My first trip to Europe: Venice

I'm making my first trip to Europe in April, traveling to Venice with my girlfriend for her 40th birthday. We've got flights and hotels booked, so anything else I can use advice about. I've picked up the Lonely Planet guidebook. Anybody got any tips, from the generic traveling abroad tips to city-specific stuff?

 

Enjoy the hell out of it. I was only there for a couple of days, but it was great.

Make sure you take time to step into a couple of the cathedrals. Also, find time to make it out of the tourist area -- which is most of the city. But you can find "local" neighborhoods, if that makes any sense.

 

I was only there for a day, but it was definitely a fun trip. I was staying with friends in Germany (near Frankfurt), so we took a weekend trip to Munich and Bavaria. From there, we took a day bus trip to Venice, so we didn't get that far out of the tourist areas unfortunately.

Didn't have a ton of time. Gondola ride, walk around the cathedral and the main square, eat dinner and time to catch the bus back.

 

We went there on our honeymoon --some random thoughts:

-- the town is way more fun (and less crowded) at night than during the day. Late at night, sit out at a cafe in Piazza San Marco, have some Sambuca and listen to music.

-- I'm a bit of food snob, but I thought that the restaurants were mediocre, at best.

-- if you want to visit Murano to buy some overpriced glass, take the Vaporetto -- don't be sucked into a free private boat by your hotel as it is all just a high pressure sell.

-- We liked Burano (not to be confused with Murano) -- very cool colors on the houses. Some of the best pictures that I've ever taken.

-- In Venice, wander aimlessly on the back streets -- there are tons of cool shops. You can (and will) get lost easily, but there are signs everywhere to the big attractions, like the Piazza San Marco. Otherwise, when you're on the main steets, it's all Prada and Niketown.

-- The Jewish section, which had the first ghetto, was very interesting.

-- Have a Bellini or two at Harry's. Sure it's touristy, but you will be a tourist. And it is delicious.

 

The further you get from the Grand Canal, the cheaper the gellato!

If you're museum people, do the Doge's palace and be sure to spend the extra few bucks for the audio tour. It'll really enhance the tour, pointing out things you wouldn't otherwise see, and interpreting the things right in front of your face.