Itinerary in Venice

Jennifer, two thoughts. First, your dinner times are way too early for Venitians. They don't really show up for dinner until 8:00pm and by 10:00pm, everybody has gone home or back to their hotels. The cruise people have departed. Second, make sure you understand how long it takes to take the vaporetto from the Dorrsoduro area to the cruise ship. You could be looking at 35 minutes or so from the end closst to St. Marks and it's a good 15 mintues or so from the Piazzale Roma vaporetto stop.

Leapfrogging on Larry's sound advice, I'd say you should be aware of how long it takes generally to get from point to point for any sites. Venice requires you to wind through alleyways and foot bridges to get around unless you can leap canals. Your itinerary might work as a rough plan, but you might find you're falling behind schedule as the day proceeds, especially where you give yourself only an hour to enter a site, see it all, and travel to the entrance of the next thing all in one hour.

Hi Jennifer,

One thing that popped out at me was "Monday: 9:00 Explore lagoon by vaporetto visiting Murano, Burano, and Torcello" and then you'd like to be back at the Ca Rezzonico by 14:00. This only gives you 5 hours to check out all three islands and get back, a feat I'm not sure is possible. We only made it out to Murano and that trip easily took us 5 hours (although we did spend a great deal of time wandering around).

Maybe others who have been to all 3 can pipe in with suggestions, and I might be wrong in my assumption, but I was under the impression that visiting all 3 islands would take the better part of a full day.

Good luck!

Burano and Torcello are a pretty long haul from Venice proper. Assuming this is your first time in Venice, I'd suggest sight-seeing there rather than going to the islands. Save the islands for your next trip. :-)

Or go to Murano only. It's much closer.

Also, lunch in Piazza San Marco proper will be horrendously expensive. I suggest avoiding that area during the middle of the day as it will be packed with people.

Personal opinion: You're way over scheduled and will be a wreck by the time you try to accomplish all that you have listed.

As someone said above, unless you're going to do a float by, there's no way you'll get to and see the islands you have listed.

Unless you want to spend time in one of the glass hops on Murano, I'd skip the islands all together and just take time to leisurly explore Venice. You can't get lost and if you think you are, just look up on one of the buildings at a street corner and there will most likely be a sign pointing the way to San Marco.

I also wouldn't eat in San Marco Square. It's outrageously expensive and you can do better, food wise, on one of the side street trattorias.

The vaporetto service to the farther islands, Burano and Torcello is not as regular as that in Venice. To get to Torcello, you take another vaporetto from Burano and the wait time can be 15-30 minutes. You will spend too much of your time waiting for the boats and see little or nothing of the islands. Venice itself is more interesting.

Sunday. Start at the Correr - and look out the windows for some very nice views of the Piazza, then go to St. Mark's. You want to be in the Basilica from 11.30 - 12.30 when the mosaics are floodlit. Be sure to visit the museum - to have access to the upper level of the Basilica, if nothing else. If you only spend an hour or so in the Correr, you will time to walk around the Piazza before St. Marks. Visit the Doge's Palace after lunch, or have lunch in the cafe there before touring the Palace.

Thanks to everyone for their responses. I guess I will have to admit to DH that he may have a point when he says I have a tedency to overschedule. From the responses so far I think it is safe to say I should forget about seeing the islands.

So if I eliminate that I would do the itinerary Rick suggests in his Venice book:

Sunday
9:00 Self-guided Walk from St. Mark's Square to Frari Church
11:00 Frari Church
12:00 Tour Scuola San Rocco
13:00 Lunch
14:00Tour Ca Rezzonico
15:00 Explore Dorsoduro
17:00 Tour Accademia
18:00 Self- guided vaporetto tour of Grand Canal
Dinner?

Monday
9:45 St. Mark's Basilica and Square
11:00 Correr Museum
12:00 Shop, wander, and have lunch
16:00 Doge's Palace
18:00 Campanile
19:00 Godola Ride
20:00 Dinner

Tuesday
Check out anything I might have missed from the previous 2 days, have lunch and then head to the ship around 14:00.

Does that look more reasonable?

I would say it's definately more reasonable. You've left yourself time to discover some hidden things that you may enjoy in Venice which aren't in the tour books.

Try and make time late one evening to stroll St Mark's Square and listen to the bands - don't sit down unless you want an expensive coffee!

Thank you. I will certainly fit that in. I may even get one of those expensive coffees. Just how expensive are they?

We loved sitting our last night St. Marc's Square listening to the music and drinking a glass of Proseco (Italian Champagne). We sat in the outdoors in Cafe Qadri because we found a seat near the orchestra. When the music stopped for a break at ours, the one next door (Caffe Florian) started to play. I had been there years ago as a poorer student and had watched and listened from the outside areas and loved it then. I have very special memories from both experiences, but sitting, listening, and relaxing outdoors in the square was truly special for me. (There were other cafes, but these were the ones I wanted to listen to our last trip.) The web sites of these 2 outdoor cafes are.....
Caffè Florian: http://www.caffeflorian.com/ ---- and ----
Caffè Qadri: http://www.quadrivenice.com/

Hi, I see that your plan may include a gondola ride and that is wonderful. I loved mine and would do it over again given the chance. Do be aware that the price goes up at 7pm. During the day it is 80 euros for 40 minutes. The price is set by law. My friends and I found a gondolier in a quiet area away from the Grand Canal and San Marco and had over an hour for 120euros which is also the set price for an hour. Split four ways it was doable and we asked for quiet back canals and that is what he gave us. It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon and even if I had been alone with someone I loved, instead of with girlfriends, it could still have been romantic. But even if it must be evening it is still worth it and I still recommend wandering away from the main area to pick one up...there are over 400 gondolas in Venice.
I agree with everyone who says you have overbooked yourself on your original itinerary. I was in Venice for two weeks my first trip in 2008 and didn't do hardly any of what you list. Every time I set out for somewhere something else piqued my interst and I'd be off wandering down another quiet Calle.
What ever you decide...have a fabulous time in my favorite city in the world.
Michelle

Awww -- sorry to see you've dropped Murano from your itinerary. We took a vaporetto there in June -- one of those free pick-ups from the hotel that the glass factories arrange.

We quickly did the tour of the factory, then ended up to my surprise spending the entire day on Murano. It was such a relief to escape from the crowds in Venice itself, and it was so beautiful and peaceful we couldn't leave. Of course it helps if you're a shopper -- the main canal is lined with shops and cafes. ;-)

I enjoyed the outer islands a lot but it does take time; I wanted to go to the Guggenheim and it is closed one day check if your museum choices may close one day so you can plan