Centrally located just three minutes from the Rialto Bridge and five minutes from St. Mark's Square, the Taverna San Lio bed and breakfast enjoys a privileged location among hotels in Venice: it is convenient to the most celebrated and beautiful sites and monuments of the city and a few minutes from the boats that travel along the Grand Canal to the railway station and Piazzale Roma (car terminal) and the Accademia Galleries, the Guggenheim Museum and the Venice Biennale.
The surroundings of the Taverna San Lio are among the most characteristic of Venice, amongst a succession of picturesque lanes and squares lined with historic palaces, craftsmen's shops, and elegant boutiques. A pleasant stroll will lead you to the celebrated, and also lesser known (and perhaps more charming!), sites such as the Chiesa dei Miracoli, a jewel of Renaissance architecture adorned with splendid coloured marble. Five minutes away from the B&B is Campo Santa Maria Formosa (a 3-minute walk) with its beautiful church brimming with masterpieces of 1500s Veneto art and the Fondazione Querini Stampalia, seat of an important library and an interesting "museum house", beautifully restored by Carlo Scarpa and recently renovated anew by Mario Botta.
After a short walk among the narrow and charming lanes, St. Mark's Square will come into view in all of its spectacular beauty. The Procuratie demarcate the square and frame the splendid façade of St. Mark's Basilica, crowned by opulent Byzantine domes and spectacular mosaics; the light pink and crenellated Palazzo Ducale faces the historic Marciana Library and overlooks St. Mark's bay, a scenographic body of water: this is truly one of the most beautiful areas of Venice and the world!
The Rialto Bridge, located just around the corner from the hotel, has historically been the centre of commerce of Venice with the characteristic rows of goldsmiths and craftsmen that line the sides of the bridge from one bank of the Grand Canal the other.
At the foot is the colourful and celebrated fruit and vegetable market and a bit farther along is the busy fish market. You can browse through the stalls to find botoli and castraure (baby artichokes) and other vegetables locally grown on the Island of Sant'Erasmo, famous for its flavourful fruit and vegetables, plus moeche and masenete (hard and soft shell crabs), schie (lagoon prawns) and anguee (sandsmelt), pevarasse and caparossoli (lagoon and sea clams) are only some of the crustaceans and fish indigenous to the lagoon prepared and served by Ristorante Taverna San Lio.