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    Smart Guide Italy: Venice & Veneto: Smart Guide Italy, #4
    Smart Guide Italy: Venice & Veneto: Smart Guide Italy, #4
    Smart Guide Italy: Venice & Veneto: Smart Guide Italy, #4
    Ebook199 pages5 hours

    Smart Guide Italy: Venice & Veneto: Smart Guide Italy, #4

    By Alexei Cohen

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    About this ebook

    The guide provides easy access to sight, shopping, entertainment, food, accommodation and practical information that makes a trip memorable.

    Smart Guide is the first independent travel publisher to offer digital guides to all of Italy's regions. We also operate a convenient online accommodation service which helps travelers get an insider's perspective on Italy, lower their CO2 impact and save substantially.

    Other titles in the Smart Guide series:
    Rome & Lazio
    Florence & Tuscany
    Milan & Lombardy
    Naples & Campania
    Turin, Piedmont & Aosta Valley
    Grand Tour: Rome, Florence, Venice & Naples

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAlexei Cohen
    Release dateNov 15, 2011
    ISBN9781466184213
    Smart Guide Italy: Venice & Veneto: Smart Guide Italy, #4
    Author

    Alexei Cohen

    I fell in love with Italy while watching the movie La Strada in the basement of my university library. Since then I have met and married an Italian, written and edited several guides and enjoyed a lot of pasta, wine and gelato. I live with my family on the outskirts of Rome and cultivate my passion for Italy a little more everyday. Moon Rome, Florence & Venice is my latest book and a result of months of exploration. I look forward to sharing what I have discovered and meeting travelers in Rome to swap stories over a cappuccino.

    Read more from Alexei Cohen

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      Book preview

      Smart Guide Italy - Alexei Cohen

      Smart Guide Italy: Venice & Veneto

      Published by Smart Guides

      Smashwords Edition

      Copyright 2012 Alexei Cohen

      Discover other titles in the Smart Guide series:

      Rome and Lazio

      Florence and Tuscany

      Naples and Campania

      Milan and Lombardy

      Turin, Piedmont and Aosta Valley

      Grand Tour: Rome, Florence, Venice and Naples

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Smart Accommodation:

      Smart Guide has teamed up with over 5,000 bed and & breakfasts, self-catering apartments and small hotels in order to provide travelers with convenient, reasonably priced accommodation in the best locations throughout Italy. To view all our accommodation options visit our website and choose the one that’s right for you. Enjoy the journey!

      Smart Answers:

      Travel requires making choices. If you have any questions regarding your trip to Italy write to us and we will get back to you within 24 hours. If you have any comments or suggestions that will help improve future editions we’d love to hear them.

      CONTENTS

      FOREWARD

      INTRODUCING VENICE & VENETO

      TOP STOPS

      PLANNING YOUR STAY

      VENICE

      Sights

      Grand Canal

      San Marco

      Castello

      Cannaregio

      San Polo

      Dorsoduro

      Santa Croce

      Lido and Southern Lagoon

      Entertainment and Events

      Shopping

      Food

      Accommodations

      Information and Services

      Getting There

      Getting Around

      NEAR VENICE

      Certosa

      Murano

      Burano

      Torcello

      VENETO

      Belluno

      Cortina d’Ampezzo

      Padova

      Vicenza

      Bassano del Grappa

      Marostica

      Verona

      Treviso

      Asiago

      FOREWARD

      Venice has no equals. Rome may be more ancient, Florence more packed with art but none are as unique as Venice. The city on the sea is one of Italy’s most incredible wonders, ingrained in popular imagination, and never fails to live up to expectations. Very often it exceeds them and leaves travelers with memories that rarely fade.

      Smart Guide Italy: Venice & Veneto is dedicated to this mysterious water-logged destination and the fascinating region that surrounds it. Travelers will discover all the major monuments located in the six principle sestiere or neighborhoods of Venice. You will find suggestions for how to explore the canals and narrow passageways that make up the city as well as useful practical advice on where to eat, sleep and experience local life.

