i_am_kane

We will be staying at the Hotel al Ponte Mocenigo, which is very close to the San Stae Vaporetto stop.

Will we be able to take a vaporetto from S. Stae directly to Murano, Burano & Torcello?

Delaine

The short answer is no. The link to the vaporetto line map is http://www.actv.it/pdf/navigazione/Mappa_linee.pdf. A description of the lines is also available at http://www.hellovenezia.com/index.ph...id=135&lang=en, as well as other very helpful information. You will have to take the LN line which doesn't stop at San Stae.

tower

Kane...we stayed at Mocenigo and throughly enjoyed it. When leaving the vap at San Stae, head directly down the street and be alert for the very narrow alleyway on your left which leads to Mocenigo's enrance (big green door on your right..if I recall, it's the ONLY door in the alleyway).

As for Murano and Burano..you can actually walk to the stop (a long walk of perhaps 20 minutes). It would mean taking a cross-canal traghetto (less than 1 euro) at the San Sofia trag. stop near the fish market(desk folks at Mocenigo can direct you), and wend your way by foot to the Murano/Burano boat stop on Fondamenta Nuove. Enjoy!
stu

i_am_kane

Stu, Thanks for the detailed information, especially the "big green door." We're staying eight days so there's plenty of time to get to places. This is our 3rd trip to Venice and we never visited the islands!

Delaine, thank you for the links...appreciate it.

sylviathomas

Don't get caught up in the high sales pitch at the showroom. You will never be able to see the island.

i_am_kane

sylviathomas,

tower

Kane...ssave linch for Burano...many places to pick from. Murano is mostly commercial, glass blowers all over.

We only did Burano on most recent trip..amd Murano and Torcello on another visit. I will send you Burano pics.
By the way La Zucca (try the taglietelle with melted gorgonzola!)is a short pleasant walk though the neighborhood ...and the gelato shop as you emerge from the hotel's alleyway is a good one.
Stu

tower

excusa typos...here are Venice pics, as part of Florence and Piemonte...so if you wish, just scroll down to the Burano pics...

https://picasaweb.google.com/stuartt...dPiemonte2009#

basingstoke2

If you visit Murano and do not want the sales pitch described by sylviathomas seek out the Mazzega glass factory. The showroom has the usual tourist stuff BUT there is another showroom upstairs. You need to ask to see it. That is where they keep the good stuff and that is where we bought the chandelier we had been seeking. You can browse without anyone bothering you and if you want to purchase an item, the sales staff in that showroom are very helpful. After ordering our chandelier we were invited to the factory floor where we watched for awhile and had the opportunity to meet the forman and ask questions. BTW, the chandelier arrived back home in perfect condition.

annhig

if you are not really interested in glass, i suggest the trip that we did on our last visit to Venice - from the Fondamente nuova, we got the boat out to Burano, and then the little ferry to Torcello, where we saw the cathedral [last renovated in about the 12th Century] and had lunch.

then we got the ferry back to Burano and wandered around for a while looking at the lovely coloured houses, and then the boat back to Murano. Having seen the glass museum [shouldn't take long] we got on a boat in the centre of the island, which was going back to San Marco, but got off at the Giardino stop, and walked back through tiny streets to our apartment near the Rialto.

if you have time, try to get to the Fondamente Nuova a bit early and go round the corner to the church of the Gesuiti - the marble carvings of drapes and swags are absolutely amazing.

i_am_kane

stu,

I just went thru your photos, and they are terrific. I found it enjoyable because your eye picked up on some unusual shots. I really like the quality of the photos. Maybe it's time to turn in my six-year-old camera for this trip.

BTW, the photo of the front door of the Hotel al Ponte Mocenigo is very helpful...I printed it off.

annhig,

We will be able to pretty much have the time to do an itinerary like that one day. I do want to include Torcello for a visit. Thanks for the tip about the church of Gesuiti.

I think Venice will be a whole different experience for us this time around.

tower

Kane..,thank you for you kind wurds. Picasa has such excellent edit options it can turn a rank amateur photgrapher like me into a slightly better one.
By the way, you can go in and out of the front door anytime. The side door is the way to go when just strolling the neighborhood around the hotel or ging to the vap stop.
stu

ellenem

Rather than relocate to find a traghetto, you can just hop across the Grand Canal from the San Stae stop on whatever boat comes. From the stop on the other side (Ca' d'Oro or S.Marcuola; though Ca'd'Oro would be closer) you can make the same walk to Fond. Nuova.

