Venice Questions

[Keith1010]

We have just booked a cruise that will go from Rome to Venice. While we have been to Venice once before, we have never disembarked in this port. Following our cruise, we will spend three days at the San Clemente Hotel.

I have some questions.

1) How long will it take to get from the Hotel to the Airport? And, is the
entire travel by Water Taxi?

2) Has anyone stayed at this Hotel before? If so, would appreciate
comments.

3) Any recommendations for restaurants?

4) Any recommendations on places to visit?

Thanks so very much.

Keith

[rwdtgb]

Keith

I just got back from The San Clemente Palace.We stayed there for 6 nights and the hotel was probably the best we have stayed at.The rooms where big, the bathrooms were huge, he service was fantastic, and the pool was beautiful.The boat to St.Marks runs every twenty minutes most of the day.We had one meal at the hotel at the La Maschere (terrible don't eat there).
A few places we like to eat at are Chips,Cipriani,Harry's Dolce,Antico Martini.
The conceirge is great and full of ideas for places to eat.

The water taxi to the airport will cost about 80 Euros and will take 30 minutes to get to
If you have any other questions just ask
Tom

[Keith1010]

Tom, thank you very much for the quick response. I am glad to hear how much you enjoyed the San Clemente Palace.

To get to the airport, do you make a reservation for the Water Taxi? Does it take several passengers or just a few? We will need to make an 11:00 AM Flight. Any suggestions on how early to leave the Hotel?

Thanks for your restaurant advice as well. Do you have a favorite out of the ones you listed?

Thanks again.

Keith

[Bruin Steve]

I don't know the hotel, so I can't answer that one...last two times, we stayed at the Capri and the Carlton...

But, here are my recommendations on what to see and what to eat...

On what to see, largely, it is the city itself...buy a copy of the AAA Spiral Guide-Venice for reference and for the maps...and wander and explore...
The sites which we found the most fascinating, with some particularity were:
1) The Doge's Palace: Get on the "Secret Itineraries" tour, if you can...if not, just do the self-guided tour....either way, it's great--you get to cross the Bridge of Sighs on the inside over to the prison...Of course, while you are there, you are at Piazza San Marco, the great main square of Venice with the Cathedral, the Campenile, et al...This is the picture of Venice you have always seen...
2) The Ghetto: The history is fascinating...this is the world's ORIGINAL Ghetto--where the word originated...back several centuries ago, Venice's Jews were required to live in this district...and the historyu is quite colorful...there is a tour of the Synagogues (there are several with varied histories) can be picked up at the Museo Hebraico...and it is a great tour...
3) Rialto Bridge: This is a picturesque covered bridge surrounded by great outdoor markets

Don't bother: Murano...at least not the "Free Tours to the Glass Factories" they push on you...it's a high pressure sales thing and largely a rip-off...and they pretty much trap you in their "showrooms"...If you want to wander Murano on your own, just take a Vaporetti over and back...

Where to eat: I've learned to avoid the overpriced "well known" restaurants...there is good food all over Venice...I've seldom encountered a bad restaurant on three trips here...But, you CAN spend an awful lot on very small portions...My favorite area for restaurants is the area between the train station and the Ghetto...There are a lot of small restaurants with "Fixed Price" menus...You get several courses, all-inclusive for between 8-18 euros...a lot of them are quaint with outdoor tables...just let your nose lead you...pick one where the food smells good and the ambiance fits your taste...along a canal, on a piazza, whatever...For lunches, find some little pizza place with outdoor tables...they're everywhere you look...

Good luck...

[wwinfl91]

When we were in Venice last summer we ate at the following restaurant and enjoyed it. Here is a description of the restaurant and our meal.

We had decided to go to Trattoria Cugnai, a small neighborhood restaurant run by three sisters. I had read about it on the Internet and it sounded like the right place to have a “real” Italian meal. The Cugnai was known for serving magnificent fresh pasta and seafood everyday. With only three small rooms for seating, the restaurant tends to be a bit busy during meal rush hours, which it got to be during our meal. But we were lucky in we didn’t have to wait to be seated.

For those who are shy about trying their Italian, Cugnai may be local but all three sisters understand and speak English. For those shy about spending money, expect to shell out 40 Euros per person for a meal including appetizer, entree, salad, wine and dessert if you add in a bottle of house wine.

We ordered a large bottle of house Rose wine and a large bottle of non-carbonated water to begin with. Then we were served some excellent fresh bread with olive oil to dip it in. We started out the meal with the stuffed crab appetizer that had been recommended in the reviews I had read. The "stuffing" is simply the entire meat and organs of the crab finely chopped and then sauteed for a minute in a bit of olive oil and salt, then chilled. Perfectly elegant and refreshing, it's also the dish most likely to endear the waitresses to you. For pasta, I had the spaghetti con vongole verace (spaghetti with clams), tossed simply with olive oil and a bit of spice. Trisha decided on a spaghetti with meat sauce instead. We also had a small Italian salad each. Then for the main course, I had the branzino (sea bass), and Trisha had the cottoleta Milanese (fried veal cutlet). If you have room after that, I highly recommend the fragole con gelato (strawberries with gelato) for a light and perfect end to an assuredly spectacular meal. This was one of those meals that took several hours to consume, which is how the Italians eat their meals. When we finished we were almost too full to move. Luckily I had brought enough euros to pay for the meal and still give the waitress who I suspect was one of the owners a good tip. The whole meal with tip ended up costing 80 euros and we felt it was worth the expense.

Here is a neat site with a lot of restaurants in Venice and a mapping function that lets you find them.

[url]http://ristoranti.ombra.net/index.php?hlangs=en&sec=1&id=3#ris[/url]

Have a great next cruise.

[jsh]

Does anyone know if there are private water taxis waiting at the cruise ship dock to take us to our hotel (it has a private water taxi landing) or do we have to make arrangements in advance and if we do, how do we go about it?
We will have too much luggage to take public transportation.

[rwdtgb]

Keith

Have the conceirge make the call for the water taxi. We had a noon flight and left the hotel at 8:30am and got to the Airport at 9am.Once you get off the taxi a porter will ask you if you need help with your luggage (we said yes) one of us went with luggage and the other on the bus. the bus is free the porter is not,so if you can handle the luggage jump on the bus luggage and all.

the restaurant we like the most is harry's Dolce casual atmosphere on the water.
For a dress up and special meal go to the Cipriani (very expensive but worth every penny)

Tom