Want value in Venice Use my Bellini index!
You don’t have to blow the bank to visit Venice as Frank Barrett knows very well...
Harry’s Bar is the hallowed place in Venice where the Bellini cocktail was invented (it’s made from fresh peach juice and prosecco). It has been a favourite hang-out for everybody from Orson Welles and Ernest Hemingway to Nicole Kidman and Woody Allen. It has never been cheap, but in previous years I’ve been happy to bear the financial pain to enjoy a bona fide travel experience.
Five years ago, a Bellini cost €18. Today it is €21. Popular destinations are getting busier and with the huge growth in the number of Chinese visitors, for example, businesses in Venice are cashing in.
Do not despair, however, as I’ve got some useful tips to enjoy more bang for your holiday euros. My first tip, not surprisingly, perhaps, is: steer clear of Harry’s Bar. There are plenty of supermarkets in Venice that will sell you a litre bottle of prosecco and a box of peach juice for a total of €6, allowing you at least two days’ supply of Bellinis in the privacy of your hotel room.
WHERE TO STAY
It makes sense to choose accommodation in less popular – but still attractive – parts of the city. Giudecca, for example, is a separate island but just several minutes by water bus from St Mark’s Square.
At the far west of the island is the Molino Stucky Hilton (hilton.com), a huge, 370-room, five-star hotel in a converted neo-Gothic flour mill. At the beginning of April, I paid €237 a night, including breakfast – less than half the ‘normal’ rate.
Also look for unusual accommodation options, such as the excellent ‘Yacht Bert’ (yachtbertvenezia.com), a 100ft luxury yacht with six en-suite cabins where the price also includes breakfast. Rooms on the boat cost from €151 a night.
On Giudecca, check out the stylish Generator Hostel (genera torhostels.com), which has smart double rooms from €60 per night.
In Venice it seems every other building is a church, so it’s no surprise that its religious institutions are making a pitch for tourism. The lovely cloister that used to accommodate Redentore monks – on the Giudecca – now offers accommodation at €400 a week for a double room (istitutovenezia.com).
Monastery Stays (monastery stays.com) lists convents and monasteries that offer ‘hotel-quality’ accommodation to men and women. It has details of more than half a dozen religious institutions where you can stay in Venice, including the Istituto San Giuseppe, which offers attractive convent accommodation from €42.19pp per night.
The monks of San Giorgio in Maggiore have five guest rooms and no set fees – you make what you consider an appropriate contribution. And there’s always Airbnb, with more than 300 properties listed from €30 a night.
EATING OUT
In Venice, the tourist army marches on pizza, freely available from €2 a slice.
There are more than 1,200 restaurants. I haven’t tried them all but I can put hand on heart and say that I’ve never had a bad meal.
The further away from St Mark’s Square or the railway station, the better and cheaper. For an authentic Venice experience, visit Bar All’Arco, a stone’s throw from the Rialto vegetable market. This is an osteria (casual tavern) which serves cicheti (bar snacks): some snacks and a couple of glasses of prosecco for around €10.
SPECIAL BREAK
For a celebration break, when
cost is less of an issue , where better to choose than the Venicehotel that staged the wedding of George and Amal Clooney : the Belmond Cipriani (belmondbelmond.ccom/hotel- ciprianivenice).
In summer there is nofiner placeto relax thanbeside the absurdlylarge swimming pool, or you can wander the huge gardens,or dineatCipriani’s Michelin-starred Ororestaurant.
Accommodationis from €600 an night–but it’sworth every cent.
AFFORDABLEA SIGHTS
With an unlimited water-buspass,you can travel up and downthe Grand Canal and enjoy one ofthe best bus rides in the world–as well as using the pass to travelto other islands such as Murano,Buranoand Torcello.
My favourite building is the Santa MariadeiMiracoli, an extraordinary14th- Centurychurch, oneof the most fabulous buildings not just inVenice but possibly the world. Free walking tours of Venice are availabletwicedaily from JM Walking Tour(jmwalkingtour.org) – you just need to register in advance via thewebsite.
GETTING AROUND
Investin the unlimited travel passfor the water-bus vaporetto: youcan buy tickets for one ,two or three days for €20, € 30 and € 40– or pay €60 for seven days( there’s abig ticket office in Piazzale Roma).