day tours in Venice

Better? Probably the private tour will be better, but a lot more expensive. You can download the RS "Grand Canal" tour onto an MP3 player of IPod, then, for the cost of a vaporetto ticket, you can ride the No 1 boat from Ferrovia to San Marco and get the tour. You can even go back and do it at night. But RS recommends getting a front seat in the boat, but the last time there, they don't use this style of boat anymore on the No 1 line.

Thanks so much!

We returned to Venice last summer and did lots of touring using the suggestions in RS Venice Guide Book. It was easy and a lot cheaper, we only purchased a weekly boat pass. We choose to start our touring real early before the place became overran with the daily bus visitors. You can also wait until later in the day when the busses have left. I hope you have a RS Venice Guide Book by now but if you do not, you can order one elsewhere on this web site.

Just riffing on Sam's idea... if you're looking for something to download to enhance your trip down the Grand Canal, there's nothing better than Vivaldi. I can't quite describe it in words, but the spirit of the city is so perfectly captured in the Venetian Baroque. I don't think I truly understood or fully appreciated Venice until I experienced it in tandem with its music.

We just hopped on the vaporeti recommended in Rick's book and had a great tour of the grand canal. We had the iPod tour from Rick - but didn't listen to it, because we were having such a great tour on our own......took dozens of photos. Venice is such a beautiful city.

Thanks everybody! I'm doing as you all suggested. Loved the Vivaldi idea! Grazie!!!