Venice - the most beautiful city in Europe, possibly on Earth. Also legendary for being cripplingly expensive. The first part is undeniable: Venice has the architectural and art treasures of half a dozen major European cities, all in an ethereal waterborne setting the size of a small town. The second, that Venice will maim your credit card horribly is, in my experience, something of a myth.
Take accommodation. A fiendish nightmare supposedly: sky-high prices, always in short supply. Incorrect, except during Carnival (which always runs for 10 days ending on Shrove Tuesday; next year it's from February 14-24). In recent years the municipality has relaxed planning regulations so that the number of budget hotels has substantially increased. If you book before you go (use a discount international phone card so you don't have to worry about the cost of the calls) you'll find somewhere cheap - trust me.
On this trip I was exposed to the kindness of the Venetians before even reaching the city. I reserved a room in a one-star hotel, the beguilingly named Al Gobbo, which I then had to cancel after confirmation and faxing off my credit card details (mostly you can't book budget hotels by email). Cancelling was no problem at all and there was no charge - not a common experience in the UK.
If you don't fancy doing the donkey work of creating your own package and want a more upmarket deal, check out the ready-made packages. You'll be surprised at the prices: two nights' bed and breakfast in a two-star hotel plus flights should be approximately £50 more per person than similar deals for Barcelona. Plus you'll never match the room rates that holiday companies can extort from posh hotels. At £59 and £85 respectively (per person, per night in a double, plus breakfast) the hotels which hosted me, Nuovo Teson and Bonvecchiati, would have been well outside my means if I'd booked them outside of a package deal. One caveat: cheap packages often base you on the Lido. The Lido is a pleasant seaside resort, but it's not Venice proper and most of the time it's very quiet. If that's what you want, fine; if not, avoid.
One area where perhaps there is a need for caution is food. Few of us go to Venice for the cuisine, which is unremarkable. So if you're cash conscious, it's not worth paying upwards of £15 a head for what will probably be an unmemorable meal. Eat pizza or hit the supermarkets - there are several big ones near the centre. It is worth bearing in mind that two of the best supermarkets have branches on the islands: Billa at the Lido (Santa Maria Elisabetta stop) and Prix on Giudecca (Redentore stop). This means that you can combine your shopping with a boat trip across the lagoon and a relaxing stroll away from the hustle and bustle of the centre.
Some guidebooks recommend bacari as a substitute for straightforward restaurants. Basically, bacari are pubs providing bar snacks - Italian tapas. Ever had a cheap and satisfying meal in a tapas bar in London? Me neither. Bacari are no different, so be wary if you're on a tight budget. When you're looking for pizza, ignore the guidebook advice about travelling away from the centre to eat out. Your feet will be throbbing enough after a day's sightseeing. Search out the centre's more discreet trattorias, hidden round the back of churches, down alleyways and so on. Two of you should be able to share a large pizza and a mixed salad for £5 each (in the obvious tourist traps it's at least half as much again). Despite all the horror stories, you can get a reasonably priced cappuccino in St Mark's Square - so long as you sit inside. At Bar Americano next to the Basilica it's £1.26. Further along the prices creep up, but apart from the obviously posh cafes they are all less than Starbucks back home. Make sure you taste the shop ice cream to go, because it's far better quality than the UK equivalent. Near the centre a two-scoop cone is around £1.50; further out three scoops for £1.30 is typical.
My top tip for food and drink, which I share with some reluctance, is to go to San Lucia railway station. Take the canal-side exit. Turn right and walk for about 150m. Enter the door nestling in the right angle of the L-shaped railway office building. You're in the Ristodlfve railway workers' canteen, also open to students and the public. You'll get a three-course meal - salad, primo, secundo - for less than a fiver. Canteen food, yes, but it's Italian canteen food of a much higher quality than you'll find in the majority of British workplaces. You have a choice of olive oils to dress your salad, for God's sake. Wine is available at bottom-of-the-barrel prices, too. If the rest of Italy is busily embracing corporatism, the spirit of the commune lives on in here.
