We will be arriving in Venice while on a cruise. We will have a full day and a morning to explore. I have looked into the shore excursions and selected three, one of which is an evening Gondola ride. We really don't want to have our first experience in Venice to be totally inside of museums and churches, but rather an experience of Venetian culture.
Is it possible to do enjoy Venice in such a short time span without booking shore excursions. So far our exursions chosen have totaled up to over $600 USD. We are open to staying in a small hotel instead over returning to the ship, especially after realizing that we are spending $600 on the tours, and may be better off just staying in a small hotel for the atmosphere. Many people I have talked to say Venice is a truly facinating city; I don't think they were talking about the inside of buildings, but rather the city itself. Our ship arrives in port at 8:30am and departs at 14:00 the next day. Any comments are welcome.

In no way do you need shore excursions in Venice! Venice is a wonderful walking city. You take a map and wander the calli (alley ways) You can take a traghetto (water bus) to Murano (glass) and Burano (lace). You can go to churches and museums on your own. If you wander you will find little cafes to eat in out of the way and not touristy. Just do a little research and you will find all the information you need for a day and a half. You can take a Gondola ride on your own. The people of Venice do not like the cruise ships. They dump 3,000 to 4,000 people off for a day and then on to the next port(that is well known). They do love people who come to savor and experience their city. To wander and enjoy. If you stay away from the excursions, you will have far more fun and experience the people and the city more. Save the $600!

Yes, it is nice to stay in a small hotel for one night. Use the money you saved and enjoy.

Just came back from Venice. DO NOT BOOK SHORE EXCURSIONS!!

Walk around yourself. If you want a gondola ride - there are many, many gondoliers happy to give you a ride. Just make sure you haggle with them a bit and agree on a price before you get on. I don't know what your cruise ship line is telling you it will cost through them, but I've heard that doing it by yourself is about $90 US. If you can team up with another couple or 3-4 persons from your ship - the price is the same and you'd just split it amongst your group.

Although I'm sure you'll want to go to the Doge's Palace and see St. Mark's Square - try to leave this area ASAP. It's crazy crowded - beyond belief. I found it quite annoying. Just leave the area and walk along the tiny streets that all seem to open up to a square (campo) with lots of food places. Food is expensive. You will cross many small bridges over the smaller canals on your walks - it's amazing.

You can take the #1 vaporetto for 6.50 Euro that goes down the Grand Canal for a Grand Canal visual tour which is not cheap at that price but cheaper than what I'm sure your cruise ship would be charging you.

The inside of almost any church can be awe inspiring with paintings by Titian, Tintoretto, etc. This was once one rich city.

So, I repeat - DON'T spend your money on shore excursions. Just get a good map of Venice and be on your way!

Actually, if there is one place you SHOULD see, especially for that "outside atmosphere" you mentioned, it IS St, Mark's Square.

The better time may be in the afternoon/early evening after the majority of visitors have departed. The place becomes quite magical at that time.

As to expenses...Venice is one of THE most expensive cities in Europe...accept it and enjoy it.

If you think you can GET to all the places you want to see in a timely fashion then perhaps excusrions are not the answer....but I'm sorry, as nice as 'wandering around" in Venice can be it is better, IMO, to have a PLAN for visiting certain sites.

One can have a plan to visit certain sites in Venice, without buying the Cruise Ships excursions. Map out your own plan. That way you can also come and go at those places, at your own rate. BTW - We stayed at the Hotel Al Piave in the Castello sestiere. Good location. Small double room with full breakfast, VAT and friendly staff was approx. $140 Euro/night.

And yes, St. Mark's Square is much better in the evening. We entered the Doge's Palace at 4:30 PM last week (it closes at 6PM), and there was no line at all. Walked right in and saw everything in about a hour. No waiting or craning of our necks to view walls, ceilings, etc., because of crowds.

With 1 full day and the next morning I would NOT take the time to go to Murano or Burano. There is so much to see & simply soak in on Venice proper & you'll burn a lot of time getting to/from those islands.

In Venice there are several types of sites.

1. places to simply walk (or boat) and view - includes St. Marks, Ponte Di Sospiri, Ponte Rialto / fish / produce market, Grand Canal, and numerous churches and lots of shops, plus a gondola ride. These things don't require any scheduling but laying out the points on a map is helpful so you don't wander aimlessly is a good idea. Be sure to take a vaporetto ride down the grand canal, i.e from Ponte Rialto back to St. Marks. It's a wonderful view during the day or at night, or both.

