Venice Guide - City Map - Top Attractions - Accommodation

City of Haunting Dreams - To many people, Venice is quite simply the most beautiful city in the world.

"At first sight, it appears like a dream - it's breathtaking architecture and almost overwhelming weight of centuries challenging us to question the pace and purpose of our modern day lives.

It is a city of many contradictions - something grand but faded, magical yet ghostly, beautiful but with a dark, sinister undercurrent running through its canals and a pervasive sense that a second spectral city exists beneath the façade of everything you see. Sense too the silence and spirituality of the great cathedrals and churches, feel the aura of the once mighty Venetian Empire and the decadence of its fall from grace.

Step away from the Grand Canal, let the gaudy masks and plastic souvenirs fade into the background and enter this ghostly world. See the 'Bridge of Sighs' as it must have seemed to the friends of prisoners marched along it, San Michele Cemetery, 'The Island of the Dead', with its barred and locked door set low on the water-line, the peeling walls of a once proud palazzo, the mossy steps of a canal-side residence, a gilded funeral gondola, a solitary cloaked figure walking home from a carnival, St Mark's Square in winter, wreathed in white as mist sweeps in from the sea..."

Venice - City of Haunting Dreams, Simon Marsden

Learn Italian on your iPod - Language Guide and Phrasebook

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Top AttractionsTop Attractions

Map Index:

The Grand Canal
The Grand Canal is Venice's Main Street and is the lifeline of the city. When you first arrive in Venice, take a water taxi, they're better value, far quicker and infinitely more stylish than the ever present gondola. Otherwise, jump on the "Vaporetto #1" - this waterbus will ferry you along this famous waterway.

St. Marks Square & Basilica
St. Mark's Square is the largest and most beautiful and romantic square in Venice! Sometimes you'll find orchestras playing outside in front of the cafes.

Rialto Bridge
Stretching across Venezia's Grand Canal, the "Ponte Rialto" is the city's most famous bridge. Always teaming with tourists frequenting the many souvenir stores, it provides an excellent vantage point for photos of the canal.

The Bridge of Sighs
This famous bridge connects the Doge's Palace and prison. Prisoners that were sentenced in the Doges palace walked through the Bridge of Sighs to make their way to the prison. They say this was their last breath and view of Venice, hence its name "Bridge of Sighs".

Gondola Rides
Whilst in Venice, you may want to splurge on a gondola ride. Depending on what time of day you go, they can cost between 75 and 120 Euros. You can try to negotiate the price, otherwise go with friends so you can split the cost (a gondola can carry up to 6 people).

Santa Maria della Salute
This stunning church is built along the Grand Canal. Built to celebrate the end of the plague in Venice, its façade is embellished with 125 statues which form a sharp contrast to the sombre interior.

Islands of Murano and Burano
The art of blowing glass is centuries old and is said to have originated in Venice - you can see a glass blowing demonstration at one of the glass factories in Murano. Burano is a picturesque fishing village near Murano that is known for its rainbow coloured houses and lace making.

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AccommodationAccommodation

Camping Alba d'Oro
Via Triestina 214/b
30030 Ca'noghera
Venice
Italy

The best value budget accommodation in Venice. Plus Camping Alba D'Oro is a unique hostel/camping village that has been created to cater for the needs of the backpacker/traveller. You get more than your average youth hostel with onsite restaurant, pizzeria, takeaway, pool, jacuzzis, internet cafe, cash machine, supermarket, big screen TV, beach volley ball, laundry, local excursions, luggage storage, 24hr security, super friendly staff and the awesome late night Gondola bar with DJ and the infamous Plus Toga Parties.

Book Here!

Prices: Dorm Rooms from 13.00 Euros; Private Rooms from 18.50 Euros.

Directions: The campsite is located just next to Venice's Marco Polo airport. From Mestre train station cross the main road and take public bus number 15 direction Ca'Noghera and get off at the 4th stop after the airport right in front of the campsite ( last bus 15 at 20.30). [Map]