Venice day trip?

That is exactly what we have done on our last 2 trips to Italy with our kids. I would recommend a day trip to Verona from Venice. We like it enough to always include it in our itinerary when we travel to Venice. It is close enought to leave in the morning from Venice via train, experience the town, and arrive back to Venice in the early evening. As a plus, the kids really enjoyed it!

Three days in Venice is not a lot of time. I'd suggest not doing a day trip. lots of things to see and do.

However, many folks opt to do a daytrip of some of the lagoon islands. The favorites are generally, Murano, Burano and Torcello. they are all reachable by vaporetto.

Murano is the glass blowing, Burano is known for its lace and colorful houses. Torcello is fairly deserted and calm, it was among the first settled in the lagoon. Reachable from Burano.

Leave Venice early, go to Murano first as the glass factories stop production at noon. Showrooms are always open but you can see demos of blowing.

You could also stop briefly at San Michele the cemetary island on the way.

Possibly have lunch, then on to Burano and Torcello.

That trip takes most of the day.

Another trip that most tourists miss is the Rialto Market in Venice. Get up really early on day to arrive at the Market by 6:30 or 7 am to see wonderful vegetables and all sorts of sea creatures. Market is closed sunday and Monday I think.

If you do not want to leave Venice by car, etc. for a day trip, the boat trip to Burano is nice. Small, colorful village with a few markets and shops and restaurants.

IMO, two full days in Venice is enough to see the major sites and enjoy the city. I liked Padua very much…just 25 minutes west by rail…easy. The Basilica di Saint Antonio is a major pilgrimage destination…very special place. And the Scrovegni Chapel is a world-class site with respect to the importance of the Giotto frescoes to art history. The buildings are all very historic…a lot of arcaded streets. Have lunch or dinner at Hotel Al Santo right across from the basilica before heading back. Check out their website: http://www.alsanto.it/indexing.htm. They have a tab for tourist information with other sightseeing ideas and complete day-trip itineraries, depending on your interests (i.e. art, sacred, scientific, etc.). Minimal tourists in Padua.

I will second Ron's suggestion to cruise Murano and Burano, etc. on one of your days. This outing will be a good adventure for the kids and it will be something different than just going to see another town full of historic museums, cathedrals, and shops. After awhile, your memory of those wonderful Italian towns will blur. But the Murano/Burano islands will be quite distinctive.

You don't say when you'll be there. That will influence how much you enjoy Venice proper. Me - I love it and could easily spend a week there. If you have good weather, the kids may end up loving how it feels like a big maze to wander around in. If you do need to get away, you can have some daytrips in your back pocket. Verona is a good one, but the quickest and easiest would be Murano. (Burano is a longer haul from Venice, and the boat ride could get old fast for the kids.)

Also, if your kids want some room to really run in a park, Venice has public gardens that are great, right along the water. They're in the "tail of the fish" if you look at a map of Venice - in the southeast corner of the city. It would be a great place for a picnic. It has the usual playground equipment.

I spent two full days in Venice last mongh, and I thought that wasn't enough, especially considering that it takes a little time to get oriented there. There's plenty to see. I'd advise you to spend three full days in Venice.

I'm in the minority on the helpline, but I was completely underwhelmed by the islands. Takes too long to get to Torcello and not much to see there. I went to Burano since I read it was less touristy than Murano. Burano was SO touristy - nothing but badly painted buildings and shops selling Chinese machine-made lace.

I love Verona and that would be my vote, but I can't imagine wanting give up 1 of 3 days in Venice. Ravenna is way too far for a day trip - 3 hours by train each way.

Is this your first visit to Venice? In my opinion 3 days in Venice is not very much time. Have included Venice on travel itineraries 4x in the last 7 years, most recently July 2009 for 6 nights and it was wonderful. Other stays were for 3 or 4 nights and just not enough time. We really enjoyed visiting Burano (also stopped at Murano too). Have not been to Torcello. Have been to Verona, Padova and Ravenna but not as daytrips from Venice. While staying near Lake Garda we visited Verona 2x as it is a lovely city but I wouldn't call it small. We also enjoyed Padova on our drive from Venice to Lake Garda. The Scrovegni chapel is very lovely but you must make reservations ahead of time. On our way to Assisi we stopped in Ravenna and the mosaics here are amazing but I also think Ravenna is too far for a daytrip from Venice. We love just strolling around Venice and the evenings here are lovely. Buon Viaggio!