Accommodation in Venice is expensive: where's best to stay?

HOPING TO TRAVEL TO VENICE IN MARCH FOR A CONFERENCE AND SPEND A FEW EXTRA DAYS SIGHTSEEING. IS AIRBNB AN OPTION AS I HEAR HOTELS ARE EXPENSIVE. ALSO GETTING AROUND VENICE AND SOME SIGHTSEEING ADVICE – I PREFER TO FIND MY OWN WAY AND AVOID LARGE TOURIST GROUPS. B. CARMEL, RESEARCH

Airbnb is a perfect solution to the high cost of accommodation in Venice. Last October, my wife and I stayed four nights in an Airbnb, La Coquina, part of a former palace in the Castello district. It was spacious and well equipped with a big lounge room and kitchen and it averaged out at $250 per night, which is great value for Venice. Although this was a genuine Venetian neighbourhood, with a canal running right past the garden outside the apartment, there were plenty of dining options close by. St Marks Square was just a 10-minute walk away. As for getting around Venice, the only options are on foot or via the vaporettos, the public ferries. Navigating the serpentine alleyways of Venice is tricky but a whole lot easier if you use Google Maps, which you can download to a smartphone if you don't have data roaming.

Take a guided tour from the tourist office. There's heaps of information to absorb and in March you'll probably have a small group; there were just seven in mine in October.

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