Giudecca is an often overlooked part of Venice. Located across the Giudecca canal, the widest canal in Venice, it’s cut off from the city by foot, which creates some notable pros and cons. Lonely Planet describes it well in their mini-guide to the area: ”Located just across the canal bearing its name, Giudecca is Venice minus the plastic trinkets, touts and camera-toting tourists.”
If you check the forums, you get some pretty polarised views. Pretty everyone agrees that it’s a lot less crowded with tourists and generally cheaper/more authentic restaurants (though few of them.
At the same time, many people visiting Venice are there for a very short time and don’t want to mess with ferries and just want to be as close to San Marco and the Rialto as possible.
My personal opinion is a bit of a mix. The water taxi / ferry ride across to Dorsoduro is easy and frequent. It run every 10 minutes from 5am to midnight and then all through the night (but reduced frequency). However, it can add up – over 6 euro each way. So unless you’re buying a transport pass, that can be expensive if you’re the type of traveler who doesn’t want to stay out all day and needs a few rests back at your home base.
But I also can’t stand the crush of humanity in the summer months that radiates out from San Marco – nor do I like all the trashy commerce and tourist traps that sprout up around the throngs of tourists.
Giudecca is also very beautiful and picturesque. It has the same kind of architecture and narrow streets that you want from your stroll around Venice. Also you get views of St. Mark’s square like this:
If that sounds good to you, check out these two apartments on Giudecca:
And if the ferry across is a deal breaker, but you still want to be somewhere less touristy, here’s one in Dorsoduro that’s walkable to pretty much everywhere:
