Many first-time visitors book hotels (or let their travel agents book hotels) without giving any thought to location. This can lead to frustrating and expensive mistakes.

To see why, look at the zoomed-in version of Google's Venice satellite map below:

View Larger Map

Let's say that you're arriving by air and spending two days in Venice before departing on a cruise ship from the San Basilio pier. Your travel agent books you into a hotel in Castello, inland from the Piazza San Marco (the grey spot below "Venice" on the map). You're traveling with large, heavy luggage.

Because your travel agent knows a lot about cruising but very little about Venice, she didn't realize that:

You'll need to walk over a series of bridges and down narrow, crowded streets with your bulky luggage to reach the hotel from the San Marco airport-boat stop, and...
On the day of your cruise departure, you'll need to lug your suitcases to a distant vaporetto pier where you can catch an expensive water bus to San Basilio, or--alternatively--pay 60 or 70 euros for a private water taxi.

You're going to have a frustrating experience that could have been avoided if you'd stayed at a hotel closer to your cruise terminal.

The same principle applies if you're arriving and departing by train: By staying within walking distance of the Santa Lucia railroad station, you'll save time, hassle, and money.

For in-depth advice on hotels and other lodgings, see our "Where to Stay in Venice and Mestre" article. Also see "Hotel Recommendations by Area," which will help you locate hotels that are handy to the Piazza San Marco, the railroad station, the cruise terminals, Marco Polo Airport, and the mainland suburb of Mestre.

Tip: Most hotel reservations can be cancelled without penalty if you give notice at least 24 to 48 hours before your stay. If you discover that you're booked into a hotel that doesn't fit your needs, see if you can cancel the booking and choose another hotel at a more convenient location.

Next page: Arriving and getting around

In this article:

Introducing Venice: Basic geography

Picking the right hotel location

Arriving and getting around

Also see:

Aerial Venice

Planning Your Trip to Venice

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Hotel Advice:

Location can be important in a car-free city with 400+ bridges, especially when you're walking with luggage. Before you book, see:

Hotel Recomendations by Area
Find hotels that are handy to the airport, railroad station, cruise port, or Piazza San Marco, and in Mestre.

Aerial Venice Hotels
Read our tips on choosing the right sestiere or district. Then view individual hotels and their surroundings in large satellite photos and aerial close-ups.

MSC cruise ship in Venice

Venice for Cruisers:

Venice canal reflections

From our Venice Travel Blog:

A water taxi ride to Venice Airport
A warning about water taxis
Venice Railroad Station: a vaporetto view
Long lines at Venice Airport
Free boat trips to Murano
Need to pee? Prepare to pay
Crime in Venice
The perils of overpacking
Venetian daily life

Maggie in Venice

From Maggie in Venice:

A dog's life in Venice
A Beagle boards a water bus
Maggie in Venice video clips