10 Night Greek Isles Explorer Voyage Aug 9 - 19 2018

My partner and I are taking our first Oceania cruse next year. We sailed Seabourn last year from Monte Carlo to Barcelona for 11 days in Oct. Fell in love with cruising. Could not find a Seabourn cruise from Venice to Athens that fit what we were looking for and at a price that was in our budget. Oceania met our needs.

Flying in to Venice a day early and am looking for decent priced hotel for the one night and for a hotel recommendation for Athens for our debarking that we could spend a couple of days and sight see there Aug 19. Don't want to spend 200 + for one night.

Also any recommendations for getting from airport to hotel is appreciated as Venice is totally new to us.

Thank you for any and all recommendations.

Perry

You could also try the Ports of call forum for those ports

Lots of good info there

Budget for Venice ?

Bus is about 6E or less pp to Piazzale Roma

water taxi or land taxi

private water taxi $$

good site

http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/vi-transport.htm

IMHO - For your first visit to Venice, take a shared water taxi from the airport to your hotel. Approaching the city on a nice wooden boat is worth the price splurge. Figuring out public transportation with jet lag is not fun.

For my money, the Athens Gate hotel is the place to stay (in Athens). It is right on the edge of the Plaka, easy walking distance to the Acropolis and its fabulous museum, as well as all the fun restaurants and shops in the Plaka. It also has a rooftop restaurant with amazing views of the Parthenon. Nice place to start your included breakfast, and very reasonably priced. The rooms are a bit spartan, but comfortable and impeccably clean. Our last visit, I requested (and was given) a room with a view of the Acropolis, and we could also see the lit interior of the museum in the evening.

My partner and I are taking our first Oceania cruse next year. We sailed Seabourn last year from Monte Carlo to Barcelona for 11 days in Oct. Fell in love with cruising. Could not find a Seabourn cruise from Venice to Athens that fit what we were looking for and at a price that was in our budget. Oceania met our needs.

 

Flying in to Venice a day early and am looking for decent priced hotel for the one night and for a hotel recommendation for Athens for our debarking that we could spend a couple of days and sight see there Aug 19. Don't want to spend 200 + for one night.

 

Also any recommendations for getting from airport to hotel is appreciated as Venice is totally new to us.

 

Thank you for any and all recommendations.

 

Perry

I agree with the previous posts, but want to add a bit about Venice. I'd recommend taking the Alilaguna vaporetto (water bus) from the airport (you can buy tickets right in the terminal) and the dock is right there) and approach Venice from the water for much less than a very expensive water taxi. There are two lines: the blue, which approaches St. Marks from the lagoon or the orange, which approaches from the other direction and sails down the Grand Canal to St Marks, stopping along the way.

Venice is very expensive, but it's Venice. We've stayed at the Hotel Galleria in Dorsoduro, my favorite area of Venice. It's a small hotel on the first floor (second in N. America) of an 18th century palazzo, right on the Grand Canal. It's about 200 steps from the vaporetto landing and right next to both the Accademia Bridge (making it an easy walk to St Marks Square) and the Accademia Gallery, the main Venice museum. There are other hotels in the area, too. An added advantage, is that it's an easy walk with luggage to the Giudecca Canal, where you can pick up the Alilaguna (not the regular SCTV city of Venice waterbus) that goes back and forth between St Marks Square and right into the cruise ship terminal.

I second the Athens Gate hotel. Good location, reasonable price and great rooftop bar.