if you are interested in the ghetto, there is a Jewish Museum in Venice where you can also take a guided tour of three synagogues. it costs 10 euros for a combined ticket. Tours are given in Italian and English, every hour starting at 10.30 a.m.; last guided tour from June 1st to September 30th is at 5.30 p.m.; from October 1st to May 31st the last tour is at 4.30 p.m.. Try not to go late on a Friday afternoon or you may find that the tour will not be given.

take a look at a guide book with a map, so you can see where things are. It will help to organize your time.

I would most definitely advise getting vaporetto passes for all the time that you are in Venice. As rialto girl's last post demonstrates, it makes getting around Venice so much easier, so that you are not wasting time walking long distances to get from one place to another. When I was there in February, to walk to the language school from my digs would have taken approx 40 mins every morning, whereas with the vaporetto it was 10 mins, which gave me 30 minutes for a nice breakfast!

some will say, of course, that no time walking in Venice is wasted, however a pass enables you to ensure that you are walking to explore, not to get to the place that you want to explore.

ann: Off-topic, but on the subject of walking v. vaporetto.
The last time we were in Venice, we were taking the ferry back from Burano and struck up a conversation with two older women from New Zealand. As we docked at San Marco, they told us they were going to "stroll" to their hotel near the train station!

I usually don't give advice unless asked, but I strongly recommended they take the vaporetto up the GC, rather than that long walk. They brushed off my suggestion and insisted the walk would be a pleasure.

Now, months later, every once in a while my wife and I will remark, "I wonder if those two women are still walking."

I don't think you can waste your time walking anywhere in Venice, but you have to know where you are going and can easily get lost.

I know the streets of Venice like the back of my hand and can walk from Santa Lucia to the Public Gardens using shortcuts.

All the tourists around San Marco and Rialto can also slow you down.

Thin

>> but you have to know where you are going <<'

A qualifier that eliminates about 95% of the people in Venice at any one time.

Regarding Campanille in Piazza San Marco, I just went up yesterday by getting in queue at 18:50 and on top deck by 19:05. The queue was about half way across the square towards the Doge's Palace and was shorter than during the day. The sunset was around 19:15. There were only one layer of people next to the fence taking pictures and waited less than one minute at any one opening to take pictures through the cyclone fence openings.