Venice Overview

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Hotels:
Alloggi Henry: 80 Euro per night for a room with shared bathroom. It's not too far from the train station, or where you are dropped off by the bus, and is close to the grand canal. You have keys to open the front door after hours when there is no one at the reception desk. It was a little hard to find at first and we walked right past it, but found it after we turned back when we realized we had gone too far. We didn't really find it to be worth the 80 Euro, but stayed here because we decided to go one day earlier to Venice and the place we were already staying at was booked up for that night.

Bernardi Semenzato: This hotel was a bit nicer. 65 Euro per night for a room with a shared bathroom, and a sink in the room. We also ended up receiving a small discount at the end for paying in cash. It was a small room, but still had a small table and had enough space for us to store our luggage. There is wireless, but it is only available near the reception area or in the lounge/breakfast area, not in the rooms. This was also a good location, between the Ca d' Oro and Rialto vaporetto stops. I would stay here again.

Vaporetto (water bus transportation):
The vaporetto is the best way to get around Venice. They travel frequently down the grand canal, and some even go to smaller canals. There are also some that go to the other islands of Burano, Murano, Torcello, and Lido. I would recommend going down by San Marco to a Venice tourist information center, or you can go online to www.hellovenezia.com We got 3 day rolling passes, for those that are age 29 and under for 22 Euros each. This was such a deal because each single ride on the vaporetto is 6,50 and it only takes four rides to already have paid for itself. There are also other rolling ticket packages, even for those not under 29. I would recommend especially if you plan to visit other islands because I saw the private shuttles going to the islands costing at least 20-30 Euros just for that one ride.
The rolling ticket also gives you discounts to some museums and shops.

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