alihutch

If i stay up all day, then I end up unable to sleep at night, as the adrenaline kicks in. Doing any sort of tour and serious sightseeing is madness the day you arrive.

annhig

actually tony what i meant was that if I was going to spend €225 on a walk from san marco to the rialto, i wouldn't want to spoil it by having done it already!

that said, they clearly don't take the direct route from the description that they give of the walk. please wander around and explore to your hearts' content - it is one of the joys of Venice. as scrb says, perhaps get a vaporetto pass and use it to get over to the island of san giorgio - the campanile gives as good views as the one in san marco without the queues. then walk along the zattere and have a drink or a gelato, before exploring Dorsodoro.

How long do you have in Venice?

tonyL64

We will be in Venice for 3 days then we are renting a van and driving to Tuscany for 3 days then driving to Rome dropping off the van, and staying 4 days before going to Sicily for 4 days.Then we fly home.DD2 is in charge of Venice-what and where, and she she has done her homework on this portion of the trip. I just thought a little overview by way of a tour would help. But maybe we will forget the tour and just follow her tour.

annhig

tony -, though you may get a lot out of a guided tour [and for 7 of you, the one you have booked is not bad value] there are books with suggested walks around Venice, and several threads here with many, many ideas.

the choice is of course yours - if the tour is for your group alone, you have the advantage that you can stop when you want, ask as many questions as you like [or not!], and call the shots more than you could with a non-private one. have you looked at trip advisor [not infallible but useful as a guide] to see if there are any reviews of this organisation?

on the subject of tours, one place where many fodorites have said that they welcomed a guide [I certainly wish we'd had one] is the Forum in Rome. IMHO just a pile of stones unless you have someone to bring it to life.

tonyL64

ann, I think I am almost in information overload at this point. I think we may not take this tour and consider a Vatican tour and since you mentioned it,the Forum tour.It is a good price for the Venice tour but we could also just spend the money on food and gelato. Thanks for your help and suggestions.

annhig

tony - i know what you mean. Fortunately Venice is ideal for just wandering around and gawping. the vaporetti are ideal for this too - and so easy on the feet.

have a wonderful trip!

tonyL64

ann, thank you we are excited and know that will be better because of all the great tips and suggestions from all of the knowledgeable fodorites.Thanks to everyone.

diann24

We arrived in Rome from the East Coast USA. Our first day was the Vatican and a tour, then the Collesium on a private tour. Stopped for lunch, forget about what time it is in the USA. We had dinner that night, then finally around 11 p.m there time went to sleep. You are in Venice, you will be surprised how awake, alert and excited you will be. BTW we are the "Baby-Boomer" generation. Not young by any means and we kept up! Enjoy it will be an experience you will never forget.

rhkkmk

next day for sure...you will have a bit of a tour coming from the airport if you go by boat which is the best adventure

rhkkmk

next day for sure...you will have a bit of a tour coming from the airport if you go by boat which is the best adventure

StCirq

Yes,you will be. Do it the next day or not at all.

gruezi

If there are 7 of you, some of you at least will be tired and cranky. I love taking tours, but would save it for the next day.

zeppole

As an American, I decided to live in Europe because I discovered I'm not a typical American. If you are a typical American, and react to things like most Americans do, than go with the consensus on Fodor's on not resting after your overseas flight and take a tour. (I've never taken a tour at any point in my travels.)

avalon

Jet lag affects everyone differently. My DH is whipped on arrival and I have finally convinced him to stay awake and outside for a long as he can bear it. I, on the other hand am ready to go and spend the whole day doing just about anything. No way I'd spend money on a tour if my DH was going along. Actually I am not into tours, except with Michael Osman in Paris.I read and make up my own tours.

tonyL64

At this point I don't know if we will take a tour or not. I really do appreciate all the different views on tours but the one comment that aanhig made about the Forum being nothing but a"pile of stones" without someone to bring it to life made me realize that I can't remember 1/3 of the stuff I have read about this trip. I am beginning to think that sometimes a tour is just a good idea maybe not this particular one but some tour or else everything will be a pile of stones.

annhig

tony - I'm sure that you won't find that Venice is a pile of stones. But the amount of art that you will be exposed to in your destinations CAN be overwhelming - and tours are good at helping one to make sense of the unfamiliar. but you have to move at their pace and hope that your and their interests will co-incide. so actually the private tour of venice might be a better idea than many you could pick, as it will only be YOUR interests that the guide has to cater for, and you can stop, or not, as you wish. [within reason].

good luck with whatever you decide.

cathies

If you happen to have ipods there are great podcasts that you can download and listen to as you walk through different venues. For instance, we downloaded a Rick Steves (I know he's corny) podcast of the Forum and listened to that as we walked through. Sure a tour guide would have been better but we were unexpectedly on a very tight budget and needed to pull back where ever necessary.