Venice Port Review
Overall- A- Yes, that is an A minus. To me, Venice cannot receive an A+, even though it is easy to get from the port into town, even though it has some of the most iconic sites in the world, and even though it is relatively safe. Venice requires some mental preparation. It is expensive and crowded, but worth it.
Ease of Travel- Venice is one of the easier ports in the Mediterranean to do on your own. You simply get off the boat, pay 1 euro to ride the PeopleMover to Piazzale Roma, and start walking. In fact, you could walk only all day around Venice and get to everything you need to see without paying a penny. (Unless you are into glass blowing or lace) Vaporettos or water buses are easy to use to get up and down the grand canal, but are more pricey than usual city transportation. It costs 6.50 euros for a one-way trip or 16 euros for an all day pass. I would never bother with a water taxi as they are prohibitively expensive, and would only hire a gondola if I feel I needed that experience and would view it as an attraction. (usually 100 euros) Be warned! Venice is not for people with mobility issues. There are stairs everywhere, even in the sites. Oh, and you WILL get lost if you get off the well worn path to Piazza San Marco or Rialto. Some people, like me, can handle this fact just fine with the knowledge that it is an island and you can't go too far. But some people, (like my husband) get unnerved not knowing exactly where they are at all times. This is nearly impossible to do in Venice. Go with it.
Quality of Sites- The sites are amazing, but expensive. Even the churches. ALL the churches, even ones you haven't heard of, except for one. St. Mark's Basilica is free to enter, but does charge extra for some sites within the church. For the most part, I felt the cost was worth it, such as at the Doge's Palace. It is just something to be prepared for if you have gotten used to reasonable admission fees elsewhere in Europe. I hope to return to Venice one day just to tour churches as they have so many beautiful ones. If you like art, you can see a LOT of it in Venice. But, the best site in Venice, is Venice itself. Be sure not to over-schedule yourself so that you do have some time to just enjoy the city and the architecture. Oh, and the Correr Museum sucks.
Safety/Comfortable- Venice is generally known to be more safe than most Italian cities. St. Mark's Basilica has the highest percentage of pickpocketing occurances of anywhere in the city, with Piazza San Marco following closely behind. Other than that, you should obviously pay attention to your surroundings, but you are pretty safe. As far as comfortable... I can't remember the last time I was in a city where I felt less comfortable than Venice. Okay, maybe Naples, but that is just because I was afraid of getting hit by a car. Venice is crowded like Disney World on Christmas or Times Square on New Year's Eve. The problem is that everyone wants to go to the same places and follows the same marked path to get there. Sure, if you get off the path and go off on your own, there is no one around, but then you get lost. I felt like a rat in a maze with a million other rats, the cheese being St. Mark's. On the plus side, some of the toilets had seats!
Food- I cannot speak too much to the food except to say that you should attempt to eat at a cheap, quick place unless you have a prior recommendation and know where it is. Tourist menus (aka overpriced drek) are out in force. I did find a great, cheap pizza place in Canneregio near our hotel, so there are deals to be had. You just have to look for them. Other than that, look for places with locals rather than tourists.
My 2 Cents- I didn't like Venice as well as I had expected to. I intend to return, but would never make it a focal point of my vacation. I would recommend staying on the actual island, so that you can retreat to your room when it all just gets to be too much. Venice does possess an undeniable charm, and I can see why some people fall in love with it. But, for my money, there are other cities in Italy which I would rather spend more time than Venice because I could never truly be comfortable there.
Ease of Travel- Venice is one of the easier ports in the Mediterranean to do on your own. You simply get off the boat, pay 1 euro to ride the PeopleMover to Piazzale Roma, and start walking. In fact, you could walk only all day around Venice and get to everything you need to see without paying a penny. (Unless you are into glass blowing or lace) Vaporettos or water buses are easy to use to get up and down the grand canal, but are more pricey than usual city transportation. It costs 6.50 euros for a one-way trip or 16 euros for an all day pass. I would never bother with a water taxi as they are prohibitively expensive, and would only hire a gondola if I feel I needed that experience and would view it as an attraction. (usually 100 euros) Be warned! Venice is not for people with mobility issues. There are stairs everywhere, even in the sites. Oh, and you WILL get lost if you get off the well worn path to Piazza San Marco or Rialto. Some people, like me, can handle this fact just fine with the knowledge that it is an island and you can't go too far. But some people, (like my husband) get unnerved not knowing exactly where they are at all times. This is nearly impossible to do in Venice. Go with it.
Quality of Sites- The sites are amazing, but expensive. Even the churches. ALL the churches, even ones you haven't heard of, except for one. St. Mark's Basilica is free to enter, but does charge extra for some sites within the church. For the most part, I felt the cost was worth it, such as at the Doge's Palace. It is just something to be prepared for if you have gotten used to reasonable admission fees elsewhere in Europe. I hope to return to Venice one day just to tour churches as they have so many beautiful ones. If you like art, you can see a LOT of it in Venice. But, the best site in Venice, is Venice itself. Be sure not to over-schedule yourself so that you do have some time to just enjoy the city and the architecture. Oh, and the Correr Museum sucks.
Safety/Comfortable- Venice is generally known to be more safe than most Italian cities. St. Mark's Basilica has the highest percentage of pickpocketing occurances of anywhere in the city, with Piazza San Marco following closely behind. Other than that, you should obviously pay attention to your surroundings, but you are pretty safe. As far as comfortable... I can't remember the last time I was in a city where I felt less comfortable than Venice. Okay, maybe Naples, but that is just because I was afraid of getting hit by a car. Venice is crowded like Disney World on Christmas or Times Square on New Year's Eve. The problem is that everyone wants to go to the same places and follows the same marked path to get there. Sure, if you get off the path and go off on your own, there is no one around, but then you get lost. I felt like a rat in a maze with a million other rats, the cheese being St. Mark's. On the plus side, some of the toilets had seats!
Food- I cannot speak too much to the food except to say that you should attempt to eat at a cheap, quick place unless you have a prior recommendation and know where it is. Tourist menus (aka overpriced drek) are out in force. I did find a great, cheap pizza place in Canneregio near our hotel, so there are deals to be had. You just have to look for them. Other than that, look for places with locals rather than tourists.
My 2 Cents- I didn't like Venice as well as I had expected to. I intend to return, but would never make it a focal point of my vacation. I would recommend staying on the actual island, so that you can retreat to your room when it all just gets to be too much. Venice does possess an undeniable charm, and I can see why some people fall in love with it. But, for my money, there are other cities in Italy which I would rather spend more time than Venice because I could never truly be comfortable there.
