Venice ..where to stay maybe two night before joining Italy village tour in Padua. Aug 31

Ellyn,

When will you be going on your Italy RS tour?

If you've not traveled to Venice before, I'd suggest staying in Venice. Venice is truly magical!

You will want to enjoy the main sights in the morning & at night before & after all the day trippers arrive/leave.

It's very easy to get to Padua ( Padova) via high speed ( freccia) train from Venice & it only takes 26 minutes.

Have a wonderful trip!

Don't bother with the high speed train, the Regionale Veloce does it just as fast for half the money. With hundreds of hotels in price ranges from expensive to stupid crazy expensive, just get one easy to get to in a price range you're comfortable with.

Ellyn,

Sam is correct, the Regionale Veloce is a fast train that will cost around €4/pp and you can buy these tickets at the train station.

Thanks Sam for correcting my error ;-)

My mom & I stayed in Padova & took day trips to Venice mainly because I could not find reasonable accommodations in Venice as it was a last minute trip we took last fall.

When you visit Venice, buy the day pass (ticket) for the vaporetto (water bus) & you can board & disembark whenever you choose all day long! Just make sure you validate your ticket before boarding.

Have a wonderful trip!

I would stay in Venice. According to the itinerary, you'll all the major and some of the lesser sights in Padua on the tour.

You can get the vaporetto pass for 24, 48 or 72 hours, depending on how long you'll be in the city. You must validate the pass every time you board. You can get the pass outside the train station. It's usually worth it because single rides are expensive and one of the treats is to ride in the very front (or very rear) of the vaporetto from one end of the Grand Canal to the other, at least once in daylight and once after dark.

If you want "easy" in Venice, get a hotel that is 5-10 minutes' walk from a vaporetto stop on the Grand Canal.

I also suggest staying in Venice. The Cannaregio area usually has a good variety of inexpensive accommodations, including breakfast. Check out Locanda Ca' San Marcuolo.

Ellyn, If you have not been to Venice before, then do so on this trip. It is a great city. In addition, the laid back early morning and evening atmosphere is wonderful for adjusting to the time change and getting acclimated. For the hotel, try Pensione Guerrato. Have stayed there many times. Let us know if you decide to stay there as we can give you detailed directions for a "back door" route that will save time and distance hauling luggage. Hope this helps. TC

Tour will start August 31 arrive Venice August 29 AM..it will give us 2 nights and about 2 full days and part of 3rd. Depending on when we make our way to Padua.. Hopefully it will be easy to get from airport to City of Venice the from city to Padua.

In and out of Venice depends on the location of your room. The vaporetto stops in front of the train station. Do allow enough time to get there, since the vaporetto is slow. It's a good idea to buy your tickets in advance so you don't get stuck waiting in line before boarding. Be sure to validate your tickets in one of the machines (old ones are yellow, new ones are green) before you get on the train. They are usually at the entrance to the platform. If you don't find one, just stop anyone and ask. . . if you show your ticket with a little pushing movement, they'll understand. Every once in awhile a machine doesn't work, just look for another one.

Oncee in Padua it's probably easiest to take a taxi to your hotel. It should be a short ride.

http://www.alpontemocenigo.com/

We stayed here two years ago and enjoyed the experience; staying there again in May. Good value for the money, great location and attentive staff.

Sundance ,thank you for the suggestion. They insist on three night per website. we will only be there 2 before we start tour Padua. Any other suggestions? Does anyone know where RS tours stay?
I will keep hunting. only just started the planning.
Thanks again.

Darn, didn't know about the three night policy, if I see something in my searches I'll pm you.

Ellyn,
The minimum stay "requirement" you've encountered is one reason I do not like booking hotels via web sites. It has been my experience that an email directly to the hotel is better. And a direct phone call (not that expensive) to a real person gets the best results with regard to rates, minimum stays, exceptions, and other things that a web site just can not do. Just food for thought. TC

We have stayed at Ca Dogaressa in Canarreggio and at Al Ponte Mocenigo. We liked both hotels, but Ca Dogaressa is closer to the train station and on the Canarreggio Canal. If you book there, check out the Jr. Suite with a canal view. The room is large and bathroom is nice. The canal view is great. We also took the Village Italy tour and stayed for a couple of nights in Venice first. Nice to get used to the time zone and relax. I also agree with the previous poster about emailing or calling the hotel direct and don't forget to tell them that you are coming in for a few days before a Rick Steves tour. They all want that exposure.

Have a Great Trip!

We just returned from Italy earlier this week where we spent 4 days in Venice and stayed at Hotel Campiello just around the corner from St Mark's Square and about 50 yards from a vaporetto stop. I believe it's mentioned in the RS Venice book. Nice hotel, good location, reasonable rate. I would stay there again.
www.hcampiello.it/

Mimi and TC,

Thank you both for your suggestions and tips. I love "food for thought" I have emailed Ca Dogaressa and asked if they had rooms available during our stay. I am looking forwad to their reply. I need to do some research because we are not fimilar with Venice and not sure where Canarreggio is located. Ca Dogaressa looks very nice on their web page. I included in my email that we would be joining RS tour. I may try to email Sundance's suggestion and see if they would allow us to stay just 2 nights. Since this is only our 2nd RS tour I hadnot considered that when making plane resevrations.
Last year when we arrived early on the GAS the hotel in Tier gave a us a fantastic rate..I had emailed them too.

If you have any tips while in Venice I am all ears..
Thanks,
Ellyn

Cannaregio is the area closest to the train station.

Cannaregio is the area closest to the train station.

So would that be extra handy ? We really have no clue where is best...best but not most $$$
I better start reading...

We have started our tour book reading and studied the map of Venice. We think we might find it too noisy near the train. Walking several miles a day isn't ever a issue for us. We would like to stay closer in the city Venice. Couple people have suggested the Hotel Ala (is it really a Best Western?) never thought I would travel so far to stay in a Best Western. Our very favorite BW is in Beaufort SC .. Great location. Back to Venice. Should we book a tour of Venice one day? If so any suggestions on that? I will go online and see if Hotel Ala has an email so that I can deal with them direct. Maybe they will offer RS discount one can always hope.
Any tips and suggestions are always welcomed.
Thanks for all the help.
Ellyn