Hello all, I greatly appreciate everyone's feedback to my several posts about my wife and I trying to make best use of the gift of 32 days in Italy starting next week. I wanted to capture in several posts what we've decided to do because a) in case anyone else is planning something similar this may now give them some ideas, and b) would love any further tips or ideas from anyone if you think we're missing something, even something little you may have experienced that might not be in the guidebooks but is worth trying to squeeze in. Here is the first leg of the trip in Venice, and thanks again everyone.
Day 1 (W): Arrive in Venice Marco Polo via London on BA from Denver originally. We booked an AirBNB in the San Polo Neighborhood and will be checking in upon arrival of our 430 PM flight. We intend to buy the weekly Vaporetto Pass and maybe just stroll down to St. Mark's Square and check it out our first night, and maybe grab a drink at Caffe Florian or grab a quick vegan meal at Poke Scuse. Any suggestions on getting from the airport to this neighborhood would be helpful.
Day 2 (Th): No formal tours or planned for this day since we had a long trip, but have a list of sights to see from the Rick Steves' guidebook in priority order so that we see the things most important first (that don't require advanced booking). We plan to start the morning at the Rialto Bridge / Market. The one place we want to see but there are no advance tickets available is the T Fondaco Rooftop Terrace so any tips on seeing that without advanced tickets would be great. At night, we have made reservations to see La Traviata at Palazzo Barbarigo Minotto.
Day 3 (F): Day trip to Padua. We bought the Urbs Picta Card and a 245 PM entry to the Scrovegni Chapel, and plan to see the civic museums afterwards. In the morning, we plan to hit the markets for fresh produce. We eat vegan / whole food, plant based so plan to explore as many fresh markets as possible throughout our trip. We plan to spend the rest of the morning and early afternoon seeing the top sights in Padua. After the chapel and museums, we hope to have a Spritz in the main square before taking a train back to Venice.
Day 4 (Sa): Day trip to Vicenza / Verona. I know we are retracing steps some here on back to back days but it worked out that way and the train hopefully can be some good reading time. We're going to start in Vicenza and buy a 4 Museums Card and see the Olympic Theatre, Church of Santa Corona, and Archaeological and Natural History Museum, before departing for Verona. We plan to visit many of the top sights in Verona, including doing the Verona walk and Roman Arena, followed by the Duomo Complex. We plan to take an evening walk around town before heading back to Venice.
Day 5 (Su/Easter): We have an 815 AM entry to Accademia, and then plan to take the boats on the lagoon tour and see the various spots mentioned in the book. We then have a timed entry ticket to Campanile Bell Tower at sunset, and then opera tickets at 9 PM at San Vidal Church to see Interprti Veneziani.
Day 6 (M): We are doing the 6 hour tour with Michael Broderick mentioned in the book, with the first 3 hours on Monday morning. Afterwards, we'd like to head over to San Giorgio Maggiore Island and visit the church and Bell Tower. In the early evening, we plan to do a private Gondola after dinner at La Tecia Vegana.
Day 7 (Tu): We are doing the next 2 hours of the Historical Tour with Michael in the morning, followed by a guided tour of the St Mark's Square Clock Tower at 12 PM, and entry to the Basilica at 130 PM, followed by the other sights, and then do the Grand Canal Cruise after dark.
Day 8 (W): We do the last hour of Michael's tour before checking out at 10 am and heading by train to Florence. I should add we bought the Museum Pass also to use during this leg of our trip.
Thanks again everyone. I'll next post the details of our Florence leg of the trip.