Venice Tours

[familycrusingviv]

Hi there I did a search but not much pulled up with useful information.

 

Does anyone have any recomendations for a tour in Venice? I will be there two days prior to sailing and would like to see as much as possible with an organized reputable tour?

[jpver]

We have visited Venise on our own. You need in fact only a good travelguide book. Most of the place you walk or for the other areas it is by water.

To travel on the waterway you simple need the "Vaporetto's" liner waterbuses, which are very efficient, quick and in fact cheap. You take "dat tickets" and you travel all round how much you want and where you want.

To visit the Gran Canal you simply go on them. You have seen something nice you go out and you take another Vaporetto later. Do also the trip on the Gran Canal in the evening. Quite different as during the day

 

Public places as San Marco, you walk around. More difficult can be musea or mainly San Marco, where you must queu early!

 

But even places as Murano and Lido, much further away are in the Vaporetto rate included.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaporetto

 

In July we return with Seabourn, and we take advantage to visit places we missed the previous visit.

 

If you have 2 days only take the most important ones only.

[5326jan]

Frommer's recommends this company for walking tours: http://www.contexttravel.com/city/Venice

 

We have always done Venice on our own with a tour book and a great map. This is a great fold out laminated map that shows great detail in a manageable size: http://www.mapeasy.com/product.cfm?id=51&location=96

 

I'm researching Venice again now for our upcoming cruise, disembarking in Venice. We've chosen a hotel on the Grand Canal within a 5 minute walk of Piazzale Roma for convenience. Plenty of time to walk to all other sights and the price is much lower than the San Marco area sights.

 

We're going to take in Burano this time, it's so picturesque! Good luck with your planning and have a great cruise!:)

[mapleleaves]

Rick Steves has an excellent audio tour.

Or go to TripAdvisor and do a simple search in the venice forum, called 'tour'. Most destination experts on TA will say you don't need one but if you do a search you;ll find a few posts from people who have used one.

[familycrusingviv]

Thanks all!

 

We have two days. I am going to research the options all of you gave me. Being in Paris it is hard for me to find English guide books so most of my research will be internet based. :)

[mapleleaves]

you can order from rick steves web site. Most info can be purchased on-line.

[Hlitner]

Venice is a city made for walking and also has the wonderful vaporetto system (water buses). There are some walking tours that you can arrange, but most folks are quite content to simply walk the city with a simple street map (and perhaps a guide book) in hand. Much of the fun is simply walking into various shops to browse, grabbing food in various venues, etc. For using the vaporettos (which cost 6.5 Euros per ride) it often pays to buy a multi day pass (they sell 12, 24, 48 and 72 hour passes) which give you unlimited use during the chosen time period. The other islands in the Lagoon (i.e. Lido, Murano, Burano, etc) are all accessible via the vaporettos and its fun to take a ride to one or more of the islands through the lagoon (Burano is our favorite).

 

Hank

[familycrusingviv]

Thanks all! I think I will skip the tour and save it for Rome. It is difficult to pay soooo much for shipping on an english guide book to Paris. So searched around and thing getting lost in Venice and using the vaperratos is best. Many thanks!

[Hlitner]

Thanks all! I think I will skip the tour and save it for Rome. It is difficult to pay soooo much for shipping on an english guide book to Paris. So searched around and thing getting lost in Venice and using the vaperratos is best. Many thanks!

 

There are actually quite a few decent bookstores in Paris that carry English language books including tour guides. No need to pay shipping.

 

Hank

[Maggie 3]

I am going to be in Venice with my 10 year old grand-daughter what should we see? Would a tour company be a good idea?

[agabbymama]

We did our share of walking around Venice, and using the vaporetto, but I also booked a couple of tours through viator.com.

 

My friend likes ghost stories etc, so I booked a ghost walking tour at night (unfortunately it was pouring rain so it wasn't as good as it could have been) but still heard a few good ghost tales of Venice. Then I also booked another walking tour with a gondola ride (that one was fun). We even stopped at an ice cream store for a gelato. I felt safer (two older ladies) with a guide wandering the back streets and alleys of Venice. And the best thing for us, it was all paid for in US $. With the OP being in France, not sure how that would work for them.

 

Go with what you are comfortable with. If booking a tour sounds better for your comfort level, then do so. Not everyone wants to wander the back streets and alleys alone.

[Ingakatrin]

Can´t you order English books from Amazon in France? My son orders all his books in English at Amazon shipping-free.(in Germany).