BMW

My husband and I are leaving 5/7/10 for Venice for 9 days. Any suggestions for good resturants, and the best way to aquire passes for museums and churches to avoid the long lines.
Also, we would like to take a couple of day trips(rome, florence) by train while we are there, any suggestions?
Finally, We decided to take the water-taxi to our hotel because it is quicker (less than an hour), any thoughts on that would also be much appreciated!

laurie_ann

I recently saw a TV travel show episode that recommended Burano (another island) and also Padova, Vicenza, Verona, and Ravenna (on the mainland). Florence or Rome might be a little to far for a day trip.

J62

Train from Venice to Florence is 2hrs each way. Add in transit from hotel to Venice train station (assume 30min - ymmv) it makes for ~5hrs travel for a day trip portal to portal. Doable, but a lot of travel for a single day.

Rome, add ~2.5 hrs each way. (train wait time at Florence, Florence-Rome train time, then getting from Rome train to sites). That nets out to 9-10hrs total travel time for a Rome day trip from Venice. You make the call.

Andrew

Yeah, don't day trip to Rome for sure. Florence is a bit of a stretch as well. I've done Padova and Verona as day trips from Venice - both easy by train.

JoanneH

There is so much nice to do in Venice and surrounds that I would save Rome and Florence for another time or if you choose to go - go early one morning and spend the night coming back the next afternoon.
Since you there 9 days get a vaporetto pass: ACTV ticket office, vaporetto ticket booth, in Venice or HelloVenezia office in Venice or on line. http://www.hellovenezia.com/jsp/en/h...ezia/index.jsp you want the Venice card and you can see which one would work best for you. The pass come with just transport or transport and venues. For 7 days the one with venue is better it gets you into numerous museums and churches etc. You can also use it to go to any of the outer islands.

Ideas: Take a day trip through this outfit or one similar to it. You visit several towns, the large old villas and a winery. Its a full day but well worth it. Especially the walled villages. Here is link to one of the many sites that offers this: http://www.tours-italy.com/day_tours-venice.htm
They also do a walking tour which you can do by your self but a gondola ride is tossed in and it makes it a great value after you discover the price of a gondola ride.

Spending the morning doing the islands there are three main ones. Murano - Glass, Burano -lace and Torcello for the ancient ruined church. Please note that you only spend approximately and hour or so on each and while there are tours you can easily do these on your own at your own pace. There is a good place to eat on Torcello and then you can walk it off exploring the ancient church. Its a total ruin but interesting to think Attila the Hun made it that far.
Glass Museum is closed on Tuesdays.
Take the vaporetto to the Lido and enjoy a relaxing day on it's sandy beaches.
Wander, Wander, Wander. Walk from San Marco to the Train Station along the back street
Go to the Rialto Market around 7:30a-8am and watch the action. Visit the neighborhoods
Perhaps send another day doing churches, museums and gondola ride.
Take the secret Itinerary tours of Dodges Palace. Book into the Cathedral for time later afternoon when the lights are on and the tiles glitter, spring for the extra and go to the roof for a birds eye view.
Make the sort trip to Padua by train and see Juliet's balcony.

If you go to Florence you take the #13 bus to get to the plaza Michelangelo which the great view of Florence or you take the #7 if you want to go up the other size to Fiesole and the Etruscan ruins.

Your time will fly, 9 days will be as one.

cathies

I think Venice - Florence is longer than 2 hours - more like 4? Anyway, too far for a day trip.

BMW

Thanks a lot JoanneH. Lots of great information to consider. I will take time to look up the links you provided. Also, suggestions for fooderies in Venice? Love to eat!
If we do decide to go to Florence you suggested a bus instead of train, why? One more thing, do all electrical devices,i.e., laptop, hair appliances, work with converters?

cathies

I don't think Joanne meant to catch the bus the whole way to Florence. They are buses you would catch once you are in Florence so that you can see a little bit more than your legs will manage!

ellenem

"Make the sort trip to Padua by train and see Juliet's balcony."

Juliet's balcony is in Verona and is a totally fake tourist trap--nothing more.

Padua IS a good choice for a day trip from Venice. Visit Giotto's masterpiece (Scrovegni Chapel), Basilica of St Anthony, and I love the Baptistery of the Duomo. A good tourist ticket is available for the most popular sights.

Verona is also a nice choice as a day trip. Glance at Jjuliet's balcony (but don't pay to visit the house), visit the intact Roman arena, stroll nice streets, eat and drink well at the wine bars, nice fortress museum, too. A good combined ticket is available for the best churches.

For me, Florence would be too far to go as a day trip from Venice. If you feel you must visit Florence, consider spending the night.

