Venice: The Rough Guide (Rough Guide Travel Guides) - Softcover

Buckley, Jonathan; Robinson, Hilary

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1858280362 ISBN 13: 9781858280363

Publisher: Rough Guides, 1993

Synopsis

This guidebook reveals Venice in all its glory. From San Marco and the Rialto markets to tranquil San Francesco del Deserto, every corner of the city is covered in full cultural and historical detail. As well as the monuments and paintings, there are details of the practicalities of Venetian life. The guide explains how to find the best bars and restaurants, how to negotiate the transport system, how to get into the swing of the city's festivals and how to escape the crowds. It also covers the sights outside Venice, ranging from the cities of Padua and Verona to the vineyards of the Dolomite foothills.

About this title

About the Author

Written and researched by Jonathan Buckley with additional research by Charles Hebbert and Kate Hughes. Jonathan Buckley is the co-author of the Rough Guides to Tuscany and Umbria and Florence, and has published three novels: The Biography of Thomas Lang, Xerxes and Ghost MacIndoe.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

WHEN TO GO Venice’s tourist season is very nearly an all-year affair. Peak season is from April to October, when hotel rooms are virtually impossible to come by at short notice; if possible give the central part of this period a miss, and at all costs don’t try to stay in July and August, when the crowds are at their fullest, the climate becomes oppressively hot and clammy, and many of the restaurants close down anyway. The other two popular spells are the Carnevale (leading up to Lent) and the weeks on each side of Christmas; again, hotels tend to be heavily booked, but at least the authentic life of the city isn’t submerged during these festive periods, as it is by the summer inundation.

For the ideal combination of comparative peace and pleasant climate, the two or three weeks immediately preceding Easter is perhaps the best time of year. The days should be mostly mild – though the weather can be capricious – and finding accommodation won’t present insuperable problems. Climatically the months at the end of the high season are somewhat less reliable: some November days are so clear that the Dolomites seem to start on the edge of the mainland, while others bring fogs that make it difficult to see from one bank of the Canal Grande to the other. However, the desertion of the streets in winter is magical, and the sight of the Piazza under floodwater is unforgettable. This acqua alta, as Venice’s seasonal flooding is called, is an increasingly common occurrence between October and March, and you should anticipate a few inconvenient days in the course of a two-week visit in winter. Duck-boards enable people to move dry-footed around the busiest parts of the city, but some low-lying areas – such as around Campo San Polo – become impassable to anyone without gumboots, and on certain freakish days the water rises so high that boats can be rowed onto the Piazza.

If you want to see the city at its quietest, January is the month to go – take plenty of warm clothes, though, as the winds of the Adriatic can be savage, and you should be prepared for some rain.

Edition details

• Publisher: Rough Guides
• Publication date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1858280362
• ISBN 13: 9781858280363
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 416