Venice What to Pack

Miscellaneous: Below are the books I am reading for the upcoming May trip (see my other tip for last year's set).

Venice for Pleasure, JG Links. This is an AMAZING book. Jan Morris called it the most original and delightful guidebook ever written for the city (paraphrase). It's 270+ pages, but, small and light enough to fit into your suitcase and it's for sure going in mine. It consists of 4 detailed walking tours - literally, step by step walking tours - around Venice. No building goes unnoticed on his tours. The first chapter introduces you to Venice in general with a little bit of history and then off you go! It was written several years ago, but really - what is going to change in Venice so much? Surely there are no new roads... (although as time goes by some canals may be filled in). The restaurants could surely change but the core of Venice is eternal. (assuming it doesn't go underwater one day... boohoo).

PS - I will add the others later...

Miscellaneous: Here are some books I read to prepare for my last trip to Italy...

Miss Garnet's Angel by Sally Vickers – oh such a treat! I recommend reading this before you leave and visiting some of the spots the author highlights. (older English lady leaves England after the death of her friend to start a new life in Venice...)

Time Out for Venice
Top Ten DK guidebooks for Venice.
Collected Traveler for Venice by Barrie Kerper.

Out of this Century: Confessions of an Art Addict by Peggy Guggenheim. If you want to see how the other half lives. Talk about the roaring 20s. Her life story, and the stories about the lives of the expats in the '20s and '30s, are what make us have such romantic notions of chucking it all and moving to Europe. There's that little detail about either being an heiress or having latent artistic talent – must put that on the list of Things to Do.

World of Venice by Jan Morris. A must-buy before you visit Venice.

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Luggage and bags: Good luggage with wheels for the cobblestone. And extra compact bag for bringing home souveniers.

Clothing/Shoes/Weather Gear: Shoes! Good Shoes. There is cobblestone here. Keep in mind that some of the main streets flood and you need to bring shoes that can tolerate the water. Compact umbrella. Fabulous scarf for those chilly nights. Pay attention to how the locals wear them. So chic.

Toiletries and Medical Supplies: Sunscreen, Hat, Bug Spray

Photo Equipment: Good camera batteries and film. So much cheaper and easier to find at home. One guy ahead of me in line tried to buy AA batteries for his camera and they charged him per battery rather than by the pack.

Miscellaneous: Washcloth. The hotels in Italy don't have them. In fact they only have one large bath towel then several hand towels that are made out of the same type of cloth that I would compare to cloth napkins. This was the case for the three hotels where we stayed in Italy. Also, bring a good language guide.

Luggage and bags: After Air France lost our luggage, we were very pleased that we had a carry-on with a change of clothes, toiletries, and medications with us

Clothing/Shoes/Weather Gear: Good Walking shoes. Don't worry about the looks, be comfortable. Anything goes but the people wearing heels or "flip-flops" need to get with the program.

Toiletries and Medical Supplies: I carried deet mosquito repellent and never used it. We never saw a mosquito.

Photo Equipment: A good digital camera is a must with as much memory as possible. A card that holds a thousand photos works well, and it is not my goal to tour with my vision thru a camera lens. There are just so many photo opportunities.

Camping/Beach/Outdoor Gear: The Beach at Lido and traveling the islands provides good opportunities for beach wear.

Miscellaneous: I like carrying a backpack for water, photo equiptment, umbrella, etc., but make it small otherwise you have to store yours before entering St. Marks. This is also true a other churches, museums in Italy. (some but not all).

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Luggage and bags: Bring rolling suitcases. Yes, I know everyone says that you have to carry the suitcases up and down bridges. You do, but in between bridges, you get to pull them. Most importantly, if you are traveling via train in Italy, you have to be able to pick up your suitcases/packs, run up and down a flight of stairs, run out the front door down the driveway and back and up and down the stairs again. If you can do that (and not have a heart attack) you are ready to go.

Clothing/Shoes/Weather Gear: I saw people in flip flops. I couldn't walk down my driveway in flipflops! We wore brown walking shoes. I had New Balance. Mmy husband had Merrill's. We both had hysterically happy feet. We walked on average 7 hours a day in Venice and the CT.

Toiletries and Medical Supplies: Anti-itch stuff of choice for bug bites.

Miscellaneous: Flashlight- the alleys are REALLY dark at night. All the scary things one has been taught about not going into dark alleys has to be abandoned in Venice. After sun down, all the alleys are dark. The street signs which are mounted 10+ feet up on the sides of a building are nearly impossible to see after dark without some illumination. I took a tiny flashlight which clipped to my fleece zipper pull- convenient and effective. A compass is fun but certainly not necessary. It would be good for kids (or doubting husbands). Mosquito repellant, Tide pen (especially for gelato eaters), a good map (like streetwise) and day pack.

Luggage and bags: I SHOULD HAVE TAKEN A WARMER COAT WITH ME...ALSO THE GLOVES MY FRIEND IN SWITZERLAND WOULD HAVE ALSO BEEN GREAT IN VENICE..ESPECIALLY FOR ME BEING USE TO HAWAIIAN WINTERS..LONG JOHNS CAME HANDY..AND MY EXTRA SHIRTS KEPT ME SOMEWHAT WARM...
BUT IF YOU AREN'T USE TO COLD WINTERS..PLEASE TAKE PLENTY OF WARM CLOTHES.....

Clothing/Shoes/Weather Gear: SOME WARM SHOES WILL MAKE ALL THAT WALKING A LOT MORE PLEASANT FOR THE FEET. ESPECIALLY IF THEY KEEP THE WATER OUT OF THE INSIDE OF THE SHOES...

Toiletries and Medical Supplies: ON THIS ONE ..I JUST PRAYED TO STAY HEALTHY...

Photo Equipment: IF YOU STAY AT A BED AND BREAKFAST..REMEMBER TO TAKE A CHARGER AND CONVERTER TO RECHARGE YOUR BATTERIES FOR THE DIGITAL CAMERA. THE PLACE I STAYED ONLY HAD REGULAR OUTLETS ...

Miscellaneous: BE OPTOMISTIC ..EVEN IF THINGS SEEM TO BE GOING WRONG...

Luggage and bags: ideally a smallish bag that you can carry up the many bridges and steps.

Clothing/Shoes/Weather Gear: We went in December 2005 and it was very cold during the day, we both wore long sleeve shirts, jumpers, walking coats, scarves, hats and gloves and it was still cold.

Toiletries and Medical Supplies: You can buy anything you forget.

Photo Equipment: Lots of ilm or memory cards - you will need it.

Luggage and bags: I would try to pack light when visiting Venice. You will have to lug your bag either up stairs or squeeze into a teeny tiny elevator.

Clothing/Shoes/Weather Gear: Comfortable shoes for treking around the backstreets of Venice. The cobblestones can be hard on your feet, but the experience is well worth it! In February when i visited, a warmish coat was definately necessary.

Photo Equipment: You'll definately want your camera in this picturesque town, don't forget lots of film, it's fairly expensive here. (I needed film when I visited, now I would just make sure I had enough memory cards and a good variety of lenses)