Venice/Florence Vacation Recommendations

Will be vacationing in Venice and Florence this spring. Would like to hear your favorite restaurants and what makes each special. Thank you.

Al Covo in Venice is great, owned by a lovely couple (one American, the other Italian)... seafood, romantic, great food. Try to eat in the garden. Also Corte Sconta is very good, hidden and a bit rustic but excellent food. There are lots of bars that serve wine and apps, like Al Marca, Al Prosecco, and Do Mori. We like to alternate; we do a fancy lunch one day and wine bar in the evening, then we'll do a picnic lunch the next day and a dinner at a nicer restaurant that night. For your picnics, I highly recommend saving a couple of 1-1.5 liter water bottles and hitting one of the wine stores that sell wine out of the cask. Great and very cheap, it's what the locals drink.

As for Florence, there's a place which you CANNOT miss: Teatro del Sale. It's a private club which you join for a few euros, then it's a big buffet with fantastic food and also different types of performances are offered. You sit with others, usually locals, which is nice especially if you speak a little Italian and/or they speak a little English.

Florence has changed a lot over the years, it's not what it was... lots of high end chain stores and unfortunately most of the small artisans have left town. I definitely suggest renting a car or taking some kind of tour down to Chianti. It's hard to find a bad meal there.

Buon viaggio!
Lynn