1.5 Days in Venice Itinerary

Do Doges Palace on your own.

I assume #1 vaporetti is the Grand Canal, if not, do the Grand Canal.

gondola ride: Don't repeat Grand Canal. There is a gondola ride station between the Doges Palace & teh Church where Vivaldi worked that goes thru more typical canals.

The best neighborhood for wandering that I've found in Venice is between the Vivaldi Church & the Arsenal

...what the best things to do would be....I would like...wander around the streets of Venice

With such a limited amount of time, the best thing to do is what you said you would like --- wander and wander and wander! Great place for walking and people watching.

Your boys might enjoy the "Secret Itineraries" tour of the Doge's Palace; after the tour you can explore the rest of the Palace on your own. The Clock Tower Tour could be an alternative to the Campanile--either way, you will want to make advance reservations as June will be busy. The Grand Canal will be busiest mid-morning and early evening as visitors arrive/depart, so you may want to plan your vaporetto ride around that. Venice is a great place to just wander and explore! If you "wander" outside of the San Marco area you will find fewer crowds and see another side of Venice.

I have a similarly short time in Venice, slightly shorter than your visit, and similar plan!

Arrival (Thurs):
Flight lands 4:30pm, private water taxi to hotel, quick bite to eat, then a private sunset/night walking/photography tour (7:45pm-11pm)

Friday:
Early AM at Rialto Market (opens 7:30am), St. Mark's Basilica (9:45 timed entry) w/ Museum, Doge's Palace - Secret Itineraries 11:35am + browsing the palace after, then lunch and no set plans for the rest of the afternoon - just explore, shop, gelato, vaporetto ride on the canal? May do a late day/early eve bell tower climb in St. Mark's (open till 9pm). Either sunset or night time gondola ride, still deciding about making dinner reservations.

Saturday:
Sunrise/early AM photography in vicinity of hotel - St. Marks/Castello neighborhood near hotel, then maybe relaxing coffee in the square and wander in that area until about 9:30am, then we have to head to an 11am train to Florence.

Stacey--
If you are looking for a good view, high up, please consider taking a short vaporetto ride to the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore, across the lagoon from the entrance to Piazza San Marco.
There is a Church bell tower there that allows you to have a birds eye view OF Venice rather than (or in addition to) the view from the campanile on Piazza San Marco, which looks down AT and over Venice.
This is a must do for me each time I travel to Venice. Six euro entry fee, typically no line and far less crowded than the campanile on Piazza San Marco.

This will not consume a whole lot of your time unless you decide it to do so. There is a small boat "harbor" on San Giorgio Maggiore. And the church that gives the island its name is also attractive.

If you like to make photos of where you're gone, you'll want to go here. You can search the web for others to give you a feel for what you can/will see.

We also have 1.5 days, but are arriving by plane from Philly so will likely be fighting jetlag too. My Day 1 plan is to either take a free walking tour (2.5 hours) through La Busola (you tip the guides per person) and/or a cicchetti/bar tour, as our daughters are early 20s. The next day -our full day- we plan to go to St. Mark's basilica in the a.m. followed by the Doges Secret Itinerary tour (reserve in advance), and then lunch and wander until a 7pm gondola tour (35 mins) with Luca Padoan of Ente gondolas. I found his name on TA along with incredible reviews; hopefully our experience will be great too. Then dinner somewhere and St. Marks Piazza at night! Thx for reminding me to add the vaporetti to my plan:) Hope you have a great trip!

Thank you for the tip about the gondolier! I will look into him.