Accommodation Ideas – Family Guide

HOUSEBOATS

Sleeping on the water can be a wonderful way to experience life in Venice, enjoying the beautiful lagoon sunsets and relaxing away from the crowds. There are several companies that rent out houseboats to tourists who wish to visit Venice and other areas of the lagoon. Imagine spending a week pottering around on a large boat, docking at different islands in the lagoon, and watching the sunset from the deck while the children swim! It can be an idyllic and novel way of seeing Venice. The companies usually have several specific mooring points around the lagoon where you can stay each night, including islands like Vignole, Sant’ Erasmo and Mazorbo. For visiting central Venice many houseboats dock in the marina at Sant’Elena, which is about 20 minutes’ walk from San Marco and has fantastic views of the lagoon. Others moor in Certosa island.

You do not need to have a driving license for house boats, but if you don’t want to get stuck in a sandbank or go the wrong way up a shipping channel you should really do some research about navigating the lagoon. Houseboats give you the great option of reaching parts of the lagoon that you might not normally visit, and a big advantage that you can cook onboard. Although fantastic in summer, you can also rent them in winter as they have heating onboard.

FAMILY FRIENDLINESS

For safety reasons it might not be wise to stay on a houseboat with a small toddler who cannot swim (though many people do). For older children it can be a wonderful experience to enjoy the beautiful lagoon. They can catch jellyfish (most are harmless), net crabs, and learn to fish. They can explore islands that you wouldn’t usually see on a trip to Venice and feel free, at one with nature. After sightseeing in the city they can relax back at the boat with a refreshing swim. When I was a child we often took barge holidays on canals and I used to love driving and helping to moor. Precious memories.

BOAT & BREAKFAST

If you are not brave enough to navigate the lagoon yourself, you can still have a unique experience by sleeping in a “boat and breakfast”. One option is to rent a whole boat that is moored in one of the marinas in Sant’Elena or Certosa island using it only for sleeping. Both marinas also have extra bathroom facilities, laundry rooms, and cafes in summer. Alternatively, you can rent rooms inside a boat with a skipper on board. In some cases the skipper also cooks and offers trips out in the lagoon if requested. Another option is to book rooms in a large boat hotel or a boat hostel, also available in Marina Sant’ Elena and Venice. For children both Sant Elena and Certosa are fantastic places to stay because there is so much green space around. With a 5 euro fishing net they can spend hours catching crabs or can play at the gorgeous playground in Sant Elena.

RESIDENCE
(apartment hotels)

PRIVATE APARTMENTS & AIRBNB

In recent years the number of apartments available for vacation rental in Venice has exploded. Prices are competitive and consequently you can find some real bargains if you search well. Most apartments in Venice are quite small and often dark, but you might be lucky to find one with a small balcony or tiny courtyard.

RESIDENCE "SERVICED APARTMENT HOTELS"

You can also search for a “residence”, which is a sort of hotel-apartment where you can rent a small flat within a holiday complex, often with a little outside space, sometimes with extras such as a swimming pool, and usually including breakfast. If you are planning to focus your trip on the main sites around San Marco and Rialto, then a centrally located apartment might be one choice, but consider that Venice is really small, and you can walk across it in less than an hour. So, you should also think about what other needs you might have with a family; we find that our kids love to have a run around a playground after a day of sightseeing, so personally we would choose one of the neighbourhoods with open space nearby, which is nice and quiet but still easy to reach the centre (such as Sant’Elena or Lido).

FAMILY FRIENDLINESS

The obvious advantage of renting an apartment is that you have more space for your family and have the independence to prepare meals or picnics at home if you have small kids and do not want to eat out all the time. If you are coming in summer consider staying at a “residence” on Lido with a pool or one near the beach.

Before you book a private apartment make sure you ask the owners how many stairs there are and if there is anywhere to store a pram (many Venetian apartment blocks will not allow prams or buggies to be stored in the stairwells).

SOME SUGGESTIONS FROM OUR GUESTS

Here are some places that our guests have stayed in while visiting us, or ones we stayed in ourselves before moving here. All have been inspected by us so we know they are suitable for families.

