Traveling to Venice, Florence and Tuscany Late April - Early May

Nice sensible itinerary. Tuscany is so big with so many interesting areas, it takes some effort to know what you'll enjoy most. The Rick Steves Florence & Tuscany Guidebook is good and I think there's an out of print edition that is just for driving through Tuscany. The official Tuscan website is quite good with lots of information: https://www.visittuscany.com/en/index.html
The most mentioned must-see places are Lucca, PIsa's Piazza dei Miracoli, Siena, and the nearby hills called Crete Senesi. However, the true deep beauty of Tuscany is feeling it and breathing it and watching it, so don't give in to the bucket list mentality.
You'll want to zero in on where you'll be on May 1 so you can reserve soon as it's a big holiday in Italy.

And don't forget April 25th too!

Getting to Venice from Marco Polo Airport.

Do take a look at your hotel website – there may be info there. Otherwise,

1. Water taxi will get you close, maybe to, the door of your hotel. Can carry about ten people, will cost about €140 for the boat. No need to book, taxis are waiting at the Marco Polo dock.
2. Shared water taxi. Minimum of two people. Book in advance, wait at the desk in the terminal for the others sharing the taxi. Costs about €30 per person. Google “shared water taxi Venice”, use the venicelink dot com web site. Will get you to a vaporetto stop near your hotel.
3. Alilaguna ferry, as per below.
4. Bus to Piazale Roma, then walk to your hotel, or take vaporetto to the nearest stop. Buses leave from the outside the terminal, tickets at the machine.

Water transport in Venice.
1. Gondolas. Only for pleasure, not for transport. 90 euro for half an hour for the boat, more for evenings.
2. Traghetto – big gondolas, two oarsmen, about ten passengers, for crossing the Grand Canal. Found at Rialto, San Toma and a couple of other places. Cost 2 euro per trip, can save a heap of walking.
3. Water taxis, which are like a floating limo, costs to match.
4. Vaporettos - ACTV. Are like a floating bus, operate on a bunch of routes. Get the app Chebateo for routes and schedules. Vaps do not service the airport. Vaps are not water taxis.
5. Alilaguna ferries, service the airport, run from Marco Polo via a bunch of stops to the main part of Venice, Murano and Lido. They stop at some, but by no means all, vaporetto stops.

Hello all and thank you for your responses.

We have secured a property in Venice in the San Marco area for four nights and have secured a property in Florence for three nights. Looking into Tuscany, we will have a car and was considering a Farm, Castle or Winery property for 3-5 nights as a hub and driving in area of the Tuscany region. Plans to see Sienna, Montepulciano, Chanti, and the Tuscany loop as outline in RS Italy book. Thoughts?
Thank you,
Chris