Please review our following Venice itinerary. I know its pretty touristy, but my three friends have never been to Venice, although I have. We are all in our late 20s so getting around and getting tired shouldn't be too much of an issue. Please offer any advice on this leg of our trip.

Day 1 (Friday)
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- Arrive at Marco Polo airport at ~10:10 am.
- bus to hotel (by the mestre train station) and check in
- bus #12 to Piazzale Roma
- take vaporette tour of the Grand Canal
- Rialto Bridge/Market area
- Wander around Venice to familiarize self with area
- Evening drinks/music at st. mark's square

Day 2 (Saturday)
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- early morning Bascilica San Marco (to beat crowds)
- Ascend Camponile bell tower
- Doge's Palace
- Correr Museum
- Bridge of Sighs
- San Giorgio di Maggiore
- San Giovanni e Paolo
- Evening pub crawl

Day 3 (Sunday)
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- Accademia
- Santa Maria Della Salute
- Santa Maria del Frari
- Walk around Dursoduro
- Scuola San Rocco
- Explore some of the Lagoon by vaporette (stop at Lido)
- Walk and "Get Lost" in Venice as time allows

Looks good, but do you really want to stay in Mestre? You can get a quad room for not that much in Venice.

im not sure if it was just for that one night, but rialto market becomes an outdoor club/drinking fest. seemed very impromptu but very organized. you might want to check it out or ask around.

we enjoyed secret itineraries of the doges palace. its the hubby's highlight of the trip. also, you guys might want to check out the casino, Casino di Venezia. so cool. i won like 100 euros at the blackjack table!

We have already booked our room in Mestre. It appears in an ideal location (10 min) bus ride to Piazzale Roma.

I have another question and is in reference to the "Venice Pass" I am hearing alot about. We plan on doing alot of walking, but will also be taking at least 2 full strolls of the Grand Canal by vaporette. this transport part is covered by the venice card. also it appears that i covers several of the museums and churches we wish to see. i guess i am answering my question in that it is probably worth it to purchase the venice card for the 2 1/2 days that we are there with our scheduled itinerary.

also as far as lines, at Doge's Palace, Correr and St. Marks. If we go fairly early in the morning, i would imagine that lines wouldnt be quite as bad. does the venice pass help you "skip" line at all, to pass tourists that have yet to purchase tickets or are waiting to get in. is there any benefit in that using the Venice pass. (just a little confused as to all the Venice pass is used for)

thanks !!!

I like your plan, too. Now, as Bob suggests, if you can make the switch to stay down in Venice as opposed to up in Mestre, better still, but if you have good reasons for staying in Mestre, stay there, it's not the end of the world (actually, come to think of it, Mestre is the end of the world, but hey...).

Two things:

1) Take along a little compass - buy it anywhere, at Target, or wherever, it's great to know where north is on a cloudy day or in the dark in the lovely rabbit warren that is Venice. Use a good map and enjoy getting lost regardless...

2) If you can bring yourselves to get out of bed long before it gets light one fine day, do it and walk through Venice as night gives way to daylight, it's magical. Ignore the few street lamps overhead and imagine yourselves transported back by a few hundred years!

Still in the dark, you can already get a coffee at one of the cafés near Rialto, they are early openers because of the lively markets nearby. Follow the sounds. No trucks, just boats to bring in the goods. Looks way cool.

Then time your walk so you get to San Marco when the sun comes up. Bring your cameras! Priceless!

i have heard mixed reviews on the "Secret Itinerary". I have also heard that this is addition cost to the Venice pass. is this true?

even with the venice pass, which sites must we make prior reservations?

DalaiLlama, those are two great suggestions!! they have been put down on my "Venice notes"

yes the secret itineraries needs to be booked in advance. and yes it is additional fee. we both enjoyed the tour. but really depends on your interest. my hubby enjoyed it because he is into those prison shows and torture. (no correlation to our relationship or his personality, hehhee..) and the tour is about that, and how they imprisoned and tortured casanova.

you can get the vaporetto pass in venice, no need to get in advance. can you even get that in advance? with the pass, you can hop on hop off the vaporettos. we visited venice late january, so there were no lines at the museums and churches. im sure someone else can answer your question here.

