Venice In July with Teens

elizabeth,
Venice is wonderful and has a rich history, being founded in the late years of the Western Roman Empire by people escaping invasions of the Huns and other barbarians. It was built on islands with piles driven into the earth as foundation for its buildings.

Don't miss St. Mark's basilica, go up in the tower overlooking the square. Also, see the Doges Palace, take a gondola ride and if time visit some of the more remote islands like Murano.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Products-g187870-a_contentId.1184174190837339+268262689-Venice_Veneto.html

Last June we took our 12 year old granddaughter to Venice after coming off a week long Eastern Mediterranean cruise. We left my wife back by the train station in an apartment as she is somewhat mobility challenged. This was at my 10th trip or more since 1970.

The vaparetto's are now very expensive, and the price of a water taxi is out of sight. When there, I walk the city.

My granddaughter asked me "where are we?" I told her "I don't know where we are and I don't know where we're going, but we'll eventually get there." It's all part of taking in the ambiance of Venice. No other place like Venice.

My suggestion is to just to hit the town walking. There's no telling what you'll run into.

Not necessarily off the beaten path but one of the highlights for us was the Peggy Guggenheim museum. Her house. Her art. https://www.guggenheim-venice.it/en/visit/ And if you want a preview of Venice, the four part BBC series Franceso's Venice is wonderful. https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7nnqa5

The kids might love taking a Venetian rowing lesson - you can reserve on rowvenice.org.

I'm in the Venice is great crowd (but I'm the kind of person that likes everything).

St Mark's is pretty amazing. Entrance to the basilica alone is 6 euro. Twenty euros gets you admission to the basilica but also allows you to see the Pala D'Oro (the enormous gold altar piece which was far more impressive than I expected it to be) and the Museum (which includes the original Triumphal Quadriga [the horses of St Mark's], which were cast in antiquity, stolen by Napoleon, and returned in 1815). The Museum ticket lets you walk out on the front roof of St Mark's, too, which offers a great look over St Mark's Square. My friend and I got the 20 euro ticket; we were both glad we did. Pre-purchased tickets allow for "skip the line" admission; you definitely want that -- the line for non-ticket holders to get in is CRAZY. I would strongly suggest going as early as you can in the morning. That area gets mobbed during the day. We did St Mark's tower first at opening time (not a "must," to me), and then headed over to the basilica. We were allowed into the basilica close to an hour early (my friend thought the tower would take longer than it did).

Doge's Palace is interesting, too. You will see a "Secret Itineraries Tour" on the website. It explores the non-grand administrative side of the palace. That tour definitely is not a "must," and I think I would probably skip it with the time you have.

Catch a vaporetto from St Mark's Square over to San Giorgio Maggiore for its bell tower. The tower visit is something like 6 or 8 euro. Not as tall as St Mark’s Tower, but the view toward St Mark’s Square and the far smaller number of tourists makes it a superior experience to St Mark’s Bell Tower, in my opinion.

Dueling orchestras on St Mark's Square in the evening. I think this is a ton of fun, but it's pricey. Hot chocolate 14 euro + 6 euro "music fee" if sitting outdoors. Or you can just walk around on the square and enjoy the music.

Then get away from the center. The old Jewish ghetto (non-WWII use of the word) is interesting to explore and there is a 60-90 minute tour of the ghetto, including synagogue visits.

Maybe interest in visiting a marionette workshop? L’isola di Pinnochio.

And, as mentioned above, wander wander wander as far from St Mark's and the Rialto area as possible.

I vote row venice too! It will be a boat ride/gondola ride all in one!

Vaporettos will be cheaper than a gondola ride and you can go farther and faster, and maybe a vaporetto pass might be helpful, even for one day, to go to the farther places than you can walk in a short amount of time.....

Venice is great for aimless walking so do that, but if this is your first visit, I would include a walk by Santa Maria della Salute along the canal and to the left of the Doge's Palace along the canal. I think you have about 3.5 days.. with that amount of time, I would go to St. Mark's Basilica (including the upstairs ticket), up the Campanile, Doge's Palace, Accademia and San Giorgio Maggiore (including bell tower). If you like art, include the Frari Church and the Scuola Grande di San Rocco. I would get the vaporetto pass not because you need it to get from one place to another but because it's fun to cruise the grand canal when the vaporetto is not full (earlier in the morning or later in the evening).

If the rowing class doesn't make sense for your family based on interest or scheduling, our friends raved about a guided kayak trip on the canals they did two years ago.

Vaporetto fare is currently 9.50 euros, though there may be a deal for the youngsters. Definitely Google for info on that.

24-hour pass: 25 euros
48-hour pass: 35 euros
72-hour pass: 45 euros
168-hour (one week) pass: 65 euros.

Online entries for St. Mark's sell out in advance. The horrendous-looking line for people who need to buy tickets at the church moves faster than one might expect, but it's a shame to have to stand around waiting on a short trip to Venice.

Thanks for all the great thoughts here... I will share them with our family and we will make a plan!

The RS Guide Book has (or had) a self guided walking tour that covers a lot of the highlights. I think you can download something that will narrate what you're seeing along the way. One of the nice things to do in Venice is just walk in the direction that seems to have less people. Soon you will find yourself almost alone on some quite back areas that make up the real Venice. If you have several days there, a trip to Murano and Burano is well worth getting up early to get there before the crowds.