2+ days in Venice

Rick has a good starting point here https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/italy/venice-itinerary. Pick and choose what interests you. Personally, I would not go whole hog on museums, for example, as they soon become a blur. Try to balance sites like museums and churches with wandering into areas off the main route from San Marco to The Rialto, take a vaporetto all the way around the island, sit on the Zattere and nurse a glass of wine….

We love the Cannaregio area of Venice- it's on the quiet back canals and there are no crowds. You could do Row Venice, which starts close to there, a 90 minute experience for all of you, learning to row on the back canals, about 100 euros total.
Have a great trip.

For catching a train it would be best for you to stay near the train station. Venice is small, and easy to walk, so I wouldn’t worry too much about location. The main sights are around St. Mark’s and the two big ones are the Basilica and the Doge’s Palace. You could spend a morning visiting those two places, and then the rest of your time just wandering, getting lost, and riding the vaporetto. So, you could spend one day in and around St Marks, and on the other day get a day pass for the vaporetto and ride the whole loop, and maybe venture out to Murano or even Burano. Rick Steves has a guided walking tour you can download and follow. There are a lot of posts about Venice here so I would search the forum for it and read through a few.

Thanks both of you. Not sure why I didn't think of the Rick Steve's itinerary right away. Row Venice sounds like something my step-son would love.

I do have one more question, with our timeframe, is it worth it to go to Murano and/or Burano?

Edit: Thanks Anita too, came in as I was posting.

is it worth it to go to Murano and/or Burano?

Yes and no. The yes part of this answer is that they are not as crowded as Venice proper, have their own charm, have some wonderful places to eat, and Burano is a photographers delight with all the pastel colored houses. The no part of this answer is that it will consume most of a day to do them both. Suggest you visit all the places you want to see in the city proper on the 15th. If you can do that, then get an early start on the 16th to the two islands. By starting early, you should be able to be back in Venice by mie-afternoon.

Ask your hotel if they offer a free tour of a glass gallery in Murano.

We stayed in the Hotel Olimpia and they arranged a tour of the Bisanzio gallery. A free water taxi picked us (six) up in front of the hotel and transported us to the the factory in Murano. The experience of the water taxi alone was worth the trip. We watched a glass making demonstration in the workshop. There were about 15 tourists. The glassmaker made a glass horse and a bowl. Then they took us on a tour of their huge gallery. The glass sculptures were beautiful, very large and very expensive, priced at thousands of Euros. No photos allowed. We found the sales people to be very polite and not pushy at all. However, I have read reviews where some people were critical of the sales people. I would not fault the gallery; they gave people a free water taxi ride in the hopes of selling something. You are under no obligation to buy. At the end of the the tour, they do have a small gift shop with inexpensive glass pieces. I bought many pieces of glass candy for €1 each (that was many years ago), which was cheaper than those offered at San Marco Square. I gave them away as souvenirs for friends and many pieces still decorate the bottom of my fish tank. After the tour, you are on your own. We went for lunch and then paid for a vaporetto to return to our hotel. It wouldn't hurt to ask if your hotel offers this tour.

Thank you both for the advice!

I love glass, so I can spend not hours but days walking around Murano. However, it is not a particularly beautiful part of Venice from an architectural standpoint, so I am doubtful that it's a good choice for the general-interest visitor on a short trip to Venice. Burano is beautiful, but it's a much longer vaporetto ride, which makes it iffy, too.

Thank you both! Will consider the trip, I love glass as well, but the other 2 aren't as big of fans, so we'll see.

In such a brief visit, Murano and Burano are not worth the time. Together they would eat up most of a day.

If you want to get out of the crowds take a vaporetto across St. Mark’s Basin to San Giorgio Maggiore. You can go up in the tower by elevator to get a great look back across the water to St. Mark’s, Doge’s Palace and the square. We also enjoyed the Frari Church (RS has audio guide) - not crowded at all.

Yes to San Giorgio and its tower, an alternative to the more crowded Campanile tower at San Marco. Yes to the Frari Church. No to Murano unless glassmaking is a priority, and no to Burano because it takes too long. I'd get a two-day vaporetto pass, scroll down to it here, a major bargain. You can do a lot of walking, but the vaporetto will get you back when your feet give out, and show you a lot of great scenery from the water. Some of my Venice favorites were San Marco, the Doge's Palace, Ca' Rezzonico, Frari Church, the big church next to the hospital (sorry I forgot name), and the Ghetto (the original one). As much strolling as you can handle, it helps to have "no mobility issues."

As suggested above, a hotel not far from the station, in either Santa Croce or Cannareggio, would be convenient. Cannareggio is appealing because you can walk a long way down the Strada Nova, the longest street in Venice without bridges, to get lots of places. I stayed near the Rialto Market, which was very central and crowded.

Too bad you have to take a train all the way back to Zurich. Would a flight to Zurich be a realistic alternative, giving you another half day or so in Venice? Swissair looks to have four nonstops a day, about an hour in the air.

Thanks all for the advice!

I hadn't considered flying from Venice to Zurich, I will look into that!

We did a Venice "pitstop" last month. The evening we arrived we did a sunset vaporetto ride and listened to the RS podcast...My daughter found him very corny, but then asked to do it AGAIN the next night. It was a great way to see a ton from the water and we maximized the vaporetto tickets by using it a lot.

We paid up for a Doges VIP tour, managed line at saint marks and also went to San Maggiore campanile with elevator, mentioned above -- great view, no crowd, CASH only. I liked frairi church, and San zaccaharia church as well. We didn't make to Murano or Burano but I actually think we could've squeezed one in if we were ambitious. We wandered a lot....two nights at Santa Marina hotel. (great breakfast, close to vaporetto stop and the venice highlights).