Italy Trip - 2 questions - Venice & Florence

Not a silly question at all. :O)
It's outside. Piazza degli Uffizi is a long, skinny pedestrian "square" with porticos (covered porches) and statuary in niches along both sides.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/tony_woof/44666499632

Dante is in one those niches, and you can see him here (2nd row, 3rd from the right):

http://www.museumsinflorence.com/uffizi/uffizis/uffizin.html

Kathy - this is incredibly helpful. Thank you so much!
Maria

hey hey msanchez
you'll love the ride into venice in a private water taxi, done it twice. you can book it yourself, the hotel probably charge you more. look at motoscafivenezia.it book your ticket online, we did. have the name and address of hotel, they will get you as close as possible to hotel. they follow your flight times and arrivals. if you wait till you arrive at airport maybe more expensive, we paid 110E for our group of 4.
pack light. europeforvisitors.com has lots of info. hope this helps and enjoy this magical place
aloha

On the water taxi, I had my rental agency for my apartment rental book (they did not charge me extra). There was plenty of time when we came off the plane to get money, use the bathroom, etc before you go to the water taxi stand. Everything was ready and waiting for us. We had 6 people, so we also booked a water taxi to the train station (we stayed near the Rialto as well). It was more expensive than the Vaperetto, but so much more convenient. My rental agency booked that as well. Your hotel may do the same for you.

Have a great trip.

Yes, motoscafivenezia is quoting 115 EUR total for up to 4 people with luggage, payable on booking and cancellable up to 48 hours beforehand. There is a 20 EUR upcharge for water taxis between 10 pm and 7 am. So if your lodging quotes in this range, you know they are not tacking any commission on to it. Might be a little more booking on arrival.

We just used
https://www.motoscafivenezia.it/en/

115€ from our hotel at Giglio stop to airport. You don't need to worry about being late- they will monitor your flight. It is a longish walk to the boat dock but there are now moving sidewalks almost the whole way. (IOW you don't really need the porter services that will be hounding you as you leave the terminal)
Check with your hotel but I'd guess their rate will be higher.

I addition to your ATM and bathroom stops I'd recommend getting your Vaporetto passes at the airport as well. If you haven't planned to get a length of stay pass-- I highly recommend it. We were just there for only 2 nights/1.5 days- got the 48 hour pass for 30€ each and we used it 7 times- including a RT ride out to Burano. Each individual ride is 7.50€ so it is real money saver.
And don't forget to validate your pass each and every time you board. We encountered inspectors on several of our rides. They will fine you the spot!

Thank you everyone!
I just requested a price from my hotel for the private water taxi and they are quoting me €120.
I really appreciate all of the advice given on this forum.

Christine - where do you buy the Vaporetto pass at the airport? Is it near the water taxi stand? I do want to buy 72 hour passes. I will be sure to validate each time!

Maria- I am not exactly sure- we arrived by train this last trip and bought ours there. 5 years ago we arrived at airport and bought them in the terminal at the Tourist Info booth. It would be outside of all security, after you have cleared passport control etc so just look around before you head down to boat docks.

Have a great trip!

Ok - thank you so much everyone. I feel better about everything now and really appreciate all of the advice!

When you get off the plane, you walk into the terminal. On the left before the baggage carousels, there is a ticket office for transportation. You can get the vaporetto passes there.

Thanks, Chani!

To add another viewpoint on the vaporetto passes. We have made a number of trips to Venice, and have enjoyed everyone one of them. The only time we've ridden the vaporetto is to go from our hotel back to the train station or car rental places at Piazzale Roma. I love walking through the city next to the canals. You might find that you don't need vaporetto passes at all.

The private water taxi is one of the best things I've every done in Europe, you will love it! We just head over to the water taxi "stand" and take one, we've never needed to reserve one in advance, and there's never been a line.

Whether you'll use the vaporetta a lot depends on how much walking you can do (thinking of the kids?) and where your hotel is, especially which side of the canal. You may find that the vaporetto is a convenient way to cross the canal rather than the Rialto bridge (which can be a trek after a long day or can be very congested with sightseers). Riding the vaporetto the length of the canal, especially in the early morning and after dark, is a treat. So is a ride across the lagoon to Murano.

So is a ride across the lagoon to Murano

Not to mention Burano which is my favorite.

https://www.motoscafivenezia.it/en/

I used this site booked our private water taxi, for our upcoming trip. Same as mentioned by princess above. The site is easy to use and asks for hotel and flight info.

For a vaporetto pass: any advantage or disadvantage to buy ahead of time? Planning on 72 hour passes, one with the Rolling Venice card for our 14yo.

Laura

As I mentioned above we had 7 rides on a 48 hour pass. If paid individually that would have been 52.50 euros, the 48 hr pass is 30 euros. Huge savings.
Had we not taken water taxi on departure we would have used it for 8th trip.
We were only in Venice for a total of 41 hours- including sleep time!
We did plenty of walking as well- I checked my phone app- we walked 6.2 on Day 1- from 3:00 til about 11:30.
On Day 2 we walked 6.6 miles- that's the day we went to Burano so we spent a chunk of time on Vaporetto and just sitting on a canal having a picnic.

It's a true money and time saver and is so very useful when you are simply too hot or tired to wander and get lost again.

To LauraM- I don't think there are any discounts for purchasing in advance- so no need to do that.

Thanks ChristineH

l.p.enersen is correct. I meant going across the lagoon to Burano.

Just wanted to note that we arrived in Venice on May 30, and I had pre-booked the private water taxi online ahead of time. The day of arrival, the box office said no taxis available unless you had a reservation. I was glad I booked ahead.

Stacey - that is good information - now I am super glad I am pre-booked for a water taxi.
Thanks a million to everyone who helped answer my questions and offer advice!
-Maria

hey hey
@stacey thanks for that heads up about water taxis. kinda surprised but i guess they are busy and more travelers taking them.
aloha

Hi Everyone - just a follow up - my family and I had a fantastic trip!

I was SO happy that I had booked the water taxi ahead of time and knew exactly which desk to go to. After a long overnight flight, it was nice to know I had a confirmed reservation and which desk to go to. It seemed like it might have been slightly confusing trying to book one once I got there (at least on no sleep!).
I bought vaporetto passes later in the day in Venice, which was easy - the person working at the stop by Rialto spoke perfect English and was very helpful.

In Florence, I found the meeting point for Uffizi with no problems!
Thank you to everyone who replied to my post! This forum is amazing.

Thanks so much for getting back to us with the great feedback about your trip! Really glad that it was everything and more that you expected it to be, and that the advice paid off! :O)