OK--but you really do not want Mestre---I have done that. Granted, a short ride to Piazzale Roma, but you are still :30 to :45 away from the best of Venice and it will cost you 4 tickets to get there. With the right loaction, you could walk. How much do you want to pay??? Hotels you can always cancel. What about an apt.? You should not assume Mestre is a given.

Can only add to what others are saying by telling you you will be much happier in Venice than in Mestre. Mestre is ugly. You shouldn't pass up the opportunity to be able to wander at will in Venice when most of the tourists and cruise ship passengers are not around.

I believe our Mestre hotel for the 4 of us was roughly 370 euro for all three nights. (somewhere in that ball park). assuming the dollar is still in the 1.30 range we were trying to keep it under $500 when we went. thats why we chose mestre. also, wont the venice pass cover the bus transportation from metre to Piazzale Roma?

I was in Venice longer ago than I care to admit but a highlight for me was the Peggy Guggenheim collection in her palazzo on the Grand Canal.

Interesting modern art and sculpture, but I remember it as much for the garden and the palazzo itself, Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, www.guggenheim-venice.it

When I was there she was still living and it was very much her house--Magrittes in the dining room, etc.

In an ideal world you'd be staying down in Venice by the canals. But don't worry - you got a deal, and you'll put up with the nuisance of having to commute, it's nothing you can't handle. Once when I couldn't afford the hotels in Venice because it was a last-minute trip, I stayed cheaply in Padua, a half hour by train away, and I still had a great time in Venice. Just drank too many espressi on the train platform while waiting for trains - got into Venice so wired I spoke faster than the Italians do. Ah well...

Yes, but what about the vaporetto tickets. That can get expensive. Do you have a map of venice--it is a long way from Piazzale Roma to San Marco or other primary attractions. Let me try to find you an alternative---stay tuned.

OK--here is a start. From this page, look at these 3 hotels with quads:
Messner
San Geremia
Antica Locanda Montin
http://www.veniceby.com/accommod/2star_hotel_venice.htm

Contact any you like and offer how much you are willng to pay for 3 nites---they may say yes.

Stay tuned--I may have another idea.

Here are 2 more good options. I know the first one has a quad that I believe is 130E---very good deal.
www.guesthouse.it

This one is a long shot but worth a try. Tell her your situation and she may take pity and say yes. You would love this place---near the Guggenheim and Salute Church in Dosoduro.
http://www.palazzettodaschio.it/rentsuk.html

Bob, thanks for the info and research (thats what makes fodors so great, people always willing to help others out at a moments notice).

i have done a little more research and it seems like the "VENICE pass", if we choose to go with the transportation and attraction combo, will cover our land and water transportation, as well as the museums and churches that we wish to see. for the junior rate it states 41.30 euros if prepurchased online. this seems to be a great deal!!! since it covers everything for our 3 day stay. we can ride the vaporettes as much as we like for free (even though we are planning on doing much more walking to really see venice). does anyone else have experience with this venice pass. it really does seem like the way to go for our three days, and in the event should we keep our hotel in mestre, it would cover our bus into venice and our vaporette costs while we travel the grand canal.

Greekgazoo,

I agree with the people that suggest staying in Venice, I have previously stayed in Mestre and I think you end up paying more money between transfers to piazzale di roma and vaporeto than if you would stay in Venice.
My last trip was 2 months ago and the 3 of us stayed in a very nice and clean hotel close to St Marks but in a very quiet piazzale the hotel is called La Locandiera we loved it there it is not a high class hotel but very clean, big rooms and very comfortable and the staff was great. The price is also very fair.

What time of year are you going? We stayed on Lido our first time and it was fine - had a transfers included with the hotel room rate and it dropped us right just a minute or two from San Marco.

We will be going in April. We will be there for Palm Sunday, so i would expect venice to be rather busy during our stay