Venice Italy, pre-cruise trip


Prior to our August 2011 12-night Greek Island cruise on the Star Princess, I booked 3 nights in Venice. Venice is a compact set of interconnected islands.  I found it to be much more approachable than Rome and I very much enjoyed our visit.

typical scene along the Grand Canal, Rialto Bridge in the distance

 

some visitors opt for a gondola ride

Sharon at St. Mark's Square

vegetable market near Rialto Bridge

Hotel: this can involve a major expenditure if you wish to stay in one of the upscale canal-side locations. Hotels seem to run anywhere from $150 to over $1000 per night.  If you are carrying luggage, location becomes a significant consideration as getting to many of the hotels will require carrying your luggage over one or more bridges over the canals.  Most bridges have steps tall enough to require picking up your rolling suitcases.  If someone has any mobility issues at all, they should strongly consider taking a private water taxi transfer to/from the airport and to/from the cruise dock and using a hotel that is near a dock.  The water taxi typically runs about $150 per trip.

Westin Regina near San Marco ($700-1000/night)

I booked a much more modest place, the Hotel Santa Lucia near the train station, only $115/night without breakfast.  It was completely adequate with good air conditioning (important in summer).  It was near a snack bar with good pastries and fresh-squeezed orange juice. 

Shortly before leaving for Venice I discovered a very interesting website, Tom's Port Guides (http://www.tomsportguides.com/).  He recommends staying on the mainland near the Mestre train station.  To tour Venice the train provides frequent and quick service into the island and a major vaporetto stop is directly in front of the Venice train station.  From Mestre you can get a relatively reasonably priced taxi directly to the cruiseport.  After lugging 50-lb suitcases over the Constitution bridge and through the cruiseport in Venice, I'm inclined to agree with him. 

Local transport: Venice proper is fairly compact and theoretically you can walk anywhere.  However the twisting streets and limited passages over the canals make walking to a destination a bit like going through a maze.  Local water buses, called vaporetto, provide transport on the canals.  Individual tickets are expensive (about $10/ride) but day passes and multi-day passes are available.  Some tourbooks recommend carefully planning your days to make best use of a single day pass.  I decided that it was best to purchase a pass for our whole 3-day stay ($50) and not worry about it.  On two occasions, once during the day and once during the evening, we took the vaporetto for its entire length just to see the sights and we really enjoyed both journeys.

Vaporettos provide efficient local transport

Murano and Burano: I highly recommend a day trip to Murano, the famous glass making  island, and Burano, the lace making island.  The glass stores are almost like museums with amazing tableware and sculptures.

outdoor glass sculpture in Murano

most houses in Burano are brightly painted

Getting to the cruise port: it sound easy when reading the tour book.  Take your luggage to Piazzale Roma (near the train station), purchase a ticket for the People Mover, ride  the People Mover to the cruise port, walk to the luggage drop-off point for your cruise, and check in for your cruise.  This isn't too much of a burden for someone who is moderately fit carrying a reasonable amount of luggage.  However it is a major undertaking for anyone with mobility issues.  Anyone staying in Venice proper should strongly consider booking a water taxi.

In summary, I really enjoyed Venice and three days seems to be just about the right amount of time to explore the various sites.