Venice without crowds
When visiting Venice you can elbow your way through the crowds around Rialto Bridge and St. Mark's Basilica...or take a different path. Peaceful canals and beautiful scenes await you just steps from these chaotic places.
On a trip planned by Hand Crafted Travel you'll see the must-see sights as efficiently as possible, and also get off the beaten path to discover the soul of the place.
Venetians protest tourists
As the number of tourists who visit Venice each year rises, the number of people actually living there drops. On a busy day tourists – around 60,000 – outnumber locals – around 55,000 today, down from over 175,000 in the 1950's.
This follows attempts earlier this year by locals to block cruise ships from visiting the city.
High rents, driven partly by apartments being rented out to tourists at inflated prices, are driving out locals, who fear it will become nothing but an uninhabited museum city.
How do you still enjoy Venice as a visitor?
1) Stay in the city itself. The most enjoyable times to be in Venice are early in the morning (before 10:00 am) and in the evening (after 6:00 pm). Cruise ship passengers will be back on their ships, and the big tour groups, which mostly stay in hotels on the mainland, will have left for the day. These are my favorite times to get out and just wander around, enjoying the atmosphere of the city.
2) Go off season. Venice doesn't have much of an off season, but November to February are your best bets for minimal crowds.
3) Book advance tickets for the main sights. For a very small fee you can reserve an entry time for (the otherwise free) Saint Mark's Basilica, skipping past the long line. It's $2.50 well spent. You can also buy 'print@home' tickets for the Doge's Palace, allowing you to bypass the normal ticket line.
4) Get lost. People jockey themselves into the middle of Saint Mark's Square in the middle of July – and then complain about the crowds. Get away from the crush of tourists, who mostly stick to Saint Mark's Square, the Rialto Bridge, and the busy merchant streets connecting them. Walk off into the Dorsoduro district on the other side of the Accademia Bridge, or into the Castello district east of Saint Mark's, and you may find yourself completely alone, with nothing but the distant sound of a boat engine, and the water of the canals gently slapping against the stone.
Gondola workshop
One of my favorite things to do on a tour is to visit a workshop or factory, to see how things are made and meet the people who make them.
On a recent trip to Venice I took my group to a squero, a gondola workshop. Roberto Rossi has been building boats for more than 30 years, and is the most respected builder in the city.
Hotel Report Card: Albergo da Bruno, Venice, Italy
ALBERGO DA BRUNO
Salizzada San Lio 5726, 30122 Venezia
tel. 041-523-0452 fax: 041-522-1157
e-mail: info@hoteldabruno.com
32 rooms. Singles: €135 Doubles: €180 Visa/MC accepted.
Overall: C
Location: C
Ambiance: B
Cleanliness: B
Maintenance: D
Staff: C
A nice mid-range hotel, clean and modern rooms that were upgraded recently. The renovation has added greatly to the charm of the rooms, which were rather plain and sterile but now have attractive colors and furnishings. Ideal location midway between Rialto and St. Marks.
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