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[starlagurl]

I thought this list of tips for Venice was awesome.

1. You must stay the night - and you must stay in Venice proper.
2. You must get away from the tourist areas.
3. You must be patient.
4. You must see Venice at her best. In addition to getting well away from the day-tripper hordes, this means that you’ve got to either get up early or stay out later in order to see the city when she is - in a sense - naked to the world. It’s at these times when Venice is peaceful, before the cruise ships have docked in the morning or after they’ve left for the day, when the crowds aren’t drowning out all the natural noises of the city.
5. You must steer clear of awful food.

• If the restaurant’s menu is translated into several languages, this is a yellow flag.
• If the restaurant is in a very touristy area, this is a yellow flag.
• If the place advertises quintessentially Italian (but decidedly not Venetian) dishes like pizza, this is a yellow flag.
• If the restaurant has a waiter out front luring in patrons, this is a yellow flag.
• If the only patrons are tourists, this is a very serious red flag.

From: http://www.italylogue.com/featured-article...vival-tips.html

[mmbcross]

The blog is emphatic about restaurants in Venice, so it may be amusing to hear of our experience some years back......

Our plan for the evening is to follow Rick Steve's ingenious "Stand-up Progressive Venetian Pub Crawl Dinner". This consists of walking from one Ãcibeti pub to another, enjoying some wine and hors d'oevres at each one on a Ãgiro di ombre. We commence our "crawl" at 8:00 pm, Miryam is somewhat incredulous, but I assure her that this will be fun and give us the chance to eat and drink like locals. Just before we start down the first dark alley, we pass a flashy modern self-service restaurant. Miryam looks longingly at the array of food under the glass partitions. "Not here" I say, "Let's go native".

The directions seem clear, but when you actually try to follow them at night, they seem to take you into Dante's Inferno. The alleys of Venice may seem charming by day, but by night they are ill lit, cold, twist and turn in all directions and look extremely dangerous. In fact, they are not dangerous at all, but this is our first night in town, and we are not to know. After some help from locals, we arrive at the first "pub", Osteria Alberto on Calle Malvasia. It's packed to the gills and not a table to be had. We consider out options. We can either stand at the bar and munch on the evil looking hors d'oevres, or take our chances at the next pub. We follow the instructions, which send us deeper and deeper into a Venice never seen by the average visitor. In fact, it was so desolate that we had not seen a single Japanese tourist for at least ten minutes! After some dead end alleys, and a small square with a bleak looking pizzaria, we eventually arrive at the second pub. It is packed to the gills and not a table to be had. We consider our options. We can either stand at the bar....just a minute...haven't we just been through all this? This whole thing is not coming out as it should. Realizing that Rick Steves probably didn't do his pub crawl on a Friday night in the dead of winter, we decide to give up the attempt, and with tails between our legs, we retrace our steps. The pizzaria is already closed as we pass by the little square, and the first pub is just turning out its patrons. The self-service restaurant is dark, and I'm in trouble! Miryam and Bryan are amused, and rather hungry.

At last we espy a likely looking place, Ristorante Aquila Nera, and we have little option but to enter. It's pricey, but I select a very reasonable fish dish, at $7.50. It's a whole grilled fish, head, tail and all, filleted rather inartistically at the table, and just left as is. Not a potato nor a sprig of parsley! Mum and Bryan intelligently have pasta again. When the bill comes I am astounded that my miserable fish has become caviar and is now $18.00. I query the amount, and it is pointed out that fish is quoted at $7.50 per 100 grams of weight, and that my dinner weighed in at 250 grams! To top it all we are also charged cover and service. The two plates of spaghetti and the denizen from the smelly canal, came out to $ 53.00, by far our most expensive outing in Italy yet. Guess how much the waiter made as a tip?

[gregbraddy]

To me, giving Venice a chance to show off for you means you must do the following things.

1. You must stay the night - and you must stay in Venice proper.

signsThat means no Mestre, no mainland, no Lido - and, if I’m being really picky, not even the Giudecca. I’m perfectly willing to say that after a first visit people can stay wherever the heck they like, but for a first trip to Venice you’ve got to give the city every chance to demonstrate why she’s worth the effort. And she can’t very well do that if you aren’t there at the right times and in the right places.

