Nuttela

bookmarking and saying thanks for all the great information.

Maire

bookmarking

betsys

lynclarke is quite correct, and good reality check. I was not thrilled with the Secret Itinerary tour (we had a weird guide) but kids might love it. We were there last week. Once you're in the doge's palace on the tour, stay and do the rest of the palace, or you won't get in again, without a long wait.

Regarding the San Marco basilica, we just waited for the one rainy day, hiked over to the basilica asap, and stood in a short line for five minutes, then got in. It is a glorious church and well worth all the time you may not get when in there. We skipped the lines for the roof or whatever, and just walked slowly thru to absorb as much as we could of the basilica. But that was last week, and not too many people, due to it being early am and rainy. Probably very crowded in summer and they may rush you through. What a shame! you'll never see anything else like it, prob. not even in Istanbul.
Any more questions about Venice, I was there last week and will be glad to answer.

rickmav

Alice9 - hope you don't mind me butting in on your question and asking betsys something.

Betsys -
1) did you take a map of venice with you and, if so, which one was it and was it useful?
2) did you buy a vaporetto pass - useful?
3) have just read biography of Peggy Guggenheim and although not that interested in modern art, would you recommend her museum?
4) did you visit the Basilica di San Giorgio Maggiore and would you recommend it?
Thanks.

amyb

Rick, I was also in Venice (and Paris) last week. To be honest, I found the lines at Notre Dame longer than at the Basilica! It was less than 2 minutes for me to get into Basilica San Marco on Thursday afternoon.

But I used Streetwise Venice for a map, and there was nothing I couldn't find on it.

I also bought a 72 hour vaporetto pass which was great because I never thought twice about taking the vaporetto if I wanted to. And it more than paid for itself after a trip up and down the Grand Canal and then out to the islands.

I visited San Giorgio Maggiore. You might as well as it's less than 5 minutes from San Zaccaria stop (near San Marco) and the view of San Marco is impressive from there. I found the facade more impressive than the inside, but if you like early religious art, there are some Tintorettos there (Bassano as well, I believe).

rickmav

Thanks, amyb.

i_am_kane

Lots of good information on this thread, which is appropriately titled Venice Sights.

It should be useful for lots of travelers.

rkumar3

Bookmarking

guanciale

Amyb, did your 72 hour vaporetto pass include the Zatteri and Lido?

Alice9

Well, I am amazed at the number of replies to my post of almost 2 weeks ago! It's sounding like I could book things a day ahead in Venice, if I like - or I might be just fine without booking ahead.

Also, I was very interested to hear some less than stellar opinions about the Secret Itineraries Tour - the tour books all rate it very highly.

Alice

amyb

Guanciale, my understanding is the pass covered everything except the Airport. I didn't try to go to either of those places though.

Alice, I was talking to a restaurant owner who said that May is basically the last of the off-season where lines are non-existent. He said 3 weeks from now it would be inundated. I'm not sure when you're going, but you may want to book if it's June-September.

And I loved the Secret Itinerary Tour. I learned so much about the political system, the position of Doge and his cabinet, Casanova's big escape and how Venice was run through history. I did Rick Steve's tour of the rest of the palace afterwards and realized how much I would have missed and not learned had I not done it. I highly recommend it.

amyb

Also, definitely book La Fenice ahead if you are interested. When I arrived on Wednesday, they were already booked for the rest of the week.

speckles

After reading this thread I tried booking the Basilica and Secret Itineries tours this morning for August. On both sites it showed as "closed" for this time period. So I did some checking on earlier dates and it seemed as though it is open for reservations for May and June only at this stage. So you may need to wait a few weeks to book for July and I may have to wait til July to book my August tours.

Nuttela

ttt

i_am_kane

We are in Rome right now on our way to St. Peter's and the Vatican Museum. I guess we did not allow enough time to book the Vatican Museum tour (9 days ago) because we did not get a reservation confirmation.

Remember to allow ample time when reserving for these tours.

Ciao

annetti

bookmark

cruiseluv

Question for Susan ( or anybody that has booked the San Marco tour through this website):

It says the "tour" lasts 10 minutes. Once you get in with the group , can you go your way in the Basilica ( and stay longer). Or are you forced to continue with the group and get out in 10 minutes?

Do the people that stand in line and enter independently, are they limited to a visit of 10 minutes???

Thank you!

Digbydog

We just returned from Venice and had booked a time to visit St. Mark's. We just walked up to the entrance for "Groups with Reservations," although we were not a "group." We showed them our printed reservation sheet, and they let us right in. We were able to walk around by ourselves for as long as we pleased.

cruiseluv

Thank you Digbydog,

Sounds great!

joycap

We just returned from Venice yesterday. Having previously read this post, I had tried to get a reservation for St. Mark's but July was always unavailable. While there we met someone who suggested we go to mass. What a wonderful suggestion. We walked right in for the 9am mass and had the hour to sit and look around, followed by time to walk around after the tour. We also got to talk to one of the deacons and a woman who was involved. When we went outside, the line seemed quite long. It was a highlight of our trip.