We are planning a cruise out of Venice (Porto Corsini in Ravenna) and would like to spend some time in Venice before the cruise. What is a good amount of time to spend in Venice to see the city? I was planning on arriving on a Monday and leaving for Ravenna on Saturday to see Ravenna for a day or so when our cruise leaves on a Monday.
We plan on taking the train to Ravenna from Venice. Is it an easy transfer at Ferrera?
I appreciate everyone’s help!!
I can recommend the hotel in Ravenna we liked a few years ago, the Albergo Capello. Our room was gigantic as was our modern bathroom. Breakfast was offered and an adjoining bar/restaurant had snacks at happy hour. Also a small outdoor patio as I recall. Well located for restaurants. It was perhaps a ten minute walk from the train station. The staff were among the very friendliest and helpful of any place we’ve ever stayed. (Our arrival coincided with a train strike and the young clerk waited for us at the front desk till midnight, greeted us with a huge smile, “Welcome to Italy! Where public transportation doesn’t serve the public!”, and snatched the bags from our hands). It is a lovely small city, flat and easy to walk. I became intrigued with the mosaics of Ravenna many years ago in an art history class in high school and visiting these sights was really a thrill. I hope you enjoy your stay. Safe travels on land and sea
We love Venice! For the first time, I think you would enjoy it for 3-4 days, plus your arrival day. Other locations that are a decent train ride from Venice are Padova, Verona & Vicenza, if you would like to explore them as day trips or combined day trips before heading to Ferrara.
The Ferrara train station is small. At the most, you will be going down & up a set of stairs under the tracks to reach a different train. Some of the connections are only about ten minutes. If you miss your second train, it’s a Regionale, so you are allowed to take the next Regionale train with your original ticket. They come hourly, but check your specific time to see for sure.
We just bring a carry on suitcase when we travel and use the Aliguna boat from the airport, but you will have much more. Definitely take a water taxi from the airport to your hotel, so your first impression of Venice is a pleasant one. We have seen people struggling with large suitcases, trying to go up & down the many small bridges, searching for their Venice hotel.
Your time allowances sound good to me.
I haven't been to Ferrara so I can't provide first-hand info about changing trains there. However, the most it would require is walking down a flight of stairs, going a short distance through an underground walkway and then walking up a flight of stairs to the new platform. Online info from a non-official source indicates there are elevators at the Ferrara station, so there's a good chance you'll be able to avoid the stairs if you want to.
All the trains from Ferrara to Ravenna are regionals, so if your first train is delayed and you miss the connection in Ferrara, you'll be able to just get on the next train to Ravenna. There are never any assigned seats on regional trains.
When you buy your tickets, you will have a choice of either an express train (Frecciarossa or Frecciargento) or a regional for the segment of the trip from Venice (Venezia S. Lucia) to Ferrara. Traveling via Freccia will be more expensive and the carriage will probably be fancier, but you won't necessarily get to Ravenna any faster, because the Freccia + regional combo may result in a longer layover in Ferrara. Tickets for Freccia trains come with seat reservations and are only good for the specific train you book.
Ferrara station has six tracks: If you arrived at track 1 and departed from track 6 you'd have to walk for 5 minutes in the walkway.
Water taxi are extremely expensive, you'll pay around 130 € (per boat).
There are cheaper options: You could take the Alilaguna's ferries from the Airport docks to central Venice or a land bus from the airport exit to Piazzale Roma Square, followed by a water bus to your hotel.
Your number of days sounds good. Many visitors do not give Venice enough time.
We were in Venice and Varenna a month ago. 3 nights should be good for Venice. I would spend the balance of time in Florence or Bologna and Verona. The train connection in Ferrera is no problem but the elevator was out and we had to haul the luggage up stairs. The cruise port may be 10 miles out, and we didn't see where Ravenna would be worthy but for a couple of hrs. to see the mosaics.
The Mosaics are located in various monuments in and out of town, together these monuments are the UNESCO site; you can't see all of them in two hours. Unless you hire a private driver with a ZTL permit.
Some would think the Mausoleum of Theodoric, built in 520 AD and still standing, to be worth 5 minutes out of the 2 hours. Same for the Crypt in the Basilica of Saint Francis built in 450 AD. Dante's Tomb is just behind the corner, but it would interests only Italian language students and the odd admirer of a long-term outrage.
“A good amount of time to spend in Venice to see the city.” A caveat, I am totally biased when it comes to Venice. Our first visit was for six days, our second visit was for six+ weeks.
You can tick the big sites in Venice, Doges Palace, the Basilica and a church or two in a busy day. But you won’t have really seen the city.
Getting a handle on Venice takes a bit of doing; the streets full of water, main routes that are a couple of metres wide, getting lost (and you WILL get lost).
It looks like you have five nights in Venice, and that is a good amount of time. It means that you can visit the second rank sites, many of which are more interesting and engaging than the so-called must see things. Check out, for example, the Querini Stampalia Foundation, or the Georges Cini Foundation on San Georgio.
You will use the vaporetto system, the waterbuses. (Once they were steamers, the name has persisted.) Download the app Chebateo (which boat). It links to the vap routes and timetables; every Venetian has the app. “If we scamper, we’ll make the 16:20 on route 4.1.”
And do get a paper map, costs about 3 euro from any tabac. Sure, everyone says that getting lost in Venice is part of the pleasure, but Google maps don’t cut it. We have spent about a year in Venice over some ten visits, and I still carry a very battered map.
Enjoy!
Ravenna is a gem. A full day there will allow you to cover the seven most-mentioned mosaic sites, including the one out in Classe. But there are other cool things in the city, plus a new museum out in Classe that I hope to have time for this year. This will be my second trip to Ravenna, this time for 3 nights/2 days. I'm not sure I'm giving myself enough time.
Just 2 hours in Ravenna would be seriously inadequate unless you have no interest in the incredible mosaics, which are UNESCO World Heritage sites.
I'm in the 'never enough time" in Venice group. Do allow 2 full days to see all of Ravenna's marvels.
How easy it is to change trains in Ferrara depends mostly on how much luggage you have. In most smaller stations, tracks are at street level and to go from one platform to another, you traverse an underground passage, which means down and up a flight of stairs.
I saw the new Classe museum in 2019 when at least one of the galleries hadn't been installed yet. It was really outstanding and is worth a few hours (including transportation there). If you are the sort of people who want to spend several days in Venice, I think you might not be allowing enough time for Ravenna. I would say two days is necessary for a substantive visit, three days would allow more lingering and/or depth. I've been twice for three days each time and will definitely be back.
The transfer at Ferrara is very simple. You can also route through Bologna, but that transfer is much more complicated.
