Where To Stay In Venice, Italy – Best Areas september 24, 2021 – Posted in: Italy, Travel – Tags: Holiday, Hotels, Italy, Vacation, Venice

Where is the beat area to stay in Venice?

Where should you book a hotel in Venice? Venice consists of different districts and areas, each with its own charm and beautiful views over the canals. The city deserves at least a couple of nights, because you can’t capture the essence of the beautiful city with a day trip. And maybe you’ll want to live in several different places in the city, after reading here? And even if you feel like a beach holiday, Venice has it all!

Here you get a brief overview of the districts, so you have a better starting point for making a decision on where to live in Venice. Before you start reading, just click on the map of neighborhoods in Venice. Here you get a good overview of the different neighborhoods in the city.

However, you don’t have to be afraid that the choice of hotel will determine if you can get around and see all the sights. Venice is no bigger than you can walk across the island in a few hours. Otherwise, the vaporetti, harbor buses, water taxis and gondolas are ready to take you around the city.

Here is a review of the neighborhoods that tend to be popular with tourists in Venice. You can also do your own search on Booking.com for a good hotel in Venice right here:


Booking.com

Neighborhoods in Venice – an overview

If you only want to spend one night in Venice, then it is obvious to stay right in the middle of all the sights on St. Mark’s Square. Here you are also close to all the lovely shopping streets that are located all the way from St. Mark’s Square and up to the Rialto Bridge. Along the quayside there is always something going on, with the gondolas bobbing around and the tourists enjoying life at one of the many cafes on the brim of the canals.

It is also right here around St. Mark’s Square that you will find some of the city’s finest and most expensive hotels. Best known is probably the legendary Hotel Danieli, where guests such as Charles Dickens, Wagner and Steven Spielberg have stayed through the ages. It is also at this hotel that the film The Tourist starring Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie was shot. Even if it’s on the more expensive end, still click the link to enjoy the amazing the hotel, if nothing else then just to kick off the dream of arriving at the luxury hotel like James Bond!

See all the beautiful hotels at St. Mark’s Square in Venice – click here!

Cannareggio

From St. Mark’s Square, we move a little north and west, towards the lively neighborhood of Cannareggio, where the photo at the top is from. The laundry, which decorates the narrow streets, gives a strong impression that there are a lot of locals living here.

Cannaregio is lively area with lots of bars and restaurants right down to the canals and therefore also an area we ended up returning to again and again. You can read more about this here: Best restaurants in Venice. It is also here in this neighbourhood that you will find the old Jewish ghetto, in fact the word ghetto stems from here! If you are interested in the story behind it, The Smithsonian has written an excellent article that gives a good insight into the history of the ghetto in Venice.

See all the beautiful hotels in lively Cannaregio – click here!

Dorsoduro

From Cannaregio we head straight south down to the Dorsoduro district. For some strange reason, we only got to explore this area on the very last day, in the hours before we were to fly. But it’s definitely in Dorsoduro we’ll be staying next time. Here there is a little more space between the houses and very few tourists in the streets.

From the cozy café Al Canton, which is located right down to one of the many canals, it is easy to get an insight into how the locals actually live. The students who enjoy their lunch break, the little, thin grandmother who, without complaining, just carries her shopping cart across the stone bridge, the children who play football, strangely not shooting the ball into the water. In other words, it’s just fantastic!

See all the wonderful hotels in cozy Dorsoduro – click here!

Santa Croce

Still, we were also quite happy with our decision to stay in Santa Croce, which is located right in the heart of the city. In the alleys with the tall houses, it’s easy to get lost in the charming, labyrinthine streets. And there is always something new and exciting waiting just around the next corner, especially a lot of delicious restaurants!

We stayed at the Hotel Al Ponte Mocenigo, which was a perfect setting for our romantic holiday. The small boutique hotel has just 10 beautiful rooms, all decorated in Venetian 18th-century style with exposed ceiling beams, damask curtains, large chandeliers and soft beds. In the morning, the hotel offers a wonderful breakfast in the small courtyard.

The hotel is a few steps down the street from the vaporetto station San Stae, quite practical when heading out on some of the longer trips to the other islands. Otherwise, the Rialto Bridge is only a seven minute walk away and St. Mark’s Square a quarter of an hour away.

See all the other beautiful hotels in Santa Croce – click here!

San Polo

A little further south and towards the Rialto Bridge you will find the San Polo district. It was right here on the Rialto Bridge that the Venetians originally settled in the late 5th century and laid the foundation for the city, or rather began to dig down the poles on which Venice is built today.

This is also where you will find the Rialto Market, which you also have to pay a visit. Please arrive early in the morning when the fish market opens. Later in the day, continue to the busy tourist street, Ruga dei Oresi. Here there are masks, Murano glasses and fans – and lots of bars and restaurants in the side alleys.

See all the beautiful hotels in San Polo – click here!

Lido

But why not really combine the city break in Venice with a beach holiday? The island of Lido is only a short boat ride from St. Mark’s Square. The holiday island with its kilometers of sandy beaches has lots of cozy cafés and shops, and you can easily spend a day or two just relaxing on the beach after the many sights in Venice. It is also a good choice for the last few days of the holiday, before the trip goes back home and absolutely perfect for a kids-friendly holiday in Venice, which you can read more about here:  Holidays with children in Venice.

See all the beautiful hotels on the beach holiday island Lido – click here!

Read the other articles about Venice here!