Le Ville de Lido. Lovely little apartments in Lido, just in front of the beach. All apartments have a balcony or outdoor space and a small corner kitchenette. Swimming pool onsite during summer. www.levilledellido.com

Al Bailo di Venezia. Perfectly located in Cannaregio about 15 minutes away from Saint Mark’s square. Clean, modern apartments with small kitchens. My brother and his family had a wonderful stay here. www.albailodivenezia.it

CAMPING
(lido)

Many people are surprised to discover that you can go camping in Venice! There is a small campsite on Lido island in the charming, quiet San Nicolo area, right in front of the lagoon, next to the port pilot “piloti” station. There is a bus stop very near the campsite for Line A that goes to Lido’s waterbus stop (about 2km away).

Camping San Nicolo www.campingsannicolo.com

FAMILY FRIENDLINESS

Kids love camping and this can be a great option for families on a budget. Central Venice is not too far away and the children will enjoy running round in the fresh air on the campsite after sightseeing in Venice. Lido also has lots of beaches.

A HOTEL IN THE LAGOON
(il lato Azzuro, sant'erasmo)

Il Lato Azzuro is a small, quaint guesthouse on the quiet island of Sant’Erasmo, in the heart of the Venetian lagoon.

This is the kind of place that we stay in when we’re travelling with our children because it’s near enough to the centre to go sightseeing but it offers lots of green space for the kids to run, explore, and relax the rest of the time. We also love to get away from the tourist spots and see how some of the locals live (and believe me, it’s fascinating to see the lagoon way of life on Sant’Erasmo island).

It’s a simple hotel with lots of family rooms, all with ensuite bathrooms. The views are spectacular and it’s remarkably quiet on the island. Most of the rooms have either a balcony or doors that lead out to the garden. They have rooms of various sizes (up to 6 beds), each named after a place in the lagoon “Mazzorbo, Burano etc”. There is a small restaurant on the ground where breakfast is served and, if you wish, also lunch and dinner. They use local, seasonal vegetables and have a charming little dining room.

HOW TO GET THERE FROM VENICE

Take waterbus Line 13 from Fondamenta Nova to Sant’Erasmo Capannone (27 minutes). When you arrive at Sant’Erasmo Capannone waterbus stop the hotel is 800 metres away. You can either walk or call ahead to get the hotel minibus to pick you up.

Fondamenta Nova is on the northern side of Venice and from there you can walk to many of the main sights within 30 minutes (Rialto, Saint Mark’s etc).

Line 13 starts at Fondamenta Nova and stops at Murano Faro, Vignole, and Sant’Erasmo Capannone (the stop closest to the hotel). It then goes through other stops on the island (Chiesa and Punta Vela) before going on to the mainland Treporti.

FAMILY FRIENDLINESS

If you want a relaxing holiday this can be great with kids. Not only will they have a wonderful time seeing the tourist sights of Venice but they’ll also be able to have an amazing adventure, exploring the Venetian lagoon and seeing places that most tourists don’t even exist. Sant’Erasmo doesn’t have official roads, just some tracks and a few small farm trucks and tractors driving around. You can cycle everywhere between the farmland and find quiet spots to swim in the lagoon, collect clams, fish crabs or do some bird watching.

Lots of our friends come to visit us and overdo it with the sightseeing and their children end up grumpy and overwrought. Personally, we find that our kids are happy to look at museums and churches for a few hours as long as they have time for some real play during the day. Il Lato Azzuro is exactly the type of place that we stay in when we’re on our travels. We lie back with a glass of wine in the evening and the kids run around in the garden.

SANT' ERASMO ISLAND

Just down the road you can find a beach to swim in summer and the wonderful Al Bacan restaurant; sit on the deck and enjoy a spritz while you watch the locals passing by on their boats.

Bikes are available from the hotel to explore Sant’Erasmo island. In the summer there is a wonderful “sagra”, an artichoke festival (usually the 2^nd Sunday of May). There’s a vineyard, Orto di Venezia, that makes a wonderful wine that is served in many Venetian bars. The vineyard also does wine tasting – go to www.ortodivenezia.com to reserve.

what's around nearby

It’s just one water bus stop from our favourite Trattoria alla Vignole and only two stops away from Murano, where you can see glass blowers working their magic to create beautiful glassware and sculptures.