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If you’re travelling to Venice by car, our recommendation is the Hotel Palladio.
The “negative”: it’s about 20-25 minutes from Venice. But really, that’s not a problem. In fact it’s a nice quiet location to come back to after a hot day in crowded Venice. Now for the positives.
Yes, it’s nice to come home to. It’s in a quiet residential area. Cars park free right in front of the hotel. Ask for side or back view and you see trees and gardens. It’s planned round an atrium and you can walk straight out at the back down an enclosed garden to the end where there’s cultivated farmland. Turn left, and back down a quiet residential street. A pleasant 10-minute stroll – and you’ll see the wonderful Palladian house which gives the hotel its name. Opened in 2001 it’s quite a snazzy establishment. Nice lobby and dining room, and the bedrooms are all furnished to a very high standard. A good breakfast starts the day.
And here’s the Hotel Palladio’s best feature... if you book in advance, the price is great – a twin room (with shower/toilet of course) and breakfast for as low as 40 Euros. Yes really. A great start to your visit – and your budget!
Ready for Venice? The hotel provides a free shuttle service 2 or 3 times in the morning (put your name down!) and drops you centrally at the railway station. Come back any time you’re ready by frequent city bus service – from the bus station next to the railway station. The bus stops right outside the hotel. Get tickets in advance at the hotel desk and write down the bus number! The hotel also provides their own free Venice map, a really good one. You can peruse it before you go and plan your itinerary.
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We allowed three days for Venice which is enough if you’re touring and have other places to visit. Our first day was dedicated to “doing the streets and alleyways”. We start at the railway/bus station and aim for the Piazza San Marco. You can meander at your own speed, and it’s a great way to absorb the atmosphere. Take time to visit small churches along the way, stand on canal bridges and enjoy the view, pause in the many small squares, and look carefully at the walls – the generations of changes as arches are blocked up, walls have been patched with different brickwork or stone, windows partly obscured as “new” neighbours made some additions (a century or two ago of course!).
But you will need a general sense of direction as the bridges over the grand canal are not too frequent. Take it easy, keep an eye on your general navigation, and you should be rewarded by the great Piazza San Marco which is really the heart of Venice with its formal square and the Basilica dominating one end. When we first visited Venice 40 years ago we wandered into the the great Basilica and sat quietly admiring the building’s interior while around us a few old ladies all dressed in black muttered prayers and fingered their rosaries. Now you have a half-hour lineup.
You may well be exhausted by now – we were! Feel free to take the vaporetto back to the station, thence to the bus station and home!
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If you decide to eat when you come back rather than (expensively) in Venice, there’s a restaurant close by, and a better one (we prefer) about 5-7 minutes’ walk along the river and quiet road.
You’ll find a friendly family restaurant frequented by locals (Italians eat out a lot), the food is good and reasonable. A carafe of house wine goes down well. The hotel will direct you.
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Day Two and we planned a boat tour. We bought day (12-hour) tickets and took off from the railway station vaporetto stop and headed down the Grand Canal. Check our itinerary:
1. The Railway Station where the Hotel Bus will drop you.
2. The Bus Station – for coming home!
3. The Rialto Bridge
4. Piazza San Marco
5. Across to the Lido
6. Then around the end of the island to Murano
7. Return with a different scene, via the Canale di Cannaregio.
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5. The Lido is quite a classy resort. The main avenue right across the narrow island takes you from the boat station to the beach on the other side. It’s a nicely paved avenue with lots of flowering bushes. The beach resort is like most Italian beaches, operated as a pay service, but worth it, for it is beautifully and immaculately maintained. Walk along the corniche road a few blocks then return via some of the pleasant side streets with elegant houses and low-rise apartment buildings.
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6.
Murano has long (= centuries!) been famous for its glass works. In days of old when tourists were few, glass-blowing could be viewed in many a glass-works with a warm welcome. Now the crowds of cruise-ship day visitors are keen to see, but few buy. We found one glass-works which was open to visitors, but a 5 Euro “donation” was more than a hint! But you can still stroll along the canal and window-shop.
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And for another day...
You can also take advantage of your location in the Palladio Hotel to visit some of the nearby Palladian villas of the Veneto. These are villas designed by architect Andrea Palladio, all of whose buildings were erected in Veneto, the mainland region then under the political control of the Venetian Republic. The term villa was used to describe a country house. Often rich families in Veneto also had a house in urban Venice called palazzo. These villas are now UNESCO heritage sites and open to the public. The hotel can provide information on opening times and the best route.
After Venice, and let’s face it, crowds everywhere, how about a few days of quiet relaxation? If you’re in the Palladio you’re well on the way down south to the Po River Delta, a fascinating area of rice fields and canals rarely visited by non-Italians. Click the link to visit. Nice rental apartments on a farm, and free bikes!
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Thank you for sharing our trip with us, we hope you enjoyed your visit.
See you again at
Byways Travel.
internet www.arton.co publications
there’s more
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