looking to book a long weekend in Venice next April. Have no idea where to start toi get a good option/price. Its been years since I booked a proper holiday. Can anyone point me in the right direction please. Not expensive as minimum budget. Thanks

If you're booking independently then try Trivago for hotel options. We went to Venice many years ago and had a fab time! :-)

Thinking about it, it doesnt have to be Venice. Just somewher nice for a long weekend. Have done Amsterdam/Paris but that was dog related. This is just a treat but have no experience of booking hols online

Venice is very expensive particularly any bars or cafes around St Marks Square. We cruised from there and a couple of drinks were a fortune and that was even walking what seemed like miles out of the tourist area.
There have been some good recent offers of breaks on Groupon and Secret Escapes if you are looking for some inspiration. Enjoy your holiday.

Venice is a wonderful city.....last time we went we stayed in Padua, another beautiful city and cheaper than Venice. We caught the train into Venice. It's also central to visit Verona where you can see Romeo & Juliet's balcony, very romantic.

We booked flights and hotel separately. Flights through the airline and hotel by laterooms.com.

You can also stay around the bay and get the boat in each day,I travelled around Italy as a student and this was a very reasonable way to go to Venice for the week  (and pretty to see it appear when on the boat). Think it was a place called chioggia (sp?).  We also spoke to friendly locals and they told us to eat where the gondoliers do-great food and much cheaper. I have to say that in my opinion the absolute best way to arrive for someone who hasn't been before has to be by train-you get off the train in a normal station,wander through the busy atrium and out the front doors expecting to see a road but gondolas bob past! Having said all this though it was ten years ago so it might have changed!

How about Germany for a Christmas market?
Berlin an interesting city (I lived there for three years before the wall came down) and there is a good Christmas market at Spandau.

Thanks for that guys, now looking atmaybe Rome instead, does seem a bit cheaper and can get flights from Bham rather than London. Any thoughts on that.
I would love the Xmas market but it is all about timings really, maybe next Xmas :-)

Rome is great - a place we have kept going back to - last time we stayed in the Campo di Fiori hotel just outside the square of the same name which is lovely at night and has a market during the day - it was a good spot although not within walking distance from the main station - but St Peters, and main sites are all within walking distance.  Berlin is a lovely city too - I am afraid we find Venice too commercial - we had a day there after coming in off a cruise - we tried to keep away from St Marks but where ever we went all paths seemed to lead there!!   The railway station is exactly the same - you do come straight out and hop onto a boat - or just walk - any bridge you cross gets to St Marks in a very short time :-(   On the other hand my sister and husband love Venice - they rent an apartment and have been back several times.  They do say the best way to arrive is to get a water taxi from the airport - but very expensive.  We just caught an ordinary bus.    Prague is another city that is interesting and very easy to get around.  

Venice in winter is one of my favourite places in the world. We stayed last time at Ca del Nobile, about 200m from St Marks square. I wanted somewhere small and traditional for my son's 18th as we were travelling with family and friends. It is a beautiful restored classic Venetian building, they had made a fabulous cake for my son and put a bottle of prosecco in his room (he was very impressed). We stayed a week and it was not only very reasonably priced but the proprietor was fantastic for passing on recommendations for the best places to eat on a budget. Would far rather go there than Rome--Venice doesn't have to be expensive and exploring everywhere by water or on foot is fascinating.