Do we need a tour guide in Venice?

[missmollytoo]

Seems like Venice is a DIY kind of port. Do we need to pre-book admission to any of the popular sites? Should we have a guide or can we go on our own? We are often DIY or private people but are travelling with older but active parents who always use ship excursions...trying to find the happy medium :)

 

 

Thanks for your help.

Margaret

[Softball20]

I've only been to Venice a couple times, but I do not think that you need a guide. Part of the fun of Venice, is wandering the canals (getting lost from time to time) and just exploring the city. It's amazing. You can easily do the popular places on your own. We did pre book the Doge's Palace secret itinerary tour before we went. Otherwise, we just visited the sights that we wanted to see without any problem.

[Scorpiorose]

I've done some research as I will be there a day before my crusie....I think it's doable on your own, there are common sites to see but you can just take a water taxi from the pier to any where you want to go.

 

If you go to Google Earth (you have to download that) you can zoom into Venice and see the lay of the land, easily find the cathedrals etc...and it even shows you the different places to pick up water taxis and bridges.

 

I heard its a great place to wonder but I've looked it over so well that I have a walking route planned!!!

 

Have fun planning

[Softball20]

You might want to looking into the vaperettos instead of the water taxis as the water taxis are considerably more expensive.

[chipmaster]

The charm of Venice IMHO is the wandering of the many narrow walkways around San Marco. We spend about 36 hours there and had much fun just walking around. It is worth thinking about tickets and reservations if you want to see any of the insides of some buildings.

 

Between walking, gondola ride and private boats we got more than enough of the magic, YMMV.

 

Seems like Venice is a DIY kind of port. Do we need to pre-book admission to any of the popular sites? Should we have a guide or can we go on our own? We are often DIY or private people but are travelling with older but active parents who always use ship excursions...trying to find the happy medium :)

 

 

Thanks for your help.

Margaret

[mapleleaves]

Definitely DIY! Borrow a few travel books from your library to get some ideas on what you'd like to see. Rick Steves has a self guided walking tour; just copy those pages and bring them with you! The books will also recommend those activities that should be reserved, such as the Secret Itineraries Tour.

If you're there for a few days you may want to buy a vaporetto pass. At 6.50E per trip, it can add up. For me, riding up and down the canal is always the highlight of a visit! Followed by wandering up and down the streets and finding little squares and churches. I've only made 3 trips to Venice and I continue to be fascinated about how they conduct life by boat whereas we would have cars/trucks; ie ambulance, police, moving truck, mail service, delivery truck. Just watch the traffic on the Canal some time. Quite fascinating.

There's good info on tripadvisor; check out TOP QUESTIONS ABOUT VENICE on their Venice forum

[Keith1010]

I just want to add that Venice is very easy to see on your own and by foot so I would skip the tour guide.

 

As mentioned do some research to determine what you would like to see and also allow sufficient time just to walk around to enjoy all of the charm of this city. It is just a fun place to walk around and to take in all of the sites.

 

Keith

[BigGuy25]

I agree that it's easy to explore on your own. Getting lost for few minutes is part of the fun. And, you'll notice small painted signs on the corner of buildings at most street intersections pointing your way to either the Rialto Bridge and/or St. Mark's Square. Both of those place are good points to get you "back on track."

[agabbymama]

Actually, I did book two walking tours on viator.com (booked in US $$ before we ever left home). I looked at the ship's excursion list, then went to viator. My friend wanted to do a gondola ride (if she did nothing else in Venice), so they had a walking tour that ended with a gondola ride (more bang for the buck). The other walking tour was a ghost walking tour (and she also loves ghost stories), which ended up being in the pouring rain (they don't cancel tours because of rain). We were in Venice 3 days (and unlike other posters), I didn't enjoy getting lost in the winding alley ways. You waste too much of your precious time there trying to find your way back, not to mention the wear and tear on your feet, legs and back. Venice is definitely a walking town. The Grand Canal will get you most anyplace you really want to see (they do sell vaporetto passes in 24, 48, 72 hour increments).