JoanneH

I did not suggest the bus. Those are the bus #'s once you get to Florence that take you to the key sites. The #17 runs from termini to main square. Domo, museums etc. From there its about 3 blocks to the Accademia going to you left if you are facing the doors of the Domo to your right is the pathway to the large square and the Uffizi, Ponte vecchico etc. These are Florence bus's #'s do not take the bus to Florence it will take forever.
If say you took the 6am train from Venice you would get to Florence in appx 2 hours. EuroStar Fare 42e each. or if you took the local which takes 3 hours fare would be 22.5 euro or half price. You could get it even cheaper if you went 2nd. class on the local. You could return on 17.27 or 18.27 (6.27 or 7:27pm) getting into Venice at 8 or 9:27. This is all 2nd class Euro Star which is fine.
You can buy tickets in Venice. As you stand on the bridge next to the Dodges Palace, facing the bridge of sighs if you look right along the street you will see a 2nd bridge. Go to it and at the foot of that bridge after you cross it next to the bottom step on your left is a ticket agency that does not charge for ticket purchases. Book there. Be warned Euro Star does fill up fast,so book first thing in case you have to change day to go.
Major Florence museums: You can call and reserve tickets with no service charge. This is great because the lines are long.......you simply walk across the street from the entry to the Uffizi pick up your tickets and walk in the door, ditto Accademia. You can book both at same time. But since you only have one day it would be better to pick one, as there is so much to see. Everything is within walking distance to each other.
011-39-055-294-883 to book tickets

JoanneH

Your right about Juliet's balcony, it is a T-trap but sometimes they are fun. I was just trying to think of all the things to do and your right that it is in Verona. I would spend the 9 days in the Venice area as well but everyone has to choose what they think is right for them.

joannyc

How about spending 5 nights in Venice, then 4 nights in Florence? From Florence, you could do day trips to Pisa, Lucca, Siena, etc.

The advice on day trips to Verona, Padua, etc. from Venice is also good advice.

Are your air tickets booked? If not, more possibilities exist.

nytraveler

You need to be careful with hair dryers in older hotels. Many just pull to much power for wiring in buildings hundreds of years old - and either don;t work or blow the fuses. Before using a hair dryer ask the hotel about the wattage of yours. Better yet is to use theirs (may not be super hot but won;t blow anything).

As for the water taxi - does your hotel have a private dock? If not, how close is it to the nearest public dock - since you will have to tote your luggage that distance - unless you can call and they have a bellman meet you. (We always get a hotel with a private dock to avoid having to deal with luggage - esp over bridges.)

RainyDay09

You could do day trips to Murano, Burano, and Torcello. Bologna is not too far, I think the train ride from Venice is between 1.5 to 2 hours. If you are a foodie, you are likely to find better deals than in Venice.

chazzarelli

I would definitely split up the time and would stay in Florence for 4 days or even Rome for 4 days instead. You can do and see plenty in Venice in 5 days.

Also, it is only 2 hours via a fast train to Florence and Venice to Rome is 4 hours on the fast train as well.

I wouldn't do either as a day trip, but would consider either as a place to split up your stay in Italy.

Bert4545

"There is a good place to eat on Torcello and then you can walk it off exploring the ancient church. Its a total ruin but interesting to think Attila the Hun made it that far."
No, it's not a total ruin. There are two churches side-by-side. one is the ancient cathedral, which has the fantastic mosaics. Certainly not a ruin. The church of Santa Fosca stands next to it, and it is still used. Also not a ruin.

barbrn

Venice was our first stop in our Italy Grand Tour. We were definitely jet-lagged but we took the vaporetto easily to the stop of our bed/breakfast. Thinking we were very smart to have figured it all out, we then spent the next hour or so going up and down bridges, going up and down narrow walkways (that were actually streets) and trying to figure out how the house numbering system worked. We finally called the owner who told us to go back to the vaporetto stop and stay there until he got there. It is a funny story now, then not so much with a rolling suitcase and a backpack. The vaporetto was easy to use and scenic...who needs to get there fast when there is all this beauty to see...but if there is a private dock associated with your hotel I would definitely use a water taxi. And even with Jet-lag, I must say the first view of Venice in all it's majesty will throw all that lag business right off you.

artsbabe

Re your question about a converter for a laptop, our netbook specifies that it works on either current so all we needed was a grounded plug adapter. Definitely grounded.

Lexma90

Re buying tickets to avoid the long lines, you may not experience really long lines in early May. We've visitied Venice a number of times, always in the shoulder season, and never have bought tickets ahead of time.

There's pretty much always a line to get into San Marco, but it moves quickly. We probably waited 10 minutes or so. On our last trip, when we went to the Accademia, there was no line when we entered (probably between 9:30 and 10 am), though there was one by the time we left.

There are several good threads here on Fodors (one begun by Franco) that discuss good restaurants in Venice. Our favorites are Alla Testiere, which is very well known and sometimes difficult to get reservations for, and Anice Stellato, which is also very good, but less well-known. It's also not centrally located, being somewhat on the outskirts of the Cannaregio neighborhood. The walk to get there, though, is lovely.