Venice Practical Tourist Information

ABOVE: Water bus on Grand Canal, Venice.

Venice articles index

Weather/climate

Venice Weather veniceforvisitors.com
Check current conditions or click for a 10-day forecast in metric or English units. This page also has links to month-by-month climate averages, sunrise/sunset times, and the current time in Venice, Italy.

Accessible Travel

Accessible Venice veniceforvisitors.com
From your About.com guide, a detailed article with photos and a map excerpt that shows wheelchair-accessible portions of the historic center.

Accessible Italy
Massimo Micotti's firm has offices in Rome and Turin, and it has provided travel services to disabled tourists throughout Italy since 1993. Its four-day Venice package includes transfers and half a day of guided sightseeing.

Regency San Marino SLR
Rebekah Serin and her colleagues in Florence offer group tours and individual travel throughout Italy for disabled tourists. Wheelchair, electric scooter, and portable "suitcase ramps" are available for rental.

Casino

Venice Casino
Venice has two municipal casinos that are open year-round: the Cà Vendramin Calergi on the Grand Canal, and a newer mainland branch beyond the airport. The summer casino on the Lido has been closed permanently. (The Grand Canal casino requires "seemly" attire, while the mainland branch at Tessera is casual.)

Discounts

Venice Card
Enjoy unlimited travel on public transportation (including airport boats) plus other benefits such as free use of public toilets, local discounts, and admission to leading museums. If you're between 14 and 29, consider buying the Rolling Venice discount card.

Family Travel

Venice for Families veniceforvisitors.com
Churches, art museums, and walking tours may not be to every child's taste, but Venice does have its share of attractions for very young tourists.

Flooding

Acqua Alta veniceforvisitors.com
High tide, low atmospheric pressure, and a scirocco wind can make Venice feel like Atlantis. My illustrated article tells what to expect and how to prepare for "high water."

Gay/Lesbian Venice

Gay Venice
This small site lists a handful of gay-owned or overtly gay-friendly clubs and accommodations in Venice.

Internet Access - Laundromat

Wash 'n' Web
Now you can soak your clothes and surf the Web at the same time, thanks to Speedy Wash and Planet Internet on the Rio terrà S. Leonardo in Cannaregio.

Venetian Navigator
Buy a 30-, 60-, or 180-minute card and use a computer to access the Net, perform business chores, etc. (Unused minutes can be saved for future visits.) Laptop connections are also available. Venetian Navigator has  locations near the railroad station, the Rialto Bridge, and the Piazza San Marco. Its Web site isn't very helpful, so see my article for more information.

Language

Foreign Languages for Travelers
Use the search windows to generate an online English-Italian phrasebook with recorded pronunciations. (I would have linked directly to the Italian page, but this site's URLs change so often that you might find yourself studying Icelandic or Afrikaans.)

Maps

See my Venice Travel Planner: Maps page.

Miscellaneous

Venice Street Signs veniceforvisitors.com
Local place names don't always correspond to map and guidebook spellings, so know how to interpret signs in Venetian dialect.

Helpful Hints About Venice
In Italy Online offers tips on getting an early start, entertaining your children, and touring the Venetian Lagoon.

A Visitor's Guide-Line to Venice  
Some of the vaporetto information here is outdated, but many of the other tips are useful, and the general advice makes enjoyable reading.

Money/Tipping

Money and Currency europeforvisitors.com
This two-page section of my Europe Travel Planner at Europe for Visitors has information on using ATMs, currency-exchange machines, credit cards, traveler's checks abroad--including tips on avoiding the hidden "currency conversion" fees that many banks and credit-card companies are tacking on these days.

Tariffs
This "useful hints" page from The Living Venice Guide has official prices--or, more realistically, starting points--for gondolas, porters, and authorized guides.

Italian Tourism: Tipping Advice
Here's the official word on where, what, and how to tip. For a second opinion, see Fodor's Tipping Guide: Italy.

Opera

Gran Teatro La Fenice
Venice's opera house was gutted by a fire in 1996, but performances moved to other venues during the theatre's restoration. The theatre is again open for business, and you can buy tickets or take a public tour.

Passports

Passports europeforvisitors.com
Why you need a passport, where to get one, and how to keep it safe.

Shopping

Venice Gifts and Souvenirs veniceforvisitors.com
Carnival masks and glow-in-the-dark gondolas may be hard to resist, but don't ignore practical purchases--especially if you're on a budget.

Fines for Fakes veniceforvisitors.com
"Let the buyer beware" has a new meaning in Italy, where purchasing a Prada knockoff or a pirated CD could cost you an extra 3,333 to 10,000 euros.

Carnival Masks veniceforvisitors.com
Whether you're headed for Carnevale or enjoying it vicariously at home, you can learn about Venetian Carnival masks--and even order them online.

Murano, the Glass Island veniceforvisitors.com
In 1296, the glassblowers of Venice moved to an island called Murano. Seven hundred years later, their descendants are still turning sand into gold.

I Tre Mercanti veniceforvisitors.com
This may be the best Italian wine and food shop in Venice. If you're buying wine in bulk, ask about VAT-free shipping with customs duty prepaid.

Venice Supermarkets veniceforvisitors.com
In recent years, supermercati have spread throughout the city. Here are several brands to look for, with tips on how to shop.

Illegal Street Vendors veniceforvisitors.com
Phony designer handbags are the main stock in trade for the vu compra (immigrant Senegalese peddlers who sell from blankets in the street).

Venice Master Artisans veniceforvisitors.com
If you buy just one coffee-table book about Venice, make it this one. The large-format, 272-page book has 210 color photos and 30 profiles of artisans who use traditional techniques to make everything from glass to footwear to metal castings. (There's even an American-born gondola maker.)

Bentley's Guide to Shopping in Italy: Venice
Name-brand boutiques like Fendi and Missoni are hard to miss in Venice, so Logan Bentley and Barbara Lessona concentrate on quality shops that you might not find on your own.

Street Finder

Venice Street Address Guide
If you're looking for a Venice address such as "Cannaregio 5239," this Guida Anagrafica di Venezia e Isole will help you find the street where the building is located. The 29-page document is in Acrobat PDF format, so you'll need the free Adobe Reader to view it.

Telephones

Phoning Europe europeforvisitors.com
Even in the Internet era, there are times when you may want to telephone a hotel or other business in Europe--or when the folks back home may need to call you in an emergency.

Phoning Home from Europe europeforvisitors.com
Like E.T., you may need to call home during your trip. Here's how to do it without spending a fortune.

Time zones

The Time Zone Converter
In addition to a "What time is it in..." window, this site has a time-zone reference card, lists of time zones for specific countries, and links to other time-related pages.

World Time Zones
Check the current time in 1,000 places around the world, view a map of world time zones, etc. From ConvertIt.com.

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