Transport for local Venice travel
 

We are going to Venice for couple of days in October and this is our 1st time there.

Our priority to have a gondola ride as well as see the most popular sites like Palazzo Ducale, Basilica Di San Marco and St Mark’s Square.

Few questions:

1. Which other attractions we should consider to see considering we just have 2 days?

2. Is local transport easily available to all these attractions?

3. I already checked few gondola booking site or tour operators. It seems plenty of gondola available for a ride and most suggestions not to book it beforehand. Which location/spot in Venice we can just go and hire a gondolier for a trip?

Thanks in advance

I recommend picking up a guidebook of Italy (or just of Venice.) Rick Steves books are good for first time visitors. You can read about the main attractions and prioritize what you might want to see.

The three sites you mentioned above are all located at St. Mark's Square.

Part of the charm of Venice is just wandering the streets, getting lost and enjoying the charm of the islands.

Something I really enjoy is visiting St. Mark's Square at night and listening to the cafe orchestras play.

1. Buy a guidebook and see what interests you.

2. Vaporettos aka water buses. What transport were you thinking of?

http://actv.avmspa.it/en/content/wat...ce-timetable-0

Yes. Get lost ! In the streets I mean.

I loved burano e island and am a fan of Murano glass I always take a tour of a factory there.

>>2. Is local transport easily available to all these attractions? <<

merely asking this question would indicate you haven't read any guidebooks. What sort of public transport are you envisioning? Vaporetto and feet -- those are your main choices.

Hi OhioKid, there's no public transport in Venice except Vaporettos aka water buses. You can walk around all of the town, it's not like it's big. The waterbus go to all islands around if you need it.

Which other attractions? Rialto bridge. Some museum. Just roaming around.

Gondolas are all over the place in Venice, and you will see gondoliers touting for business in many places.

The Doge Palace would take about two or three hours, the Basilica say an hour, depending on the queue to get in, so go early before the day trippers arrive. The Piazza is just a stroll around, an hour does it pretty well.

I think the Frari is really worth visiting, and riding the No 1 vaporetto the length of the Grand Canal is fun.

You will get lost, but you are on an island, so won't be too lost. In the time you have, the outer islands, Murano, Burano and Torcello are probably not worth doing.

The main part of Venice can be covered on foot, and a paper map is worth buying.

With just two days:

Probably not Burano. It's essentially a day trip, and there's a lot to see in Venice proper -- more than enough to fill two days.

"Getting lost" will quickly lose its charm when you're trying to visit the sites and have little time in which to do it. Plan accordingly.

The typical gondola ride is a bit of a rip-off. I'd recommend dealing with a local travel agent in the city and hooking on with a group ride. It's a lot more fun and interesting than hiring a single gondolier.

Two types of transport: walking and vaporetto (water bus). If you plan well, you can walk to most sites. People tend to romanticize the vaporetto when, in fact, it's a utilitarian, basic way to get from point A to point B, and often quite crowded. For me, its most interesting route and time is later at night down the Grand Canal. Other than that, don't expect much.

It's difficult to recommend sites w/o knowing your interests. Some people thing the Jewish area is a must-see. Some don't. Some love the art of the Guggenheim. Some don't. You really need to decide what's important to you.

There are also traghetti, https://quickvenice.com/transportation/traghetti.htm, that go back and forth across the Grand Canal at various points. After a day of sightseeing that took me from the Rialto Bridge to the Frari, in and out of little shops, and finally to the Guggenheim, I wanted the quickest way back to the San Marco area. There was a traghetto between the Guggenheim and Santa Maria della Salute that went to Santa Maria Del Giglio. For €2 I hopped on for the five minute ride across. It was delightful.

I've been to Venice twice. I just walked everywhere. The central part of the city where I most wanted to explore is not a large area.

I didn't ever need "local transportation" other than using the vaporetto to get from the train station to my hotel and back.

If you plan well, the vaps can help you to explore more than you would otherwise have felt able to - for example you can get a vap to Giardino, visit the Arsenale, and and walk back through Castello and Cannaregio [or vice versa] - or use them to crisscross the Giudecca Canal to explore the isola di San Giorgio [the campanile gives views as good as the one in San Marco for half the price with half the crowds] and the other sites along its banks.

But for such a short trip, you probably will find yourselves walking nearly everywhere.

<< Is local transport easily available to all these attractions? >>

Here's what you're not understanding: There are no cars or buses or taxis on the streets of Venice.