2. places to enter. Includes Doge's palace, St. Marks basilica, bell tower, museums. Some of these may have a (long) wait, so decide what are your must-do's and do as much scheduling in advance as you can. Here a game plan can really help. On my last trip I went in peak season and didn't wait more than 2min for either Doge's palace (took secret itin. tour) or St. Marks - booked online in advance. A concert or show in the evening obviously requires some planning as well. You could probably get by without a dinner reservation as there are lots of walk-in places. If you had a particular restaurant place in mind reservation is definitely advised. Don't wait until the day of arrival - call ahead just like you would at home.

IMO I would not do the hotel stay - I think most cruise ships stay in a decent to so-so location - getting back and forth should not be much of a problem. You MAY want to buy transportation vouchers that take you from the ship to St. Marks - should be less than 10E's. But plan your own excursions or just get lost! The vaporetta ride along the Grand Canal is one of the best things to do and on your own, its pretty cheap. It is really interesting when the tide is high and you can see how much water goes into some of the grand houses. I would advise going into St. Marks - you may be able to book entry ahead of time on line. The mosaics are amazing and the other very unique aspect, is seeing how the incoming water of the aqua alta (hig waters) have rippled the floor. One ohter note - is is possible to spend alot of money in Venice for mediocre food - usually I love to eat "on the land" in Italy but Venice may well be an exception. Return to the ship for dinner but I would go back to Venice after dark and wander a liitle more and get a gelato.

Great advice so far!! I knew Fodors Forum wopuld get me the most adice!! We are cruising with Royal Caribbean. We are somewhat experienced land tourists having been to Europe a few times before independently, but never using a cruise ship. We leave our home on October 10th, so please keep the advice coming, and MANY thanks to those who have helped us already!!

I wouldn't pay for a hotel room if I had a cabin on a cruise ship!

There is a free shuttle bus between the cruise terminal and Piazzale Roma. Grab a vaporetto from there or just take off walking.

We did a Mediterranean cruise last May. Venice was the one stop where we were very happy we didn't pay for an excursion.

Jim

I agree that you shouldn't do a ship tour, but I was all set to recommend a private tour guide to get a good history and immersion tour of the city if it is your first time in Venice. Then I thought, no, save the money that you would have spent on tour guides and get a hotel room. I think that is a wonderful way to really get a feel for the city, because the best part of Venice is wandering around in the evening after the day trippers have gone. Anything in the San Marco neighborhood would be great for walking at night.

If you really do want a better understanding of the city and its history, you might want to look into a private tour with Venicescapes (venicescapes.org). It is run by an American expat who has lived in and really studied Venice for more than 15 years, and his basic tour of Venice is full immersion history combined with about 7 hours of walking all over the city (but it does NOT include St Marks or the Doges palace). While not cheap (figure $300 for two people of $400 for four people), you definitely get your money's worth and I would not have nearly as complete a picture of the "how and why" of Venice without having done it. That said, if you only want to hit the "must see" areas (St Mark's Square, Doge's Palace), don't even think about doing a tour. Just go see them, check them off the list, and then start wandering in any direction. You are guaranteed to be lost, and quite happily so, within five minutes. I agree with other posters that, with only a day and a half, you should save Murano and Burano for another trip. And please don’t book a gondola ride through the ship – I have seen the “tour” gondola rides and it looks like a flotilla with all of the gondolas travelling in a pack. If you really want a gondola ride, you will have no trouble at all finding a gondolier happy to take you on your own.

It is very easy to spend a lot of money for very bad food in Venice, but we have found some gems over the years. Probably my first recommendation would be Alla Madonna near the Rialto bridge. Nothing but seafood, nothing fancy, really terrific. It is in a little alley not far from the market (a little hard to find) but everyone knows where it is. When we were there last year they would not take reservations for 2 people, so you needed to get there at 7 pm to get a table, but it was fabulous. Nice dinner for two (two or three courses, I can't remember) with a decent wine was just over 100 euro.

The last way I would want to experience Venice, especially on my first visit when it would all be totally fresh and wondrous, would be in a group of fellow cruisers struggling to follow a guide through the tiny streets and campi. Just go and wander around with a SHORT list of the things you are most interested in seeing.