So stay overnight on the main islands, for at least one night and ideally for two. If your budget won’t allow staying there for the whole time you’re there, or you’re just interested in trying something different after a couple nights, then switch to a Mestre hotel or some place off the main islands. But only after 1-2 nights actually in Venice.

And if you need help with a place to stay, I’ve got some suggestions on finding a hotel in Venice - including some around the train station for getting in and out with ease, and some near St. Mark’s Square as well.

2. You must get away from the tourist areas.

quietstreetYou’ll need to spend some time in tourist central (AKA St. Mark’s Square) because it is the sight in the city, but you’ll want to get more than a few blocks away from that and the other tourist magnets for most of your stay. Wander. Get lost. No, really - get absolutely and completely lost. What’s the worst that can happen? You are on islands, you cannot wander so far that you’ll never get back again, and you will stumble upon the most interesting parts of the city this way.

When you’re through wandering aimlessly, just ask someone how to get back to St. Mark’s, or the Rialto Bridge, or the train station, or whatever major landmark is close to your hotel and from which you can navigate back to familiar ground. Keep asking the same directions from people you pass until you get where you want to go. You’ll get lost again doing this, because there’s more than one way back to where you came from, but you’ll get there. Just be patient. Which brings me to…

3. You must be patient.

lostVenice requires time. Don’t have a set agenda. In fact, you’ll need to have as much unstructured time as possible, because you’ll get lost even when you’re already lost. And getting frustrated that you’re getting lost doesn’t help you enjoy your vacation or think kindly of the city in which you’re fumbling. The key is to enjoy the getting lost part - which is infinitely easier to do if you aren’t trying to get somewhere or keep to a schedule.

It’s good to note the Venetian addresses are seriously unhelpful if you’re “not from around these parts” and don’t know the city like the back of your hand. They’re basically the name of the district (i.e. Canareggio) and the number on the building - but usually don’t include a street name of any kind. For hunting down exact locations, I’ve found this website to be extraordinarily helpful (it’s the same one used by the Venice tourism office!) - just mark the spot on a good map (I mean really good, very detailed - the tourism office sells excellent city maps for a euro or two) and you’re off.

If you’ve made dinner reservations in a spot that’s difficult to find, leave a little extra time when you set out to re-find it. If you’re trying to catch your train out of the city, take the easy route and hop on a vaporetto that’ll drop you off right in front of the station rather than trying to negotiate the winding back-alleys. And, above all, don’t blame Venice if you get lost. She’s been the same confusingly-laid-out city for centuries, she didn’t do this just to piss you off.

4. You must see Venice at her best.

loversIn addition to getting well away from the day-tripper hordes, this means that you’ve got to either get up early or stay out later in order to see the city when she is - in a sense - naked to the world. It’s at these times when Venice is peaceful, before the cruise ships have docked in the morning or after they’ve left for the day, when the crowds aren’t drowning out all the natural noises of the city.

I prefer the mornings, when the only people out are the workers who are sweeping away yesterday’s refuse or the vendors setting up their market stalls… But nights are nice in a different way - when the last pairs of lovers are making their way back from dinner to their hotel, a few gondolas are giving the last evening rides of the day, and the fog rolls in to shroud everything in a not-so-cozy (but oh-so-beautiful) blanket. If you can’t hear the sound of the quiet canals lapping at the walls of crumbling homes over the din of people, then you’re missing out.

5. You must steer clear of awful food.

seafoodThis is harder to do than the other points on this list, because how do you know if you haven’t tasted it yet? But there are things you can do to help minimize the chances of getting stuck with bad food in Venice.
* If the restaurant’s menu is translated into several languages, this is a yellow flag.
* If the restaurant is in a very touristy area, this is a yellow flag.
* If the place advertises quintessentially Italian (but decidedly not Venetian) dishes like pizza, this is a yellow flag.
* If the restaurant has a waiter out front luring in patrons, this is a yellow flag.
* If the only patrons are tourists, this is a very serious red flag.

Find places that are on weird back streets and which seem to be full of locals. Find places serving up local dishes (seafood, risotto, etc.). Carry a copy of “The Hungry Traveler: Italy” with you and learn what to look for on a Venetian menu. Will you be guaranteed a great meal? No. But you’ll stand a much better chance with these tips than without them.