cruise ship to St Marc square Venice

[eliopia]

Hi,we will be on the Magnifica but sailing out of Istanbul,so we have one day in Venice.This is our first time in Venice,as i read ,once we get to St Marc square it is easy to reach all other attractions.The question is what is the best way to get there?

[carlmm]

The answer depends on what you consider "best".

 

The most interesting way is to walk through the alleys and over the bridges of Venice, get a little bit lost and find your way, visit some churches and other sights on the way.

The fastest and most convenient, yet also most expensive, is a water taxi.

A reasonably fast and cheap option is the public water bus.

An interesting alternative to taking the most direct water bus is to take one which drives from the train station all the way on the Canale Grande and thus presents a faszinating display of Venetian architecture.

 

One further note: Not all of the sights are in close proximity to Piazza San Marco. All of Venice hosts important churches, palaces and museums. Some of them cannot even be reached without the use of some kind of water transportation.

[eliopia]

The reason i am asking is because in all the posts about Venice they mention piazzale roma as a stop before going anywhere,that s why i am confused.The water bus is a good idea,how do i take it and where?:confused:in other words ,i got off the ship ,what to do?:).thank u for your help.

[clayb]

It depends on when you will be traveling to Venice. People Mover is a new transportation option that will be up and running I think in March of 2010. Google people mover Venice for more info. You would take the people mover from the port area to Piazzale Roma. From there you would ride the vaporetta (water bus) to St. Mark's. Not sure of the cost but we will be in Venice a couple of days and plan to but a pass for that.

Tripadvisor.com is a good site, too for info.

Bon Voyage!

Clay

[Earl Rosebery]

The reason i am asking is because in all the posts about Venice they mention piazzale roma as a stop before going anywhere,that s why i am confused.The water bus is a good idea,how do i take it and where?:confused:in other words ,i got off the ship ,what to do?:).thank u for your help.

I would suggest you go to Google earth and look where the maritime terminal is relative to Piazzale Roma and St Mark's. Don't forget you will nead a decent map and a decent guide book (Rick Steve's at a minimum). You have 2 excellent choices. First choice: People mover , which is the new tram, to Piazzale Roma and the No 1 Vaporetto to St Mark's. St Mark's has 2 stops on the No. 1 This has the advantage of a site seeing trip along the grand Canal. You will want to do it at some point Second choice is Alilaguna water bus service direct from the Maritimma to St mark's. This is the M route. Their website is http://www.alilaguna.it 6.5 Euro one way. Runs every 30 minutes. you might also want to visit http://www.veniceconnected.com and book your vaporetto pass as well as tickets for the Doge's palace and Correr museum. (Museum plus pass)This has a small discount and avoids the lines. A good idea is to use 1 in one direction and the other back. It all depends. If you have no luggage you can easily walk in one direction and stop at Rialto, Frari church or whereever you happen to wander. It is very small. Don't waste time in lines! Have fun. Have fun!

[eliopia]

I would suggest you go to Google earth and look where the maritime terminal is relative to Piazzale Roma and St Mark's. Don't forget you will nead a decent map and a decent guide book (Rick Steve's at a minimum). You have 2 excellent choices. First choice: People mover , which is the new tram, to Piazzale Roma and the No 1 Vaporetto to St Mark's. St Mark's has 2 stops on the No. 1 This has the advantage of a site seeing trip along the grand Canal. You will want to do it at some point Second choice is Alilaguna water bus service direct from the Maritimma to St mark's. This is the M route. Their website is www.alilaguna.it 6.5 Euro one way. Runs every 30 minutes. you might also want to visit www.veniceconnected.com and book your vaporetto pass as well as tickets for the Doge's palace and Correr museum. (Museum plus pass)This has a small discount and avoids the lines. A good idea is to use 1 in one direction and the other back. It all depends. If you have no luggage you can easily walk in one direction and stop at Rialto, Frari church or whereever you happen to wander. It is very small. Don't waste time in lines! Have fun. Have fun!

Hi again ,i went through all the options u gave me.The People Mover stop at the port will be the next step and not for now,so my only option is the alilaguna water bus,but i also liked the idea of walking one way,since you are saying it is a good way to discover venice,is it easy to do?doea it take a lot of our time in venice(we have to be back on ship by at least 4:00).thank you for your help,if you have any other details about venice ,i will be more than grateful.

[Earl Rosebery]

The People Mover stop at the port will be the next step and not for now,so my only option is the alilaguna water bus

 

I don't know what you mean by the quoted sentance. The maritimma stop of the people mover should be in operation. From St Mark's to Piazzal Roma is about 3km. via Rialto bridge. Shorter by the Accademia bridge. Allow 1 hour nonstop but you would want to stop at Rialto, or Frari church or for a beer in Campo San Toma or to just window shop and meander so if you walk, allow 2 hours. If you get tired of walking, hop on the No 1 Vaporetto. Buy a pass for the time you are there and treat the No 1 like a hop on hop off. You will want to see part of the Grand canal from the water anyway. To summarize, Alilaguna M line in 1 direction, walk and or No 1 vaporetto in the other. Rick Steve's book is a good starting point. So are any of the novel's by Donna Leon. The fictional Commisario Brunetti lives next door to Ca'Angeli near San Sylvestro and walks all over the city except if he's in a hurry or the weather is bad in which case he takes the No 1 or a police launch.

[euro cruiser]

Earl, someone pointed out last week that the web site for the People Mover says that the Trochetto and Piazzale Roma stops will be open soon (supposedly March), but that the intermediate stop (Marittima) would be opened later.

[Hambagahle]

Walking in Venice is very very complicated and as an earlier poster said you have to be prepared to get lost...the city is full of little alleys and very narrow passages that suddenly open out onto squares. Sometimes finding the right lane out of a square is like looking for a needle in a haystack. it is, however, great fun!! But also very time consuming.

 

I would suggest you simply walk to the Piazzale Roma which is next to the Cruise Ship terminal area and take the Vaporetto from there. Once you get to San Marco, walk around from there and try to remember how you left the square so you can get back. The cathedral and the Doge's Palace are right at San Marco.

 

If you want to go to one of the islands in the lagoon - Burano, Murano or Torcello, you can take a boat from the Fondamente Nuove. This is more or less on the back of Venice so it is easier to get a vaporetto from San Marco to the FN - and they go via the "Arsenale" which is a very pretty route.

[eliopia]

Earl,one more thing ,u gave me the venice connected site,they have tickets for the Doge palace and i think three other sites for a very good price(on other site it is even more for only the palace),did u use this site for tickets before?

[Earl Rosebery]

Earl,one more thing ,u gave me the venice connected site,they have tickets for the Doge palace and i think three other sites for a very good price(on other site it is even more for only the palace),did u use this site for tickets before?

 

I purchased my Vaporetto pass and the Museum plus pass. i was quite happy as i avoided any lines. We found the Correr museum (at the North west corner of St Mark's to be a quiet oasis of calm with a decent place to sit and eat.