      Although it may be hard to believe there is more to the Veneto region than Venice. Awaiting anyone with the time and inclination for adventure are beautiful small cities on a human scale like Padova and Verona where antiquities and Renaissance masterpieces await. It’s also the domain of sports enthusiasts who can ski down the Dolomites in winter and sail along the many canals all year long. Stomach’s will also be satisfied with the many appetizing rice dishes and particularly good sparkling wine that should be sampled as often as possible.

      We don’t just provide great insight though, with Smart Guide Italy B&B you can also find convenient accommodation. Now you can stay in the comfort of an Italian home, get a unique local perspective and save. Just visit our website and choose the accommodation you prefer.

      Enjoy the journey!

      Alexei Cohen

      Series Editor

      INTRODUCING VENICE & VENETO

      Like the waters of the Adriatic, Venice and theVeneto region have been influenced by the tides of history. Both were vital frontier areas for the Romans, who founded the cities of Vicenza, Padua, Verona, and Treviso along an extensive road network. Later the Republic of Venice created a naval empire, allowing it to amass wealth that can still be seen in the architecture and artworks of the region’s towns and cathedrals. Here natural and manmade beauty compete for the traveler’s attention.

      La Serenissima, the Serenest, is the Italian name synonymous with Venice. Sensual, elegant, exotic, and fragile, Venice’s orientation toward the East gives it a quality unlike any other Italian city. The sea, the lagoon, and its canals have a peculiar light quality, luminosity, and mystery that have attracted artists and travelers for centuries. The Grand Canal that curves through the center is not only a major communication route, it’s Venice’s most prime real estate. For centuries Venetian socialites have whiled away entire cocktail parties or lute recitals sizing up who has a residence facing the Grand Canal down to how much window space, balconies, rooms that face it, light received, and in short, anything that adds or even suggests access to it. Under its luxurious surface, Venice is a territory of experts in the social, political, or amorous realm. Intrigue and double dealings were not merely power plays but showed a mark of sophistication. Keenly aware of these dealings, society embraced a government with enough checks and balances to keep the doge leaders from becoming too powerful.

      Move outside of Venice and you find cities with ancient underpinnings like Padova and Verona that can trace their roots back to even before the Romans arrived. The Veneto region is as varied as Venice is extravagant. Travel to Belluno and Cortina and you can see the very mountains that Titian always had to have in view, the river that transported the logs on which Venice is built, and wind up in Italy’s trendiest ski resort at Cortina d’Ampezzo. Travel towards the wine-producing areas and there are hillsides filled with grapevines and superb wines to sample, from light, effervescent Prosecco to elegant reds like Amarone and Valpolicella. A trip to Vicenza puts you in the heart of the gold rush, that is, the gold trade, as well as the center for Palladio who designed Renaissance villas that gracefully span out across the Veneto.

      TOP STOPS

      Grand Canal

      Venice’s main waterway features one ornate palazzo after another. Although you can see parts of the canal from the Ponte degli Scalzi or Rialto bridges, the only way to see it all is on board a vaporetto, water bus that regularly shuttles up and down this incredible stretch of Venetian history.

      San Marco

      It may be a magnate for tourists and pigeons but Venice’s San Marco neighborhood, with Piazza San Marco as its center, took Napoleon’s breath away for a reason. The Basilica San Marco and Palazzo Doge that line the piazza were built to stun and the Gothic architecture that once housed the city’s rulers remains impressive inside and out.

      Dorsoduro

      The Dorsoduro is a bustling Venice neighborhood where university students and old-time residents rub shoulders in the Campo Santa Margherita. The canals that run through the area are bordered by impressive palazzos like the Ca’Rezzonica.

      Carnevale

      Carnevale is Venice’s main street party. In the 11th century, it began as the city’s spontaneous February celebration before the arrival of Lent. By the 18th century, it had become an outlandish festival in which celebrants disguised their identities behind masks and costumes to eliminate social class distinctions. Bring your own costume or buy or rent one at a Venice costume shop and join the fun.