I've stayed at Hotel al Ponte Mocenigo three times, the last time for a week.
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...rip-report.cfm

i_am_kane

ellenem,

I just printed off the Actv vaporetti color-coded network of the routes. Your instructions became real clear to me once I studied the map.

Many thanks.

ellenem

Glad to help. During my recent visit, I found having an unlimited travel card to be very useful, especially because of the hotel's location near San Stae. We often began the day with a one-stop hop to Ca' d'Oro and then began our rambles.

cruiseluv

Another happy prior guest of Ponte Mocenigo. You got the directions you need for the vaporetto to the islands . In casa you want a restaurant recommendation, if you go during nice / warm weather I highly recommend lunch at Locanda Cipriani in Torcello, at their terrace or garden . Pricey but so special!

i_am_kane

cruiseluv, Thanks for the recommendation. Because Torcello has limited dining options, the Cipriani is on my list.

ellenem, Did you find taking a traghetto to Ca d'Oro was the most efficient use of your time if you were traveling on water? Were there times when you chose to venture out on dry land, and travel south, picking up a (let's say) water taxi.

I know we will be in the Dorsoduro sestiere for the Peggy Guggenheim Museum as well as the Squero San Travoso, and crossing over to the Giudecca Canal.

Also during our eight days, since this is our 3rd trip to Venice, we would like to take day trips to Verona, amd Mantova. The close proximity of the Hotel al Ponte Mocenigo to the train station should serve us well. You think??

ellenem

I did not use the traghetto to hop from San Stae to Cannaregio since the vaporetto was right there. I did use the traghetto at San Toma. Using the vaporetto to hop across saved the time it would have taken to walk to the Rialto Bridge as well as saved us (and our knees) the climb over this high and crowded bridge.

Actually, for me, it is faster to walk thru Venice to most places. I am a NYer and a fast walker, know where I am going in Venice and can cover ground quickly if needed. I spend a lot of time walking on every trip to Venice. But since we were there for a week, the 7-day travel card would pay for itself and more. I do love to ride down the Grand Canal and sit outside on the vaporetto, watching all the traffic and architecture pass by. We took a few rides to out-islands (Murano, Burano, Torcello, Lido, San Erasmo) as well so we made good use of the pass. For Dorsoduro, my tendency would be to walk there, unless there was something in particular I wanted to see from the water.

I've only taken a water taxi when with a group of four for the trip to and from the airport to Hotel al Ponte Mocenigo--too pricey for me otherwide. When I've arrived with just two people, we take the land bus and the vaporetto.

And, yes, the location of the hotel makes it very easy to walk to the train station or take the vaporetto for day trips. Mantova is a bit far for my idea of a daytrip, but I've done Verona and Padova from Venice.

i_am_kane

ellenem, I clearly understand your description of your walking style, since we lived in (Fairfield County), Connecticut until this past July. We were often in NYC...my husband maybe three times a week.

On to Venice - you have given me very helpful information for navigating around the sestieri. I have an old article titled Orienteering: Venetian Style, which gives one the "rules" or methods of conquering walking to destinations. Neither my husband nor I have a problem walking - we walk four miles every day (weather permitting).

Padova had been on my list to visit, and if it is a shorter train ride, we will change our itinerary and eliminate Mantova.

ellenem

Venice to Mantova is 2.5-3 hours in each direction and requires a change of train somewhere along the way. Padova is 30 minutes each way. Vicenza is 45 minutes to an hour each way. There are fast and slow trains to Verona, with times averaging about 1 hr 15 mins each way.

Walking in Venice one is always confronted with where to cross the Grand Canal. From Santa Croce, your hotel location, to Dorsoduro, there is no need to cross the Grand Canal, so you can really meander and not have to plan to reach a particular bridge. San Marco, Cannaregio, and Castello are on the opposite side of the Grand Canal, so one of the four Grand Canal bridges must be considered. Two of the bridges are near the train station, so not really helpful for reaching San Marco. The most direct route via the Rialto Bridge connects two very crowded, sometimes unpleasant touristy areas. The less direct route via the Academia Bridge is more than double the distance. The traghetti and one-stop hops across the Grand Canal on the vaporetti can save a lot of time. On my most recent trip, I noticed a lot of Venice locals making the same one-stop hops with us.