How to explore La Serenissima without getting lost
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Venice - Typical campo connecting calle in Venezia
Typical campo connecting calle in Venezia
Venezia has a very confusing grid plan especially for those of us most familiar with modern American cities. Exploring the calli, canales, and campi of Venezia can be very much like working your way through a tricky maze, However, if you first understand the basic plan by which Venezia was built, navigating the city is much easier.

The only way to intimately explore Venezia without getting lost is to first understand how the city grew together and evolved. Visualize Venezia not as a single city, but as a conglomeration of many small villages with no open spaces in between. The business and social center of each village is its campo. There are more than 100 campi spread semi uniformly across Venezia. Villages or neighborhoods were built around their campo. A chiesa or church was built in such a way as to become the centerpiece of the campo. As the population of the city declined, many chiesas were converted to community halls or movie theaters. A pozzo ( cistern ) was built in the center of each campo to collect rainwater from the roofs as a " fresh " water supply. The buildings bordering the campi contain bottegas ( shops ) on the ground floors and living quarters on the upper floors. These local bottegas are the best places to dine or get refreshment in Venezia.

Keeping the city development plan in mind, buy a map that lists the names of most of the campi and shows their shapes. Because the campi have irregular shapes, you can use the map and perhaps a compass to orientate yourself within a campo.

Select the neighborhoods of Venezia you wish to explore, then plan the approximate route on your map. When you have explored your first campo and wish to proceed to the next, find the calle ( street ) on your map that connencts the campo you are in with the next campo you wish to visit. Take advantage of the irregular shape of the campo to help you locate the start of the calle.

Calles that connect campos tend to be wider and have more traffic than other streets. It is easy to wander off your calle without being aware that you did. If you find yourself at the edge of a rio ( a narrow waterway ) or canal with no bridge or fondamenta running along side of it, you are on a short dead end street. Enjoy the view, turn around, and relocate the calle that you veered off of.

If you make a few wrong turns and other bobbles, you will be back on track soon. Enjoy the exquisite adventure and don't give into frustration. You are in Venezia where making small mistakes is part of the enjoyment of your journey. Navigating Venezia for the first time is much like playing through a Vivaldi tune for the first time.

ciao !
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Venice - Chiesa Santa Maria dei Miracoli
Chiesa Santa Maria dei Miracoli


More tips for enjoying your stay in La Serenissima
Select anytime except August for your visit to Venezia. Most Italianos are on vacation in August when crowds in Italia's most popular tourist destinations are the heaviest. The Adriatic coast including Venezia is usually hot, humid, and mosquito infested in July and August. Many hotels and other tourist venues are not air conditioned. The best times to visit are April, May, October, late September, and of course during Carnivale, which is just before Ash Wednesday.

The ideal time to visit Venezia's most popular attractions is before 10 AM on any day of the week. Piazza San Marco is not even crowded early in the morning. A drawback is that you will miss the best street musicians. Whenever it gets too crowded for at the best known places in Venezia, it is time to start your exploration of the remainder of the city, which by the way is about 90 % of the city. Most of the best things to see and experience in La Serenissima are seldom or never crowded with tourists. A good example is chiesa Santa Maria dei Miracoli ( the wedding church ) .