Should we get a guided tour of the Grand Canal in Venice?

No need of spending money on a tour. Take a vaporetto (water bus) and enjoy the ride from the station to piazza San Marco

I just left Venice. Here are some tips

4 nights was too much.
Don't miss the Islands..Lido Burano and lastly Murano
See the Palace and the Corrier
Read up about safeguarding your money....i was not careful enough and got pickpocketed at a Vaporetto stop

The author of the books and tours on this very website has done a fairly decent audio tour of the Grand Canal. It can be downloaded from this website, or through the Rick Steves audio app. The audio app has just been reissued and updated for iOS and an Android redo is rumoured to be in the wings.

Put it on your audio player, your iPod, or your phone, pop in some earphones, sit back and enjoy the trip. If you don't get it all in one trip you can do it again. You don't need wifi or anything, it is just an MP3 file. You can copy out of the book the map for it, or download it.

Be sure to get the vaporetto pass for the time you will be there. Being on the water and getting lost in the calles is the fun.

Take the advice of the previous writer and protect your belongings.

Getting lost is part of the experience - you will always find yourselves again, it is an island after all.

Practice stairs. A lot. Every time you cross a small canal, and there are hundreds, you will climb up 5 to 10 stairs up to the bridge and a similar but not always the same number of steps on the other side.

Practice means your knees and hips will thank you.

I have visited Venice more times than I have counted, and have probably been there 30 or 50 days. I am still nowhere near seeing it all. I'll have to go back in the winter this year or next to see it in that season. It is the only season I haven't spent much time there. My previous winter time was 3 days in February so I need to build on it.

You have posted many questions about the various places in Europe you and your friend plan to visit. You really need a good guide book and you really need to read it well. As it is, it appears you know nothing about your destinations. For instance .... why are you going to Corfu? Your knowledge of Corfu seems to be zero, so what attracts you?

Beg, borrow or steal (well no, not steal) Rick Steves Europe Through the Back Door for starters. Then maybe a Lonely Planet guide. You should have at least an idea of what's in store, and not just a list of places.

Thanks for the helpful tips! I have downloaded the Rick Steves guided tour but wasn't sure if that was the best option. Can't wait to get "lost" in Venice!

Also: I a lot of guide books and have read them all. A friend told me that he loved Rick Steves' forum and everyone was really nice and has great tips that you can't get from a guide book so I thought I would try it be throwing out some generic questions. Sorry if I appear to have no knowledge on my trip. Just looking for well traveled people's advice.

Please do remember that when someone says "Four nights is too much" at any particular location, they are speaking for themselves and their interests. It took a cumulative total of about 18 nights' worth of visits to Venice before I felt I was ready to drop it from future itineraries. As I often say, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to travel.

As for your question about a guide, I think a good guide is always better than a self-guided tour. However, the good guides are usually expensive and only you can decide if it's worth it. You certainly don't need a guide to appreciate the Grand Canal.

And now that we know you've read multiple guidebooks on Venice, people won't need to rehash what's in them to address your broad question about "any travel tips in Venice in general." I think the best general tip is to avoid the most popular places in Venice in the 10 am to 4 pm slot, when they will be flooded with other tourists. That's the time to go to the more off-beat areas such as Cannaregio and Castello.

Happy travels.

I've had 9 nights over 4 visits to Venice and still want to go back for more...

The Grand Canal views never fail to impress me and I think you'll get enough background info from the Audio Guide. BTW, Rick often inserts tidbits that he learns from local tour guides.

With RS Italy devoting 110 pages to Venice, for instance, that's a lot of tips that you can get from a guidebook, even if no one resource covers everything. Details do change, so the most recent edition is best. After doing your research, my advice is to have confidence in what you have read as well as your ability to keep figuring it out as you go.

I agree that the person who said that 4 days was too much in Venice was speaking from personal opinion and certainly does not represent the general public. The first time that we visited Venice we were planning on 3 days and quickly extended our stay another two days. That was 20 years ago and we've returned 6 more times since, usually staying a week. There is so much to do and see in Venice. It might be crowded during the day when the ship tours converge on the city but by dinner time the city is a marvel after dark. Burano island deserves a day on its own but there is also Torcello and Murano. It is our favorite European city to visit. I'd like to know why the poster had such a bad time there.

I'm guessing they had a bad time because they got pickpocketed :(

My tips for Venice - stay on Venice itself...don't stay in Mestre...for me (and it took until my third trip to realize this) - the best part was getting up and going out early - at 7am...to St Mark's Sq which was basically deserted - maybe a dozen people there (compared to what it looks like just a few hours later). No fighting hordes of people for a view of the bridge of sighs. Evening is gorgeous as well. We stayed at Al Campaniel B&B for 3 of our 4 stays. Very close to San Toma vaporetto stop and not too far a walk to Rialto - maybe 10-15 min, or a few vap stops.

And if the crowds at Rialto or St Marks are getting you down, just wander away from the crowds - about 5 min is all you need to get away from the traffic jam of tourists that happens in those areas. I loved just wandering the alleys and further reaches (as Rick says - you're on an island, you can't get lost!).

If you want to do the Doge's Palace, you can get a combo ticket at the Correr museum nearby (interesting in it's own right) that allows you to bypass the line at the Doge's. Our first visit, we stood in line at Doge's for at least an hour - precious time lost waiting. Burano is gorgeous if you are interested in photography (as I am).