Want to add one more voice to the above. Don't take any tours in Venice. How late are you able to get back and forth to your ship? I love Venice early in the morning and all evenings, so if it doesn't take long to get from ship to shore, and you can do it very late in the evening, then sleep on the ship. If it will take a lot of time, then stay in Venice so you can wander all evening and early the next morning.

If you have a room on the ship why in the world would yuo rent a hotel room. And you don;t need "excursions" in Venice. Just hop a vaporetto to San Marco and walk where you want from there. Venice is quite small and you can not only see somemajor sights but also explore a lot in a limited amount of time. Also - it's easy to pick up a 2-hour walking tour for practically nothing. After dinner - just head back to the ship to sleep and start again the next morning.

Being in Venice is magical. Staying in a Venitian hotel that night and enjoying the local cafes and atmosphere is much better than going to a sterile ship room that has no Venitian ombiance and when you open your eyes in the morning you could be anywhere in the world. Venice deserves more than that. I would still go to an inexpensive quaint hotel and enjoy Venice.

I disagree with staying in Venice hotel. You'd need to carry an overnight bag with you from the cruise ship, figure out where to stash it for the day (i.e. hotel). I'd much rather depart the ship unencumbered and enjoy the day.

You can still enjoy the Venetian ambiance which is all outside of your hotel room anyway.

Don't know about you but I can't go all day non-stop, so an afternoon return to the ship to relax & refresh, then head out again for the evening could work well - without worrying about finding my hotel, checking in/out, overnight bag, etc.

I'd definitely get a hotel room. Assuming you haven't been to Venice before - one whole day, night, and the next morning will give you a brief experience (and probably convince you to return one day)

If it is a budget buster, then <u>of course</u> stay on the ship. But it really doesn't sound like you are low balling this trip, since you were even considering $600 in tours. I'd just think of the hotel as a reasonable cost 'excursion'.

To be in Venice in the evening and not spending the night w/ the hundreds of others back on the ship - heck, you'll have lots of other nights to share w/ your shipmates. Plus you could have a nice room, maybe w/ a canal side balcony and be out of a small ship cabin for one night.

It was odd that Ann1 got the terminology wrong - you take a vaporetto to Murano/Burano/Torcello. A traghetto is one of the boats, slightly larger than a gondola, that ferries people across the Grand Canal. [Some authorities say they are old gondolas, stripped of their seats and furnishings, but a traghetto-man told me they are not, and that they are larger than a gondola, which you can see when they are side-by-side.] I would agree, however, that you don't have time to "do" Murano/Burano/Torcello. I would also agree that a gondola trip is an expensive waste of time and money - but that's just my opinion; thousands of people unknowingly disagree with me every day by taking a gondola ride. It is great fun to do what the Venetians do and take a traghetto across the GC. It only costs 0.50€ per person per trip! Unbelievable! There are seven traghetti points - you can find them on a good map. Venetians do it standing up!
It's a cliché that you should deliberately get lost in Venice. IMO it's not a good idea, though it is true that it is almost inevitable, because no map shows all the streets. Get yourself some good walking itineraries and follow them as well as you can. Keep your eyes up to see the direction signs - unfortunately most signs only direct you to San Marco, Rialto, Ferrovia, or Piazzale Roma. The moment you are unsure, ask in the nearest shop.

Definitely do Venice on your own with a good map you can't get lost...get a 24 hour water bus pass so then you can just hop on/off wherever you want to. In 2006 we paid 12 Euros for this so don't know 2009 prices; I'm sure you can find this online. Also, agree with the above, you don't want to lug your overnight bag with you. I think you can get off/on the ship anytime it's in dock.
Enjoy,
Som

You are correct. I was wrong. It is vaporetto. For some reason I had brain freeze and the traghetto to Ischia came out.

I think, though, that it's hard to say not to take the gondola. People who have never been to Venice and have been romanticizing all their lives about it may want to go on it just once. Gondolas are Venice and Venice history. They really have to make up their minds when they get there and see them. I wouldn't want to recommend not doing something and then have them sorry when they returned home that they didn't do it.

If they want to go to Murano or Burano they have plenty of time. They can do just one. They can see a small area and take the next vaporetto back. Not a big deal.

But we're all agreed on one thing, NO TOURS.