Giudecca, Venice

I did not know they dock there now. I wonder where? The piers there are kind of small for large ships. They must have built a newer bigger one. Are you sure it's not San Basilio pier? San Basilio is on the Giudecca canal but on the Dorsoduro side?
the most important sight nearby is St. Giorgio Maggiore Island. Other than that, it's just an inconvenient place to stay, if that is your plan.

I didn't know that either, but it's a lot more convenient than docking at some other city as some of them now have to do (for good reasons). Giudecca itself doesn't have much of interest, but it's a short vaporetto ride north to the main part of Venice. And San Giorgio Maggiore, in its own island just east of Giudecca (probably connected by a bridge) is a marvelous church with a Palladian facade and a great belltower where you can get (by elevator!) a wonderful view across the city and lagoon.

There's no bridge between Giudecca and San Giorgio Maggiore; you must take a vaporetto. There may be a special, lower-cost vaporetto ticket for that very short hop. Normally, each vaporetto ticket costs an exorbitant 9.50 euros. Visitors should think seriously about what rides they will be taking and consider buying one of the passes, which are priced as follows:

24 hours: 25 euros
48 hours: 35 euros
72 hours: 45 euros
168 hours (that's a week): 65 euros

I would consider Giudecca an inconvenient place to stay, but it's an attractive, non-touristy neighborhood that would be enjoyable for those not desiring to track down big-name sights and/or wanting to avoid the tourist scrum in and around San Marco and the Rialto area. It's true that there are more important sights on San Giorgio Maggiore than on Giudecca itself.

I have a relatively comprehensive list of Venice sights I put together for a September 2022 visit. The Giudecca and San Giorgio Maggiore sections are brief enough to post here:

Giudecca:

• Tempio del Santissimo Redentore, (Il Redentore) Campo del Santissimo Redentore 195: Designed by Palladio. Art mostly by schools of Tintoretto, Veronese, Bassano and Piazza, but sacristy (through door in last chapel on right) has Veronese. Fodor says allow ½ hour. Important for the architecture, not the art.
  
• Santa Maria della Presentazione (aka Zitelle): Designed by Palladio. Rather austere.
• Casa dei Tre Oci, Fordamenta de le Zitelle 43: Neo-Gothic house now housing photography archive and interesting exhibitions of contemporary art, especially photography. Good gift shop. This was closed in the period leading up to my trip; I don't know its current status. www.treoci.org

San Giorgio Maggiore:

• San Giorgio Maggiore, St. George’s Walk: Designed by Palladio. Vast interior with beautiful details. Wooden choir beautiful. Two Tintoretto masterpieces flank altar. I found the interior not all that striking but am certainly not an expert on church architecture. RS says to allow 1 hr; it's a rather large place. www.abbaziasangiorgio.it

• Stanze del Vetro: Glass exhibitions, usually contemporary in spring and historic masters in fall. Good gift shop and fantastic collection of books about glass art. www.lestanzedelvetro.org/en/

• Cappella dei Morti, adjacent to San Giorgio Maggiore: Accessible only by free guided tour; times vary. Tintoretto below; Carpaccio in upper chapel. Elevator from left of choir to top of campanile gives unforgettable view. €6.

• Fondazione Giorgio Cini: rehabbed monastery (an architectural treasure with a gorgeous cloister). Audio tours (50+ min) Thu-Tue 1000, 1300, 1600 as of 2022. Prebook, or try stopping in the office (look for signs) as soon as you reach the island. Can view labyrinth from above but not walk it. Sometimes holds modern-art exhibitions. www.cini.it

We had an excellent time eating lunch at La Palanca in December --- it is exactly our favorite kind of place, but we like small, friendly, non-fancy, good grub places, especially when local workers are eating lunch there and the manager (owner?) makes our six-year-old granddaughter's day by calling her "Principessa." Great view across the water, too, when the weather is warm enough for the outdoor tables.

There is no way that cruise vessels are docking at Giudecca, unless they are small river boats.

I am thinking the same thing. Perhaps the OP could explain where they heard of this, and what ships are involved.

Welcome to the Forums, mariemattmarie

That's news to me - I'd love to know the details. Can you please let us know specifics? Which tour will you be on?

As for a special one-hop vaporetto fare to and from San Giorgio and either San Marco or anywhere on Giudecca, that's a new one on me too. It seems unlikely, but I am happy to be proven wrong. The hourly pass is the way to go.

I apologize. I was misinformed. The hotel is in Giudecca. The port is at Cioggia.

thanks so much for clarifying that mariemattmarie

Hope you have a great trip. Please come back with a trip report and let us know how you liked staying on Giudecca, and how the traveling in from Cioggia was....

That makes sense.
Chioggia is not IN Venice, but requires a bus or train trip of about an hour to get to Piazzale Roma, which is the point where cars and buses arrive to the outskirts of Venice proper.

Hopefully your cruise line can arrange this…..that would be the best plan.

There is the bus no. 80 that travels Chioggia-Venice.
There is also a vaporetto that from Chioggia goes to Lido di Venezia, then from the Lido there are several vaporetti into the historical city center of Venice. Maybe in summer that might be a vaporetto direct line to Venice.

So many knowledgeable people! Grazie.