Village Italy Tour

Definitely 2. Give yourself time to recover from jetlag and see a bit of the beautiful city.

Or three or four nights. That would give you time to get out to the islands of the lagoon (Burano, Torcello, etc.). Edit: the vaporetto goes out to the islands from a Fondamente Nove stop on the northern edge of the city, and you will need a vaporetto pass (good thing to have anyway).

If time permits you might consider at least 3 nights in Venice. Excellent place to get “de-jet lagged.” Wander off the beaten path and enjoy the magic that Venice offers. If this is a first visit, make a list of the sites you want to prioritize. We spent a week prior to the RS Adriatic Tour and still didn’t see everything.

Two - gives you a full day plus to go inside major sites (i.e. St. Mark's, Doge's, etc.) as well as wander around the island.

And if you have even more time available, getting to Padua a day early would allow a side-trip to Vicenza to see the Palladian architecture.

We were on the Village Italy tour in 2019, and stayed in Padua for a couple of days before the tour started. On one of the days we took a train into Venice for a day. We stayed at the first tour hotel in Padua, so there was less moving around and some cost savings compared to staying in Venice. There was a bus from the Venice airport to Padua. Venice was crowded, but I hear that it is nice when the cruise ship people go back on board at the end of the day.

This was a great tour, by the way.

Spend a minimum of three nights in Venice.

3 nights only gives you 2 days - that's really a minimum for seeing much beyond the daytripper slog. 4 is better.

One will leave you hankering for more, much more

Another vote for a couple of days pre-tour in Padova/ We went three days early and spent the whole time in Padova. Plenty to see and do, and the town is very walkable.

3rd vote for Padova pre-tour! I did not figure out to plan it that way - went to Venice for 3 nights and then wished I'd had more time in Padova.

So...now we are up to 3-4 nights in Venice, 2 or 3 in Padova, lol! This is a terrific tour - very different and fun.

I do recommend not spending any more time in Orta San Giulio at the end. Milan, yes, Orta, no.

Thanks for the suggestions. Unfortunately, we have plenty time to work on a plan.

I’m with Pam! If you have the time spend 3 nights in Venice and 1 or preferably 2 nights in Padua.

We spent 3 nights in Venice and 2 additional in Padova before the tour started. We also spent the night of the day the tour ended in Orta San Giuiio (and the hotel is really lovely!). There is enough to do there for the one day, some lovely hikes. Our guide arranged transportation to the Milano airport the following morning for us and some others who also stayed the additional night. One of my favorite tours; you will enjoy it!