Venice/Barcelona Hotel/Travel Guide Tips

[kazu]

TeddyBearsDad:

Your Venice guide is absolutely wonderful! Do you have one for Rome too? I would love a copy. Thanks very much for sharing. Really appreciate your time and effort in making such wonderful guides. :)

 

ditto on that. Would absolutely LOVE one for Rome. We're spending 4 full days there in November:)

[scgirlatheart]

I have been to both cities within the past 9 months, and both are wonderful.

You have received a lot of great advise, but most people have you staying in the Hilton or a moderately expensive hotel. I don't know what you are looking for, but a good three star seems to work for me. Both in Venice and Barcelona, I found a great three star hotel substantially lower than the hotels recommended.

Check out the Venere website, which has hotels all over Europe. It is reliable and you can read the reviews of people that stayed there. I suggest that you study the two cities, look at maps showing the sites, transport systems and decide where you want to stay, but be flexible.

 

Venice will cost more than Barcelona, but our hotel there cost about 80Euro, and our Barcelona hotel about 68Euro per night. The Barcelona hotel was near the Diagonal Metro stop, with many great restaurants around and about one mile from the Playa Catalyana. The Metro is great in Barcelona. As for Venice, we found a hotel a quarter of a mile from the train station, which required dragging baggage some distance, but saving on an expensive water taxi.

 

I don't recommend staying in Mestre, since you will miss staying in Venice itself. That is just my preference. If you want to save $$$ get a Rick Steves guide and do Venice yourself, or in the alternative take a tour at first. The Doges' Palace, Bell Tower and St. Marks are a must in my opinion, and the lines can back up. A tour will expedite your time. There are other sites and museums as well.

 

Barcelona has many great sites, but don't miss the Bari Gothic area, Las Ramblas Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell, Picasso Museum and city museum in the Gothic area. Also, you might want to see the Olympic village and Fortress on the Mountian overlooking the port (not a big deal, but if you have time). There are many museums, check out Rick Steves.

 

Be sure to find a good Catalonian restaurant and eat a late dinner, afer 8 PM like the locals (of course they eat at 10PM). The food is great there.

 

Great advice! Can you share the name of the hotel you stayed at when you were in Venice? Will be there in May 2012 but already starting to gather information.

 

Thanks so much!

[4774Papa]

Great advice! Can you share the name of the hotel you stayed at when you were in Venice? Will be there in May 2012 but already starting to gather information.

 

Thanks so much!

scgirlatheart, we stayed at the Locanda Herion about half a KM from the train station. The old Jewish Ghetto is not real far from there. This link quotes a price of $152 which not would be about 107Eu. We paid less. Breakfast was included. There is no elevator, so you will have to walk up stairs, but the clerk carried our baggage. People nice at the hotel.

http://www.venere.com/townhouse-suites/venice/locanda-herion/?ref=9115

[scgirlatheart]

Great, thanks for the hotel info. This thread is filled with fantastic information!

[4774Papa]

scgirlatheart, we stayed at the Locanda Herion about half a KM from the train station. The old Jewish Ghetto is not real far from there. This link quotes a price of $152 which not would be about 107Eu. We paid less. Breakfast was included. There is no elevator, so you will have to walk up stairs, but the clerk carried our baggage. People nice at the hotel.

http://www.venere.com/townhouse-suites/venice/locanda-herion/?ref=9115

Yes, cruise critic has helped me quite a lot in planning trips.

[CaroleLee]

This may be helpful. I've posted a travel guide for Venice area on my comcast site. It has a set of maps, photos, sources of information, etc. including:

• How to get to your hotel, a ship, the airport or train station with heavy luggage.
  
• Information on boat transfers from Marco Polo Airport to Venice hotels.
  
• Photos, maps, and a description of the People Mover which became operational late in 2010.
  
• A detailed review of the new Actv website on Vaporetto (public water bus) routes, times, etc.
  
• Information on the new Venice Connected Card which replaces the former Venice Card.
  
• Tips on how to find the Vaporetto boat stops nearest your hotel or travel destination.
  
• Details on how to create your own custom maps for travel in Venice.
  

You can read, print, or save/download it from this link: http://home.comcast.net/~Thomas_Sheridan/VeniceTravelTips2-21-2011.pdf

 

 

When viewing the file, click on File Save As to save it to your computer. It's a small pdf file which you can attach to emails.

 

I wish you a great vacation in Venice,

TeddyBearsDad (Teddy Bear is my golden retriever)

 

Wonderful booklet. Many thanks

Carole