The Rough Guide to Venice and the Veneto

Flight and travel agents in the UK and
Ireland
ebookers UK t0800/082 3000, Republic of
Ireland t01/488 3507, wwww.ebookers.com. Low
fares on an extensive selection of scheduled flights
and package deals.
North South Travel UK t01245/608 291,
wwww.northsouthtravel.co.uk. Friendly, competitive
travel agency, offering discounted fares worldwide.
Profits are used to support projects in the developing
world, especially the promotion of sustainable tourism.
STA Travel UK t0870/1630 026, wwww.
statravel.com. Worldwide specialists in independent
travel; also student IDs, travel insurance, car rental,
rail passes and more. Good discounts for students
and under-26s.
Trailfinders UK t0845/058 5858, Republic of
Ireland t01/677 7888, wwww.trailfinders.com.
One of the best-informed and most efficient agents
for independent travellers.
Usit Dublin t01/602 1904, wwww.usit.ie. Student
and youth specialists for flights and trains.
Packages from the UK and Ireland
Venice’s ludicrous accommodation costs
can make a flight-plus-hotel package an
attractive proposition, as the preferential
hotel rates given to the holiday firms can
offset the slightly higher price of the flight.
The brochures are dominated by three- and
four-star hotels, sometimes offering rooms at
discounts as high as 30 percent, and there’s
often a limited choice of one- and two-star
rooms as well. Reductions at the lower end
of the market are rarely dramatic, however,
and the package firms tend not to deal with
the older and more characterful budget
hotels. You can expect to pay from around
£400 per person for 3 nights for a three-star
double room in low season; the same deal
in peak season will cost anywhere between
£100 and £200 more. At the upper end of
the market, packages offering four nights
at a top-notch establishment will cost you
around £1000–2000 per person for similar
periods.
If you can find a particularly conscientious
travel agent, they might contact the package
company for you to find out if any of the
hotels have rooms cheaper than advertised
– something they’re more likely to do so, in
the winter months. Special offers do crop up
from time to time, but very rarely between
April and October.
Package tour operators
Abercrombie & Kent UK t0845/070 0610,
wwww.abercrombiekent.co.uk. Classy operator with
a strong reputation.
Citalia UK t0870/909 7555, wwww.citalia.co.uk.
Hotel and villa packages plus tailor-made itineraries,
city breaks and self-catering holidays.
Martin Randall Travel UK t020/8742 3355,
wwww.martinrandall.com. Small-group (and
expensive) cultural tours led by genuine experts on
art, archeology or music.
Sunvil UK t020/8568 4499, wwww.sunvil.co.uk.
Wide-ranging holiday options, focused on small-group
tours for a more independent-minded traveller, as well
as tailor-made trips.
Tasting Places UK t0208/964 5333, wwww.
tastingplaces.com. Three-day and week-long cooking
holidays in the Veneto.
Thomas Cook UK t0870/750 0512, wwww.
thomascook.co.uk. Long-established one-stop travel
agency for package holidays, city breaks or flights.
Trains from the UK
Travelling by train to Venice will almost certainly
end up costing more than the plane,
but it can be a leisurely way of getting to the
country and you can stop off in other parts
of Europe on the way. As you’d expect, the
choice of routes and fares is hugely complex,
but the most direct route is to take the
Eurostar from London to Paris, then pick up
the overnight service from Paris to Venice,
which runs via Milan; the whole journey will
take at least fifteen hours and is likely to cost
upwards of £250. A boat train from London
to Paris will of course save money, but adds
many hours to what is already a lengthy trip.
Prices on Eurostar vary significantly
according to how far in advance you book,
but the fare is usually between £60 and
£120 for a return from London to Paris. From
Paris to Venice a return ticket in a couchette
(shared with five others) costs in the region
of £130, though special advance-booked
offers (which are legion) can bring the price
down as low as £60; a two-berth sleeper
car is nearly twice as expensive. Travelling
in the daytime is more expensive, as you are
almost obliged to take the super-fast TGV
south through France. Bear in mind also that
BASICS
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Getting there
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