Trieste to and from Venice, Venice walkabout

Hard to comment because I don’t know how many days constitute a “few.” I happen to like Trieste and it is a wonderful city to visit but Venice is unique and has much more to see. I’m supposing that you are flying in to Venice. Devote more time to La Serenissima than to Trieste. If you can spend your first two or three days there, do so. You won’t regret it.

Agree with above-if you are flying in to Venice spend the bulk of your time there then travel to Trieste day before cruise

If you only go as a daytrip you will be with all the other daytrippers/crowds
The magic of Venice is in the morning and evening -explore the back canals off the well beaten tourist track

You don’t have to visit any sites in Venice if you don’t want to-Venice itself is a unique “site”

Lots of threads here on how to get to Venice from VCE

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/getting-to-venice-from-airport

Venice At a Glance
https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/italy/venice

Trieste is good, but compared to Venice it pales to the majesty of Venice.

Sorry this is what we forum users often call a low quality post (MINE!). Let me try to do better:

1. We are flying into Trieste, not Venice. So we will be staying in Trieste The entire time until we get on the ship. We land midday day 1, then we have 3 nights. So we want to do a day trip to Venice one day. We are also doing a day trip to Ljubljana one day. We love small places like Trieste and would not be interested in staying in Venice.

2. Train to and from Venice sounds pretty straightforward, we’re very experienced train users in Europe.

3. Been reading debates on whether to water taxi/vaporetto or walk to St Marks from the train station. Sounds like time is about the same but people say quite easy to get lost walking and others saying no it’s fine. Given that we will probably have 5-7 hours to do this day trip, suggestions? We’re not worried about cost. Is it worth walking and stopping to see something along the way? Since spouse has never been want to ensure he sees St Mark’s area. After that we’re pretty open.

4. We also are wanderers, find a small bistro type place for lunch (I will research gluten free options for me on the GF travel sites). We hate being crushed in tourist areas, but we do especially enjoy cathedrals. Yet we do not want to get so far afield we can’t easily get back to the train station and the 2 hour ride back to Trieste after 5-7 hours. Also means I probably need to buy a ticket for any particular cathedral in advance so we don’t waste hours in queues of any sort.

Since I haven’t been there for 30 years trying to figure out what to do. Maybe as an example I could say if we were doing a day trip to Paris, as an example, a perfect day trip for us would be Notre Dame, maybe St Chapelle, wander down the Seine, eat lunch, maybe pop into Musee d’Orsay and then sit and have a glass of wine in a cafe. We’ve “done” so much around the world that we’re phasing more into the slow part of travel, a good local lunch, a few non-rushed sites, a cafe with a coffee or a wine, watch the world go by.

So if any tips or thoughts on above, TIA!!!

Ok got it

Get an early start

Yes prebook a timed entry to St Mark’s-make sure you are on official ticketing site
Follow guidelines for attire and what you can carry in -they are very strict there

I would walk from station-hard to get lost on that route as that’s where everyone else is headed and there are signs
Might consider vaporetto or water taxi back to station just for the views along Grand Canal

If you choose vaporetto be sure to validate your ticket!

Another church worth visiting is the Frari church-other side of Grand Canal

I believe you will find plenty of GF options in Venice

Depending on what day you visit there may be a day pass needed -don’t know when that info available for next year-mostly weekend days in season

I see no great value in a water taxi from the RR station to Piazza San Marco. Water taxis are very expensive and are designed for speed. The Grand Canal is something to be savored, so the slower speed of a Line 1 or Line 2 vaporetto seems like a good thing to me. The vaporetto may be crowded, so you may well have to stand, but you'll still have a decent view of the Grand Canal. Vaporetti cost an expensive €9.50 per ride. I don't think you'll be taking more than two trips, but if your research suggests that is likely, you might prefer a 24-hour vaporetto passes. That costs €25 per person.

Much of the default walking path between the RR station and Piazza San Marco is a sea of humanity. Too much time on that touristy route (labeled "via Strada Nova" by Google Maps) could lead to not liking Venice very much. I think a more geographically direct route (see Google's other suggestions) is a more-pleasant intro to Venice, but you should budget more "getting lost" time (always a risk in Venice) than usual, because you won't be simply following a herd of people. Piazza San Marco and the area around the Rialto Bridge will be very crowded no matter what path you take to get there. Just be mentally prepared.

I'd suggest taking the vaporetto in one direction and walking in the other. It's up to you whether you want the vaporetto ride to come at the beginning or end of the day. Google says the trip will take 20 to 30 minutes, but don't rely on that 100%. Sometimes a vaporetto arrives at a stop so full that not all those waiting are allowed to board. That shouldn't be an issue when departing from Santa Lucia; I have no idea whether it's a risk at San Marco.

With a hotel room waiting for you in Trieste, you'll need to pay attention to the return train schedule. However, the trenitalia.com schedule shows a lot of the rail departures are regional trains rather than Freccia trains. Only the Freccia trains require time-specific tickets; they are usually more expensive and don't necessarily save significant time. You could wait to buy your return ticket until you're back at Santa Lucia station or very close to it. (You have to complete ticket purchase at least 5 minutes before scheduled departure time.) That is what I would do, so I could enjoy my sightseeing without stopping every ten minutes to check the time. You won't have a seat reservation if you take a regional train back to Trieste.

My top choice of the churches in Venice would definitely be San Marco. It has beautiful mosaics and an interesting museum upstairs. You can pre-book an entry time to avoid a likely significant ticket-buying line. I'd expect only a short wait with pre-purchased tickets. There's an extra fee for the museum, but it's very worthwhile for the original horses on display, a better view of the upper mosaics, and a great view of the piazza from the terrace. There's also an extra fee for the Pala d'Oro. Google for photos so you can decide whether you want to see that; there's a line for it, but I don't think it will mean a long wait.

If you don't want to go to such a large church, there are a lot of other good options in Venice. Many of the less prominent churches close for a few hours around the middle of the day, which could be a challenge with your schedule. Rick lists his top sightseeing suggestion s here, and the list includes three churches in addition to San Marco: https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/italy/venice. Those are major enough that they may remain open all day long; I think you can find the information on their websites. It's not a church, but I recall running out of time at Scuola San Rocco, which had things to see on multiple floors. That's on Rick's list.

You really can't go wrong in Venice as long as you veer away from the crowd.

I say arrive in style! Get the water taxi from the train station when you arrive.

I took a regional train today, Saturday, from Monfalcone near Trieste to Venice. There were plenty of seats.
There was also a sea of humanity on the main routes on a sunny Saturday in mid-October.

I agree with acraven about taking the #1 vaporetto line. There are a lot of grand homes (old money!) to see along the Grand Canal. Rick has both a Grand Canal cruise description in his 2025 Venice book and he also has a description in the app.
Walking one way to/from the station on less busy routes is also recommended.