A Month In Venice

The San Marco region of Venice is perhaps the best known as this region contains the tourist trap St. Mark’s Square. The region of San Marco also contains the island of San Giorgio Maggiore which is best known for the church that was designed by Palladio. Since this region contains some of the best known tourist destinations it is a safe bet that if you ever plan on visiting Venice you are going to be seeing something in this region of the city.

Here is just a brief listing of some of the tourist attractions that this sestieri of Venice has to offer:

• Saint Mark’s Basilica
• Doge’s Palace
• Harry’s Bar
• Palazzo Dandolo
• La Fenice theater

As you can see you can take in much of Venice just by sticking to this one sestieri. A sestieri by the way is the Italian way of saying subdivision. This region contained center of government for what was once the most powerful countries in the entire world. So obviously the history of the area is dense and there is much to see.

Now if you are a tourist this is the place to see. However if you live in Venice I highly doubt you spend too much time in this sestieri unless you have a job that is centered around tourism.

The Dorsoduro district of Venice, Italy is in roughly the center of the city. This district is located on the opposite side of the Grand Canal from the San Marco district. This is one of the highest places in the entire city of Venice so it is safe from the sinking that the rest of the city is experiencing, at least for the time being. Now this is actually a very popular place to visit in Venice. This district boasts many tourist attractions including the following:

The Accademia Gallery
The Gallery was founded in 1750 and was built as a school of sculpture, painting and architecture. Currently the Gallery serves more as a museum and displays artists such as the following Gentile and Giovanni Bellini, Bernardo Bellotto, Pacino di Bonaguida, Canaletto, Carpaccio, Giulio Carpioni, Rosalba Carriera, Cima da Conegliano, Fetti, Pietro Gaspari, Michele Giambono, Luca Giordano, Francesco Guardi, Giorgione, Johann Liss, Charles Le Brun, Pietro Longhi, Lorenzo Lotto, Mantegna, Rocco Marconi, Michele Marieschi, Antonello da Messina, Piazzetta, Giovanni Battista Pittoni, Preti, Giambattista Tiepolo, Tintoretto, Titian, Veronese, Vasari, Leonardo da Vinci, Alvise Vivarini, and Giuseppe Zais. So obviously for the art lovers out there you will not be disappointed by what this museum has to offer.

Peggy Guggenheim Museum
This art museum contains mostly the collection of Peggy Guggenheim, hence the name. This museum focuses more on the American modernists and Italian futurists. Works in this collection come from a variety of artistic styles including Cubism, Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism. Artists such as Dali, Picasso and Brancuzi can be found here. The museum is housed in an unfinished 18th century palazzo called Palazzo Venier dei Leoni.

Santa della Maria Salute Church
This is perhaps one of the most photographed churches in all of Italy. Being directly across the Piazza San Marco it is hard to miss. This church carries the status of a minor basilica.

Campo Santa Margherita
One of the largest and most attractive squares in the entire city of Venice. Named after one of the churches that fronts it on one side. Currently the church is being used as an auditorium for the nearby University. Since there is a nearby University and this is located so close to the residential district you get to see what the true locals of the city are up to. This makes this area free of the trinket shops you see all around the tourist areas of Venice.

Previously in this blog I have briefly discussed one of the best hotels to stay in Venice, Italy. Of course this option is really only for the truly wealthy or those that occasionally like to splurge on themselves. I do realize that this hotel and many other hotels are well out of the range for some of my readers. Further there are those that like to live the backpacking lifestyle of traveling on a budget and so they do not cause a lot of environmental impact. I must applaud anyone who has those goals in mind as they are far better then me, even though I am a bit of a environmentalist.

There are some well kept and well run campgrounds in the city of Venice. Many have all the features of a high priced hotel which includes laundry services, free wifi services for those that want to stay connected to home base, continental breakfasts and restaurants on site.

These are just some of the places I found you could stay while in Venice and on a budget. Since most of these places offer mobile homes and bungalows you do not have to sleep in a tent or under the stars if you do not wish it.

Camping Della Serenissima
This campground is only 20 minutes away from the center of town by public transport. Offering many services such as a pizzeria, restaurant, market, satellite television and even token washing machines. Obviously this is a comprehensive campground that does not skimp on the luxuries.

Camping Fusina
This campground is even closer in that it is only 15 minutes away from the center of town by public transport. This site boasts of having the first Internet café in a campground in the whole of Venice. So obviously then it would be logical to assume that you can keep up to date and stay in touch here. Camping Fusina is one of the friendliest campgrounds offering such amenities as beach parties, sumo wrestling and a 24 hour laundry.

Camping Jolly delle Querce
This campground is right off the highway and very near the rail station as well. Since this campground is only 15 minutes away from the center of town as well I think it is logical to assume that it is near the other campgrounds. While not as luxurious as the previously mentioned campgrounds. Camping Jolly delle Querce does seem to be clean and well maintained.

Plus Alba D’Oro Camping
Since this campground boasts of the best budget accommodations in Venice I am assuming that you get what you pay for. Basically for 10.00 Euros you can stay in a 2 persons house tent. This campground also does offer internet café, pizzeria, take away, luggage storage and late night Gondola bar.

These campgrounds are for the hearty souls that wish to live a little and stay in a more rough environment then what the older folks are used to. Since many of these places cater to the backpacker and college student it is pretty obvious who you are going to be associating with if you choose to stay at any of these places.

You do not have to skimp on some services if you choose to “rough it” a bit while in Europe. Clearly these campgrounds are designed to keep their guests happy and some seem to go out of their way to make sure you feel at home. Definitely worth checking out if you are on a budget.