Venice weekend break - Websites?

SideWinder · 12 Apr 2008 at 20:47

Just a quick thread about Venice...

I'm just piecing together a few ideas for a surprise birthday thing for my girlfriend. She talks about wanting to go to Italy and just wondered where the best place to look for deals online would be?

It'll probably be for a weekend - leave on a friday and a flight back on sunday. I've never travelled 'alone' like this before so tips would be helpful. I know the basics about checking in and going to the next lounge or whatever at the airport but it's the various paperwork - insurance etc. that confuses me.

I intend to pay for most of it but knowing her she WILL want to pay some of it herself, so maybe more of a joint thing. I have been to Venice once on a daytrip and i understand some things can be expensive. However i would ideally like to stay in a nice hotel - something a bit fancy as opposed to staying for a week in somewhere cheaper.

So, any help would be appreciated.

Edit: Location wise for hotels, i'd love something very close to St Marks. Square..that is the main part really? Any suggestions on where to stay?

jonas123 · 13 Apr 2008 at 00:01

Go to florence, it's less smelly

SideWinder · 13 Apr 2008 at 01:02

jonas123 said:
Go to florence, it's less smelly

Lopéz · 13 Apr 2008 at 08:52

Venice an ideal weekend break destination because it can get very hectic and overbearing after more than a couple of days - but bear in mind it will be incredibly busy and it gets rather humid in the summer because of all that water.

The smell from some of the canals isn't fantastic but really it's only on a few of the quiet backwaters and you will barely notice it.

As for getting there, you can either book a city break with a travel agent like Thomson, or you can arrange everything yourself.

City break is easiest for the novice traveller. You book the whole thing as a package, they post you your tickets, you go to the airport, check in, get the flight, get met by a rep at the other end and jump on an organised transfer coach which will roll up outside your hotel.
There will be a notice board in the hotel telling you when & where to catch your coach back to the airport on the last day, and coming back is just the reverse of travelling out.

As for insurance, travel agencies will have their own preferred partner, AXA is one of the regularly touted ones and the cover is good, though it can be pricey unless they have a deal on at the time. If you don't want to take theirs out just go to http://www.direct-travel.co.uk/ and fill it in online - they will email you the policy document and post it to you as well. Job done.

The other way of doing things is by arranging your own custom package which is what we usually do. Pick a flight out and a flight back (doesn't have to be with the same airline, I flew from England to Slovakia with Ryanair, caught a SkyEurope flight from Slovakia to Poland, then an Easyjet flight from Poland back to England)
The airline will email you a confirmation slip or a booking reference, just present it at the airport at each end and they will do the rest.

There are various sites like www.hostelbookers.com, www.ebookers.com, www.opodo.co.uk, www.octupustravel.com on which you can book hotels for the duration of your choice. There will be lots of ones there that won't appear in the travel agents brochures so check location etc online first and read as many reviews as you can to get an idea of what you are booking. If you book through the above sites they normally put a little of their own commission on top and you may find it cheaper to go direct, but we are only talking a few quid so most people prefer the comfort of a booking reference and a confirmation email rather than a say-so from Johnny Foreigner over the phone

Only thing you need organise then is transport from airport to hotel, usually taxi, boat, train whatever. This is normally the bit that stumps people going first time but if you do your research you should be cool

Custom built trips are USUALLY cheaper than a package but it depends, the transfer can be a stinger if you just dive into a taxi, and there is more to potentially go wrong, but I've never run into difficulty

St Marks square is the "centre" but to be honest ANYWHERE you stay in Venice will be picturesque and you can walk the whole city. In fact we spent 90% of our time in Venice just wandering about looking at the beautifully decaying city.

I'll post some pics if you want

Have fun

philstanbridge · 13 Apr 2008 at 11:10

Lopéz said:
I'll post some pics if you want

Please do I'd love to go to Venice one day too.

Cosimo · 13 Apr 2008 at 11:16

Useful information can be found here http://www.turismovenezia.it/eng/dynalay.asp?PAGINA=407 .

Lopéz · 13 Apr 2008 at 11:18

Check out the lean, it looks even more severe in real life!

This was in late July and just before lunchtime it absolutely lashed it down, making it very humid indeed for the whole afternoon! The crowds can get a bit mental, be warned, particularly if you want to go inside any of the "sights"

I went 2 weeks before this with work and it was blazing sun and clear, but didn't have time to take many pics - so as we were in Italy anyway I thought it would be rude not to hop on the train and take Kate there for the day.

We spent most of the time just wandering about little backstreets to escape the crowds.

Have fun

Bill101 · 13 Apr 2008 at 15:16

check out www.tripadvisor.co.uk Look in the forums pages for things to do and the hotels pages for recommended places to stay

iamdjdz · 13 Apr 2008 at 18:04

We'd a very good hotel in venice, will try and work out what it was called, I think it was just off the grand canal and close, within easy walk/boat of st Marks square. And it was in a 400 year old building with fancy decor etc, not tacky at all and quite cheap, I'll ask my Dad if he remembers what it was called.