Venice for 2 days in Jan..crazy

[Lisa in Ottawa]

I will be in Geneva from Jan 21(1st full day)- Sunday, Jan 31. About 10 days. I am going b/c Ron will be working there ,I have a free place to stay and am travelling on points. However, If I'm willing to spend my rapidly shrinking Canadian $(actually already converted to euros before the latest CDN $ tumble) I can travel elsewhere for a couple of days.

What do folks think of Venice? It's 7 hours by train and not many planes fly regularly between these 2 cities. Easy jet only has 2 flights a week. Not helpful. I found Ethiad airline from UAE. Never flown them but price extremely reasonable. Times good. But hardly any seats left.

I've checked out lodgings. Honest to g-d, when do prices go down. Here I am travelling in the dead of winter during the week and some places full. However, I have found a couple. Probably need to decide soon. Aaa Venice in January.....

So..is it worth it? Would you do the train? I would lose 2 full days.
Advice. I don't think I want to be in Switzerland for 10 days. I don't do winter sports.
Thanks

 

[Shannon]

Carnivale starts on January 23. That is the reason for the prices and availability issue. It would be fun to check some of it out if you don't mind the crowd. You could also see where there are direct flights from Geneva, and go somewhere else that is easier to get to or somewhere closer by train.

 

[Lisa in Ottawa]

Thanks Shannon. I had no idea about Carnivale. Well, I'm not one for crowds but it should be fun. And I can always escape. Well, I booked a hotel for 3 nights! The heck with the price! It wasn't so bad especially when I checked against dates from April-June. But I swear the price went up in the 2 hours between my first and last check.
I'm pretty familiar with Venice having been 3x. This time I wanted to stay in Caravaggio area and in a somewhat larger place than Grandma and Grandpa's converted palazzo. Well, I think grandma and grandpa were all booked
I chose an Italian chain UNA. Smallest room at flexible rates . Now I better book my air transport.

There was no where else I wanted to go at that time of year within a reasonable distance. I didn't want to go to Paris which would have been way easier. Been many times. Just didn't interest me. I look forward to Venice in winter for a few days on my own.

 

[Lisa in Ottawa]

All booked!!! Anyone going to be there between Jan 26 and Jan 29th??? I kept on forgetting about this trip as it was an add on to my husband's work. I was more focused on the one in March to Spain and Portugal and then....it is almost here. And I have wanted to see Venice in winter.

 

[Callie]

Venice in winter can be lovely . Very cold, but lovely. I think you're early for Carnevale, so perhaps not so many crowds. I still remember a winter trip to Venice years ago, sitting in a bar with a roaring fireplace, a nice glass of wine and good friends. Wish I could remember where. Maybe on the Fondamenta Nuove?

Have a wonderful trip.

 

[Shannon]

That hotel looks nice. I didn't even know there was a hotel back there!

Callie I wish you could remember where that wood burning fire was too, because I thought they were banned in Venice..

 

[Callie]

Oh Shannon, I thought about that too. But this was in the 80s. And I think we were at a place in Sant' Elena with Venetian friends. It might have been a gas fire, but it sure was wood burning in my memory. My husband had a little too much grappa and was high fiving the waiter - totally out of character for him. And it was a long walk home - I remember that as well.

 

[Shannon]

that is an awesome memory!

 

[Callie]

I hadn't thought about that night in years. And it was such a fun evening. I think it was the year we were there for Carnevale and we rode the bumper cars on the Riva degli Schiavone. Strange men kept hijacking my friend and I, hopping into the bumper cars with us and trying to drive them, much to her husband's dismay. I laughed til I was crying. Then dancing in Campo San Stefano to some weird Italian band.

I love Italy.

 

[Lisa in Ottawa]

Update....I can never leave well enough alone. I read more reviews and checked more hotels. I was wrong! Prices are decidedly lower than rest of the year. Callie is correct. Carnivale doesn't get into full swing until Feb. The hotel I originally booked does indeed look quite nice....but it is part of chain and upon further exploration I saw I could do better price wise. So...I changed things.
I've now booked Al Ponte Mocenigo near San Stae vaporetto. It gets rave reviews. The room is larger and it's cheaper. I know the area more or less. It's pretty easy to reach.

 

[jan]

While I've never stayed there (Al ponte Mocenigo) I have peaked into it and it looks great. If it's not too cold, the San Stae Gelato shop is wonderful!

 

[Lisa in Ottawa]

Venice in winter is the way to go! My flight from Geneva took 1 hour and I had lovely views of Mont Blanc on the way. Although this was my 4th visit to Venice, I still felt terribly confused and lost most of the time. In my defense, aside from it being Venice, I am seriously geographically challenged and get easily turned around even on home turf.

I really had a sense of Venice being a place where real people rather than tourists lived. I arrived just as school got out and throngs of children and parents filled the square. Everyone piled into the local bakery for chocolate and other sweets then chased each other on scooters or on foot roundabout while parents chatted on nearby benches. I was to see this type of scene replayed many times in different squares throughout the city. As it is close to Carnivale, there was lots of sparkles and kids in costumes. I witnessed a group of children led by clown zumba dancing in the empty Rialto market early one evening.

No cruise ships this time of year. Yay! My b and b manager said that it is a very quiet time of year. The downside was that many of the cafes I had wanted to try were closed. That was frustrating. I was going to try different chichetta spots each of my 3 evenings but it didn't work out that way. It was almost funny as I came upon successive closed signs. I like to have different destinations as that's how I decide to see the city and wander about.

I did a self guided tour of La Fenice, the opera house now fully restored. It was glorious. I went to St. Marks Square my first evening after 2 of the bars on my list were closed. Decided to have a drink at Cafe Florian something I had never done as usually avoid St Marks. It was lovely. The cafe was great. I had a window seat looking right out onto the square and was treated royally even though I ordered about the cheapest item on the menu. The square was enveloped in mist and very atmospheric.

I went to La Giudecca as I had not been before and wandered around. Peaceful with wonderful views toward Venice.
I went to Caraveggio getting off at C'a D'Oro stop. I was in quest of a certain cafe. Wow! What a different scene. Tourist tack everywhere and crowded. It was like another world. Here and the area around Rialto and towards St. Marks were the only places I saw the selfie generation of all ages.

All in all I'm glad I went and would return in winter despite the closures. There are still many wonderful walks to take and places to pause and of course, eat and drink.

Compared to prices in Geneva, I thought I was in budget heaven!

 

[Pauline]

What a lovely post to read! I could picture you sitting in the cafe on St. Marks.