My husband and I will be in Venice form July 8-10 and was in need for help on what to see and do. Any suggestions?

Buy the Eyewitness guide for Venice, and read all you can at veniceforvisitors.com

Just wandering around is what I like to do in Venice. St. Marks, Doges Palace, Realto Bridge, Jewish quarter are worth visiting, also trips to Murano & Burano.

Hi
If you click at the top of this screen on Destinations you will eventually get to lots of basic info on Venice.
Buy a good map in advance--Streetwise Venice is excellent, Amazon and many bookstores carry it.

another really good website is
www.aguestinvenice.com

I have a long file on Venice; if you'd like to see it, email me at
[email protected]

are there any tors we should take?

A tour to the 3 islands is a good place to start. For us, novices, was perfect. It gave us history and places to shop (not regular souveniers) The Burano island is famous for their lace. I got a silk scarf that was so pretty and at 15eu couldn't beat the price. I should have bought 3 more! If you are looking for more high end, the Murano glass is interesting to see being made and later to browse around the shop. When we got to Florence we met a couple mailing home a box full of glass they just gotten in Venice.
I loved Venice. Just walk around,near San Marcos square and the Basilica is just beyond words. You'll enjoy not matter what you do.

The American Express office, located very near St Mark's Piazza, runs tours.
You can book when you arrive, or ask your hotel to inquire for you.

Venice is very small, it's not hard to discover on your own, but a tour can be helpful. On a 2-3 day stay, I wouldn't necessarily go to the lagoon islands, there's a lot to see in Venice proper as it is.

We were thinking of going to Murano for a few hours to do some shopping, but the ieda of bringing home more glassware sounds tricky. This will be my 1st time in Venice so I want to make sure I am coverng all the "must see" places...

You should be able to easily ship home glassware from Murano, almost all of the shops do it (and they are expert packers).

Aside from buying guidebooks you could also research trip reports here on Fodors for ideas on what to see and do.

Murano (not Burano) is known for glassware. Burano is known for lace. But depending on what sort of glassware you want, you can certainly find plenty in Venice proper without going to Murano. Be aware that a lot of glassware sold in Venice is not actually made there. Elaine has good info on where to buy if you get her files or do a text search here for buying glass in venice.

You might want to rent the old movie "Summertime" with Katherine Hepburn. Not only is it considered by some to be a great primer on Venice, but there's a poignant bit about buying glassware.

Many people on this board suggest taking the special Secret Itineraries tour at the Doge's Palace. This requires a reservation. You can ask your hotel to do that for you ahead of time. You can also stop by once you arrive and book it but since you'll be there in high season and for such a short time, you might want to book it ahead. You can see the Doge's Palace without the secret itinerary tour and show up anytime BTW.

There's also a way to book ahead for getting into Saint Marks church to avoid long lines. I can't remember exactly but I'll try to do a search and find the info.

If you go to the Jewish Ghetto do pay the extra for the tour. We made the mistake of not doing that (my husband is tour averse) and discovered you can only see the most important parts of the sanctuary with the tour.

Many feel a trip to Venice is not complete without a gondola ride. These are expensive but usually people say it's worth it. A less expensive version is sharing a ride with others. American Express offers this option. There are a number of previous threads on maximizing the gondola experience-where to find the best gondola, gondolier etc. if you do a text search.

Make sure that you get away from the major tourist areas of San Marco and Rialto and try just walking and getting "lost". BTW, I found a compass to be helpful

Thanx so much mclaurie for your input. Who did you reserve all these tours with?

for the Jewish Ghetto, just go there, and in the main square you'll see the small museum building, it is there that you book your tour. In high season they are offered in English several times a day, except Saturdays and Jewish holidays.For more information: www.jewishvenice.org

www.doge.it/ghetto/indexi.htm

www.ghetto.it

www.writing.org/v click on the Jewish ghetto article

http://goeurope.about.com/travel/goe...ice_jewish.htm

For some photos of the Ghetto: www.veniceword.com

for the Secret Itinerary of the Doge's Palace, in English, your hotel can book ahead for you. You will still want to see the rest of the Palace on your own, with or without an audio guide.

Burano sells a lot of lace and table linens but where it is made remains a mystery;
I was told central italy by some vendors, got a blank look from many and I actually saw little snippets of paper on some items that looked like removed tags; I bought a few items I liked but they may well come from the orient.......

I loved the colorful houses there and had a pleasant afternoon having lunch and strolling ; same for murano...

ditto, much of the glass you can buy in shops in Venice, including Murano.
is not necessarily made there.
The factory showrooms on Murano offer the real thing, if that matters to you, as do the pricier shops in Venice proper. But if you like something, you like it!

My friend brought a pamphlet of maps that outlined tours in Venice, that you could walk on your own, in the different parts of town. I'm sorry I do not remember the name, but it was a woman who published the collection. This was a great way to see things and read a bit of history, but at your own speed.

There were also self-guided walking tours suggested in an article in Travel and Leisure magazine. You can access that article, and many more links about Venice by going to www.travelandleisure.com, do a search on Venice, and go to the article ?Venice Step by Step.?