Don't eat at the restaurants near St Mark's and Rialto - the price is high and the quality relatively low. My hubby and I aren't fussy, but one place along the main drag just past the Bridge of Sighs - we paid probably double for a pizza than we would have elsewhere...and we didn't get a coke (and I may have been hunger hallucinating) but I'm sure a bottle of coke was 10-12 euro! Drink water (or wine if you drink wine - we don't).

I found that even if the line at San Marco looks daunting, the most we've waited (in Sept) was 15-20 min - it moves fairly quickly. We did both St Marks campanile (bell tower) - first visit - which had a very long line - and the bell tower across at San Giorgio - 4th visit - absolutely no line, same views over the city, and amazing views over to St Marks Sq - all along the waterfront, including great views of Doge's and the bridge of sighs - which you don't get if you are at SM campanile.

But back to avoiding crowds - do go out early and late to the busy spots - they will be much less so. Use the afternoons to get off the beaten path away from the day trippers - head to Murano/Burano/Torcello if you want.

A vaporetto pass is your best bet for getting around - they seem pricey, but at 7 euro a pop (well, last year it was) for a ride, it very quickly pays for itself.

My funny 'holy crap this place is crowded' story - our first visit we were speaking with a merchant on Rialto Bridge (this was the 3rd week or so of Sept)...our comment was how many people there were (it was like sheep being herded)...his comment was - this is nothing, you should see it in July and August! UGH!

Don't miss Torcello, this island is different from the rest, it's a short ride from Burano.

To follow up on Norma's comment and your response, if you ask specific questions, you'll get better answers. Tell us what you're thinking of. For instance: Is Rick's audio tour enough or should I consider the XYZ tour for €30? We're planning 3 full days in Venice, is this a good amount of time to see . . . . It also means we won't be repeating information that you already have.

Just to pile on, this Forum is not so helpful for general questions like "What should I see in Venice?" It is VERY helpful for specific questions, like "I'm very interested in sculpture, and most of the Venetian museums seem to focus on paintings. Are there any places I should know about?" or "I love markets. Besides the famous one at the Rialto, are there any others that I should see?" In other words, things you can't easily find in guidebooks.

For the Grand Canal (and for that, you DID ask a specific question), I'd definitely go with Rick's audio tour. I agree with Nigel's advice to get a vaporetto pass for the entire length of your stay, and plan to do the tour (or parts of it) at least twice. I've seen people say they don't use the vaporetti much and just walk a lot, but for me it's both - I both walk a lot and take a lot of vaporetti. Plus, at €7 per single ticket, the passes pay off very quickly.

Actually, I do have two tips. The specific one: I really liked San Michele, the cemetery island. Not many people go there, and while the most famous people are buried in the non-Catholic section, I found the rest of it more interesting. Be aware that the graves themselves are not shaded.

And a general tip: how you feel about a place is something you will not know until you go there. As you see, Venice, like many places, inspires extreme reactions. To some it's magic, to others it's "Venice the menace," and others are in-between. A good plan for any place is to have day trips in mind if you feel you need to "escape." You can then take these if you don't like Venice, and can skip them if you are enchanted by it. For Venice, some easy escapes (all detailed in Rick's book) are the islands of Murano, Burano, and Torcello, and the mainland cities of Padova (wonderful), Vicenza, and Verona.

Thank you so much for the tips! I took A LOT of notes in my "My Adventure" Google Doc (Google Docs are my best friend). Everything has been extremely helpful for someone who has never been to Italy.

Thanks for the tips on the forum posts! I have never posted before yesterday and was not exactly sure what to do. I tired to ask semi specific questions about the Grand Canal, wine tour in Siena, and snorkel trip in Santorini. I definitely now understand why generic questions can cause an annoyance. I'm going to work on more specific questions before posting again!

Dear mrains22

Welcome to the forum, and now that some things have been explained, I think you will get a lot out of it. It's a great resource and can be extremely helpful.

Will be looking for more questions from you.
Mimi

I don't mind generic questions - if you just want some travel tips about a certain area, then you asked the right question (which was why I replied with my tips about vaporetto passes, where to stay suggestions, time of day to really enjoy Venice and where you may want to avoid eating).

For me, it's when someone says...'I'm going to Venice - what should I see?' and then neglect to tell you any of their interests, how many days they are going for, time of year, etc.

Welcome to the helpline! For the record, in 4 visits to Venice, I've never done a real guided tour of the Grand Canal. I have used the Rick Steves app on my iPod to listen to his talks about St Marks Basilica and SM Square...quite interesting!

Thanks again for the tips! I will start including more information in my posts.

For the official record: I am going to Athens, Santorini, Corfu, Venice, Vienna, the Dolomites, Cinque Terre, and Rome. I am traveling with a friend and we are both in girls in our early 20s. We are both interested in major sights but also "getting lost" in the cities. We want to try to balance our trip between "adventure" activities and sight seeing. We have both traveled around Europe (a little) and the United States, but never without our parents or school groups/ study aboard groups.

We just finished our trip to Italy.

The free Rick Steves audioguides are very good. Just download onto your iPhone or Andoid. I used the Grand Canal audio tour and it was informative. Just take the vaporetto from the train station to San Marco and try to get a seat up front..

If you want a great cheap place to eat near the train station, please look up "Bacareto de Lele" on tripadvisor.

Have fun.