steve’s website and download the free audio tour for your iPod.
*In Venice Make sure you get the Venice Vaporette pass. Venice is small, and the sites are all walking distance, but sometimes you might just want to take the vaporette when you’re tired or visit other islands. We made the mistake of not buying the vaporette pass for our 4 days stay, and the euros added up even if we walked most of the time.
*We also traveled on a budget. Croissant and cappuccino for breakfast for less than 5 euros, sandwiches for lunch. Then we splurge for dinner. Best food is usually away from the tourist spots, and where the locals go.
*ALSO WHEN ARRIVING AND LEAVING FROM VENICE ALWAYS MAKE SURE YOU’RE IN THE RIGHT STATION. THERE’S 2 STATIONS ONE IN THE MAIN LAND AND THE OTHER IN VENICE. YOU WANT TO BE IN THE SANTA LUCIA STATION.
*IT’S BEST TO ARRIVE IN VENICE EARLY. THE TWISTING STREETS AND CANALS CAN BE CONFUSING IN THE DARK.
*WAKE UP EARLY SO YOU CAN BEAT THE LONG LINES, NOT HARD TO DO WITH THE JET LAG.
*Train Arrival at Santa Lucia station
*Some helpful links:
Official Venice Tourist Website.
Official tourist board of Venice website.
Trip Advisor tourist guide to Venice website
*Train schedule – For travel within Italy
*Don’t be in a rush. Take time to rest and just enjoy being in Venice. In our case we took 1-2 hours naps in the afternoon when it got too hot for us. We woke up feeling refreshed to enjoy the sunset and romantic night walks.
We stayed at the Hotel Albergo San Samuele. I highly recommend it. I love the location and the neighborhood of this hotel. We stayed at the top floor. Unfortunately there’s no elevator, but not a problem if you have a backpack. It’s not a luxury hotel, but its clean and has plenty of space. We had a shared bathroom, but we had no problem with that.
Hotel : Albergo San Samuele
Salizzada San Samuele, San marco nr.3358-30124 Venice-Italy
Tel +39 041 5228045
The view from our hotel room. We were at the top floor with no elevator, but you get used to climbing the stairs.