      Torcello

      When Venetians want to get away from it all they head to Torcello. The small island in the northern corner of the lagoon houses the area’s oldest cathedral and the throne where Attila the Hun held court.

      Arena of Verona

      It may only be the third largest amphitheater, behind Rome’s Coliseum and Capua’s, but the Arena of Verona is certainly the liveliest. Originally the sight of mock battles and gladiator contests, later used for public executions, fairs, and bullfights, today it hosts opera, drama, and concerts. Take a tour or catch an evening performance.

      Scrovegni Chapel

      Giotto’s style of painting led the world in a new artistic direction. His vivid figures express emotion in various ways, from Christ’s physical rage in Expulsion of the Merchants to grief in Lament Over the Dead Christ, but his most striking innovation was the use of accurate perspective that gave both his figures and scenes greater depth and realism.

      Teatro Olimpico

      Architect Andrea Palladio created an astonishing number of villas, churches, bridges, and theaters that still influence contemporary architects. Teatro Olimpico stands out for its enchanting 16th century façade and stage sets that are still in use today..

      PLANNING YOUR TIME

      Venice is connected by bridges and canals that remain its main communication routes. To have a sense of Venice, you must experience the lagoon and the sea. Whether your visit is for a day or a week, make sure to board a vaporetto that will lead you toward the sea. If you have time, get off and explore, if not ride back.

      The central city is divided into six districts called sestiere, but keep in mind that Venice is built on 117 islands. The first district and most densely packed with visitors is San Marco. There are many major sights here and you could easily spend a day around Piazza San Marco. Pick at least one other sestiere to explore. If you have time spend a day or two visiting other islands like Certosa, Murano, Burano, and Torcello in the North Lagoon, concluding on the Lido sea coast where you can get a more complete picture of Venice’s seafaring past. You don’t have to spend all your time shuffling through crowds, rent a sailboat or take lessons. It’s a relaxing and exciting way to see the lagoon.

      When high tide hits and water laps up into the squares, Venice seems to rise up, or sink as is actually the case, from the sea, a hauntingly beautiful and precarious sight.

      The city is full of masterpieces and fortunately they’re not all in one spot. Spend an hour in the under-visited Archeological Museum, where great masters had the opportunity to observe and sketch much of this collection when it was in private hands. Many of the figures appear again in the paintings that you will see in churches and museums around the city. Next door Museo Correr has one of the world’s greatest collections of pre-17th century Venetian painting, where you can observe why these painters were great colorists and also masters of form. Don’t overlook the churches, interesting not only historically and architecturally, they also provide a chance to look at art in the space it was intended for.

      Plan on at least one great meal in Venice, where the star is bounty from the sea. Lagoon crabs, shrimp, mollusks, and fish are in abundance and some are unique to this area. Carnivores and vegetarians also have plenty to choose from.

      Prosecco is a must for visitors. This sparkling Veneto wine was created in the 19th century to be lighter than champagne and come to market more quickly. There is also an endless choice of local white Soave and red wines including Valpolicella, or relative newcomers like Amarone that was first harvested in the mid-20th century. Many bottles are impossible to find back home or even in other parts of Italy so ask for suggestions at the better restaurants and enotecas.

      Venice still produces some of the crafts that it has traded in for centuries like textiles, gold, and glass. Disappearing are the lace makers, but a few are still left stitching intricate designs.

      For all its richness and glory, Venice is a great equalizer of class when it comes to street life. Traditionally the poor lived on the same block as the wealthy and were not segregated in different neighborhoods. Even the wealthiest Venetian who wants to conduct business or pay a call must walk and use the same street as everyone else. There are no limousines in the center. Venetians mingle and see one another every day, several times, on the streets. The count, CEO, or socialite knows the trash collector, mailman, baker, and others by name. They’ll have a coffee at the bar together, which even the humblest can offer his neighbor with a few minutes of banter before they are on their parallel ways.

      About three-fourths of the city seems to be over 75, which leaves little future for the younger generation that remain unless they

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