Don't be too obsessed with saving costs. The best part of Venice consists of simply wandering round the streets and that's free. Admiring the gondoliers and their uniforms for those so inclined (more than half the tourist population, so I'm told) costs nothing either. And when it is time to leave, don't bother getting a bus to the airport. Get the boat instead. You can't do that anywhere else in the world, it's only £7.41 and it's the best way of saying goodbye to this achingly splendid city.
Way to go
Peter Carty's trip to Venice was courtesy of Thomas Cook Signature (0870 443 4449), which offers two nights B&B at a two-star hotel, plus return British Airways scheduled flights from £317 per person (three nights start from £368 per person). Two nights at a three-star hotel start from £333 per person for departures until June 30 (three nights £392 per person).
How to get there
Flying to Venice has become much cheaper with the advent of discount airlines. Recently EasyJet (0870 600 0000) was offering returns for £2 plus tax, though you might not get a deal as good as that. EasyJet takes you to Marco Polo, the main airport, which is 13km from the city and only £1.85 by bus. Ryanair (0871 246 0000) drops you in Treviso, 31km away and £3.19 by bus.
Local transport
The airport boat service Societa Aliluguna (0039 041 523 5775) runs hourly services to and from Marco Polo airport. Tickets cost £7.41 and the trip takes around an hour from St Mark's Square, one of the main stops. The round trip can be included in your VENICEcard (see details below).
On arrival in Venice, make sure you buy a vaporetto (boat-bus) pass. At £21.48 for a three-day pass the VENICEBluCard might seem a substantial outlay, but it works out at less than pay-per-go (usually either £2.60 or £3.70 per time, depending on the route) and you'll take more vaporetto rides than you anticipate. Bear in mind that the more expensive VENICEOrangeCard at £31.11 also gets you into the municipal museums free, but not the Accademia or the Peggy Guggenheim.
Sightseeing
Get a discount museum card for £8.15 to save costs (see fuller details below), but bear in mind, again, that it doesn't give you access to the Accademia (£4.82) or the Peggy Guggenheim (£5.93), two of the main galleries.
Don't bother paying £4.44 to ascend the belltower in St Mark's Square. Head to San Giorgio Maggiore and climb the tower in the eponymous church that dominates the island. It's only £2.22, the view is better and the queues are shorter.
Gondolas, schmondolas. Get a traghetto instead (that's a gondola-like ferry that takes you across the Grand Canal where there is no bridge handy). Contrary to what the guidebooks say, you can sit down in a traghetto, though it is best to ask nicely first. It'll cost you the princely sum of 30 pence.
Further information
General info:
www.veniceinfo.it
www.turismovenezia.it/eng/
Accommodation:
www.venicehotel.com
Discount cards
Transport:
www.venicecard.it
Some versions of the VENICECard also give museum discounts. The following are the prices for the three-day cards:
VENICEBluCard
Public transport and toilets: £21.48
Public transport, toilets and transport to and from Marco Polo airport by Alilaguna boat service: £36.30
VENICEOrangeCard
Museums, public transport and toilets: £34.81 Museums, public transport, toilets and transport to Marco Polo airport by Alilaguna boat service: £49.63
Rolling Venice card: www.comune.venezia.it. This card costs £1.91 and offers a range of discounts at hotels, restaurants, museums and shops, as well as cut-price vaporetto cards and cheap concert tickets at La Fenice. The card is available if you are aged 14 to 29, from municipal transport (ACTV) or tourist offices.
Museum card: www.museiciviciveneziani.it. There are three kinds of Museum card: The most comprehensive includes the Museum of St Mark's Square and costs £8.15; the eighteenth century culture card costs £5.93; and the island museum card costs £4.44.
Guidebooks
I used the Rough Guide (Rough Guides £8.99) and the Time Out Guide to Venice (Penguin £11.99). Both were extremely useful.
Accommodation
Al Gobbo
Campo S.Geremia, Cannaregio 312/
Tel: 0039 041 715 001
Rate per person for a double plus breakfast: Euro 33.5
Albergo Nuovo Teson
Riva degli Schiavoni 3980/81
Venice 30122
Tel: 0039 0415 285 335
Rate per person for a double plus breakfast: £59
Hotel Bonvecchiati
4488 Calle Guoldoni
Piazza San Marco
Venice 30124
Rate per person for a double plus breakfast: £85
