2 days in Venice...sort of.....

Is it possible to change your B&B booking and stay on Venice proper? With such limited time, you'll get so much more out of Venice if you don't have to waste so much time going back and forth, and you'll be less worried about staying too late. Morning is my favorite time in Venice - fun to wander before so many tourists arrive. It's hard to get that experience if you have to bus back and forth. Yes, it tends to cost more to stay in Venice, but to me, it's well worth it.

I love Burano, but it is time consuming get back and forth, and I'd keep it a "maybe" but on your list - be spontaneous and just go if you feel like it, but if you run out of time, don't go.

Thanks for your reply, Andrew.

We could cancel our B&B, and I've been considering it, but for the price, and only a 20 minute bus ride, I'm finding it difficult to take the plunge! Our total cost in a very nice place, for two nights, is less than 1/2 the price of one night in a hotel in Venice proper.

Good advice about just leaving it open for Burano.

I know it can be a challenge to find a nice place for the price - but I wonder if it's possible to find a better price than you've already found for Venice proper? Or accept a place that isn't quite as nice?

That 20 minute bus ride sounds like nothing - but it really makes a difference. It's so easy just to head out the door and explore spontaneously if you are actually THERE (wake up early? put on some shoes and go for a walk!). If you have a 20 min bus ride, you have to worry about the schedule, getting there on time for the bus, what do I need for the day because we don't want to come back all day? At night, what time does the last bus leave? If you are THERE, you just stay as late as you want.

Certainly something to consider!

Any advice about how to schedule the things we want to do?

That 20-minute bus ride could end up taking an hour to get you into Venice.

You have to get from B and B to the bus, then ride, and you will be dropped at Piazzale Roma. This is a long walk from St. Marks and Rialto, etc. you can get a vaporetto but that involves a wait for the boat. At least you get a ride down the Grand Canal that way.

But honestly it is not a great idea to stay in Marghera.

Trust me, splurge and sleep in Venice. Yes, it costs more but you're spending a lot of money to get to Italy. Save money by eating pizza for dinner but don't miss spending a late night and early morning on this amazing island - especially with so little time there.

Kerri

Ok, so then lets assume we'll be staying in Venice.

Any advice or recommendations about how best to plan our days, given the schedule I've stated?

The things you mention - gondola ride, vaporetto #1 ride, Rialto Fish Market, Doge's Palace tour, and San Marco don't seem that hard to fit into the time you have. The hardest part is finding a morning when the market is going - but should be open Tue and Wed morning I believe. Go early.

Venice is really about much more than the specific sites, anyway, and all of those places you mention are touristy, perhaps very touristy. I recommend just walking around - in the morning and the evening is best. On my last visit, I greatly enjoyed a morning walk from the train station along the south side of the Grand Canal through the San Polo neighborhood to Rialto - through a maze of quiet streets and small courtyards. (Follow signs for "Per Rialto" and you won't get lost.) Other parts of Venice can be so mobbed with tourists especially mid-day that it can feel like Disneyland, so it's good to have a plan to get away from the tourists, not just the market, San Marco, etc.

That sounds perfect, Andrew. We do want to see/do the touristy things I mentioned, but we love being off the beaten path. You'll find us eating our meals where the locals eat, strolling around streets we happen across, and so forth.

I'm making note now of the neighborhood you mentioned. Thanks for the tip.

I wouldn't avoid the touristy places just because they are touristy. But it's important that you balance it out so your entire visit won't feel like Disneyland. I think a lot of tourists don't get out of the touristy areas, and they wind up hating it as a result. San Marco is especially lovely at night when the streets are lit up and the bands are playing, and sometimes people dance in the square - very much more peaceful than mid-day with the mobs.

We are use to temperatures in the late 90s-104F especially in August. Do you think its better to use the train or rent a car?

There are NO CARS in Venice. The train is so easy. It's one of our favorite European cities. We stay at a B&B and just love getting lost walking and walking. Get the RS guidebook. Download his app - lots of Venice stuff - one of our favorites was the Vaporetto talk - get on, put on your earbuds and take the whole trip around Venice - he does a great talk. Have a Coffee at St. Marks Square at one of Europe's oldest coffee shops - Caffe Florian, be sure to see the inside - it's in his guide book, so many famous people have been there. Wonderful pasta shops all over.

I think Jessica meant to respond on her original thread about a trip between Italy and Spain.

My first trip to Venice - we chose to stay in Mestre to save a few dollars. MISTAKE MISTAKE MISTAKE! Don't do it - just bite the bullet and find a place to stay on Venice Island. There are places and shortcuts to save some dollars, but Venice is not one of them. There ARE affordable places on Venice Island.

Have you looked at Rick's book on Italy or his specific guide on Venice? You seem to already know what you want to see, and he provides potential itineraries based on how long you have in a specific place.

I'm glad you've made the decision to stay in Venice. It's a false economy to save on a room by staying so far out of town, especially when you only have two nights, after paying so much to GET to Europe. Spend a little more to stay in Venice itself and you will have a MUCH better experience. As the title of your Forum topic suggests, with two nights in a place, you don't really have two days in Venice -- you have parts of two days, and one full day.

get in the gondola ride I've promised my 15 year old, or the Grand Canal tour on vaporetto #1 (yes, we'll be doing both, even if it may seem redundant).

I'm late to this party (gotta work for a living sort of thing) but I would like to contribute that a gondola ride and a ride down the Grand Canal (and back), especially when the day trippers are gone or before they arrive are two completely different animal.

Do the number one vaporetto in the daytime to follow Rick's audio tour and see the architecture clearly, with the sun glinting off the mosaics of a couple of specific places and to see things brightly and get the lay of the land, and be sure to repeat it at night so as you glide along you see the Venetian glass chandeliers peering out though the upper storey winds all along the canal and the water picks up the light - magical.

I've been to Venice almost annually for nearly 20 years and have yet to get on a gondola - for what its worth. You will have a great trip with the teen.