 

We purchased a 72 hour vaporetto pass. We planned to do Murano and Burano, but the weather was so bad (storms, winds, rains) we barely made it back from Murano. That little vaporetto was really straining against the wind and waves in the lagoon. And the boat driver said no way would they make the run to Burano in that weather. But the canals are no different than the alley ways, be sure before you board the vaporetto that it is going in the direction you want to go (there are arrows at the dock showing which direction it will go). We made an error once and ended up going out to all the small stops (ridge route of about 1 hour) instead of the direct route (20 minutes) down the Grand Canal.

 

Don't know when you plan to be there, but be prepared for rain and cooler weather from October onward. We had gorgeous weather from Rome for 12 day cruise, until we reached Venice. Then three days of rain, on to Paris for 3 more days of rain. If I were to go again, I'd make it September.

 

Have a great trip!

[Hlitner]

Here is our take on the OPs question based on more then forty years of international travel. "Do we need a tour guide in Venice?" No. In fact, you do not need a tour guide or a tour or an excursion anywhere in Western Europe (and in many other places). The real question should be, "Do we want a tour or guide?" In simple terms it depends on you! We have met folks on cruises that are afraid to get off a ship (even in their home town) unless they are part of an organized excursion. Other folks (like moi) think of most tours as "cattle calls" (i.e. follow the leader). In the end it just depends on your personal preference and level of comfort. We cannot even imagine having a tour or guide in Venice as this city is made for walking and using the local vaporettos when its too far or you want to visit another island. They sell convenient day passes for those vaporettos (12, 24, 48, 72 hours...etc) which are a good deal when you consider that a single vaporetto ride now costs 6.5 Euros. Once you have that vaporetto pass you can go anywhere around Venice or to any of the islands in the lagoon (i.e. Lido, Murano, Burano, etc).

 

Hank

[bcfamilyof5]

We have been to Italy several times and love the uniqueness of Venice. Have you ever heard of the travel guru- Rick Steve's? He is awesome and gives you great tips and itineraries for one day, two days, etc. He recommends you get lost in Venice to truly experience it! He also gives you a tip or two on how to avoid waiting in the long line to get into St MArk Cathedral (my 15 year old thought that was awesome).

 

Good luck and have a wonderful time.

[samavarcruiser]

Agreed ... don't even consider an excursion, it's very easy to navigate and small. Heck you don't even need a cab, just walk from the port to Piazza San Marco. There is plenty to see along the way. It's also fun to get lost in Venice. Piazza San Margerita is halfway to San Marco, a great stop and great place to eat and have some wine. If you want info, grab some info off the web and start walking.

[4774Papa]

Seems like Venice is a DIY kind of port. Do we need to pre-book admission to any of the popular sites? Should we have a guide or can we go on our own? We are often DIY or private people but are travelling with older but active parents who always use ship excursions...trying to find the happy medium :)

 

 

Thanks for your help.

Margaret

 

Margaret, good tours are available, but you can do a lot with Rick Steves.

[fabnfortysomething]

DH has mobility issues so how to maximise views of Venice while keeping off his feet as much as possible-are the vaporettos the way to go?

[Hlitner]

DH has mobility issues so how to maximise views of Venice while keeping off his feet as much as possible-are the vaporettos the way to go?

 

You would definitely want to maximize your use of the vaporettos...although Venice still does require a fair amount of walking (no way to avoid this). Since the vaporettos cost 6.5 Euros for a single ticket..you would want to purchase an unlimited use ticket which are sold based on the amount of time. They have 12, 24, 48, and 72 hour tickets as an example. You get those tickets are certain ACTV offices and they are in most of the main docking areas (P. Roma, Rialto Bridge, and S. Marco are just some places where they are sold).

 

Hank

[Softtop67]

Try Rick Steves Europe a free download from iTunes He has a great walking tour audio for a few spots in Venice