Subject: Re: Rome and Venice
Pat There is no such thing as a reasonably priced hotel in Venice. I would recomend that you search for an apartment or pensione in the Dorsoduro area. It is not so far away from St Marks, that you couldn't walk taking a different route every time and get to see different sights. It is a residential area rather than tourist-although there is plenty to see (gondola repair building yard, the Acadamia, etc). Has a nice feel of an evening, and is popular as a residential area for the university. You could start with some of the following.

http://www.italytravelsguide.com/venicebudgethotels.html http://www.veniceapartment.com/dorsoduro.html

http://www.timeout.com/venice/accom/moderate.html

http://www.holidaycityeurope.com/venice-dorsoduro/index.html

See my Rialto &Acadamia page http://homepages.about.com/gavinc/italyandfrance2000/id72.html

I assume you propose train from Rome to Venice? There are websites that give travel times between cities. With stops, I guess around 6 hours???

cheers Gavin (Sydney, Australia)