Venice-will we get back on time?

[nerysj]

We are looking at using Viator for trip visiting Murano, Burano and Torcello. It seems very cheap. It departs 2pm and returns 6pm. Our ship departs 8pm. Do you think this allows enough time to get back....would you risk it? 2 hrs seems fairly reasonable??!

 

Thanks

[KirkNC]

That would seem like a reasonable cushion.

 

Kirk

[riffatsea]

Just FYI-Viator is a 3rd party site that sells tours for other companies so IT is not giving you the tour, only selling it.

Also it is quite easy just to take the vaporetto from Venice to the 3 islands you want to visit.

Make sure that your ship does NOT have a specific time that it wants you on board BEFORE it sails.

Usually there is a time by which you have to be on board and it is not the same time as when the ship sails.

[agabbymama]

I used viator for a number of tours in Italy. Don't worry that they are a 3rd party vendor, they worked out great. I believe the vaporetto is 6 EUR per ride, unless you get a vaporetto pass. They sell them at Piazzale Roma for 24, 48, 72 hour increments. How long will you be in Venice? It might pay for you to get a pass instead of the tour.

 

We were in Venice for 3 days, so purchased the 72 hour pass. We got to Murano, but the weather turned bad, and the vaporetto driver said, no trips to Burano or Torcello. We really had to fight the waves and rain to get back to San Marco.

 

The next day, we only went to Lido and had a lovely lunch there, so never made it to Burano or Torcello.

 

Have a great trip!

[nerysj]

I used viator for a number of tours in Italy. Don't worry that they are a 3rd party vendor, they worked out great. I believe the vaporetto is 6 EUR per ride, unless you get a vaporetto pass. They sell them at Piazzale Roma for 24, 48, 72 hour increments. How long will you be in Venice? It might pay for you to get a pass instead of the tour.

 

We were in Venice for 3 days, so purchased the 72 hour pass. We got to Murano, but the weather turned bad, and the vaporetto driver said, no trips to Burano or Torcello. We really had to fight the waves and rain to get back to San Marco.

 

The next day, we only went to Lido and had a lovely lunch there, so never made it to Burano or Torcello.

 

Have a great trip!

 

Thanks for your response.

 

We are only in Venice from 9am to 8pm...so limited time. We have been before. A return Vaparetto is not much less than the Viator tour...so it is really good value. I was just slightly worried about the timing...getting back 6pm to San Marco. I can't remember how long it takes to get back from San Marco square to the ship?? I'm guessing that the Princess will have shuttles up until 7pm (at least)??

[Katydid24]

May I ask how difficult it is to get to the ship from the Piazzale Roma? And what is the easiest and most inexpensive way to do it. Thanks!

[bobalink]

May I ask how difficult it is to get to the ship from the Piazzale Roma? And what is the easiest and most inexpensive way to do it. Thanks!

 

Hello Katydid!

 

You may find these websites helpful:

 

Venice:

Great website full of information on Venice. Including how to get to the port, step by step!

http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/

 

Venice – Frommers

http://www.frommers.com/destinations/venice/0067010001.html

 

Vaporetto:

http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/vaporetto_routes.htm

 

People Mover in Venice:

http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/venice-people-mover.htm

 

Rick Steves’ Grand Canal Tour – Audio Walking Tour

http://www.ricksteves.com/news/travelnews/0602/italy_downloads.htm

 

Good websites for Venice:

http://www.walktomycruiseship.com/venice.htm

 

http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/

 

http://www.mediterranean-cruise-ports-easy.com/walk-venice.html

[jpver]

Agree that the best way to travel in Venice is using the Vaporettos. They come often, in many cases you have several lines you can use.

The best suggestion is to take a 24 h pass, that will be cheaper than paying separate trips.

[nerysj]

Still thinking about this Viator trip. It is 1/3 $US less than a tour with Princess.

 

Tour departs 2.30pm from the Alilaguna pier in front of the Royal Gardens (Giardinetti Reali) at San Marco and returns 6.30pm

 

Our ship departs 8pm.....SO....does 1 1/2 hours allow us enough time to return to the ship. How often do the transfers back to ship run, and how lung does it take?

 

Thanks in anticipation.

[4774Papa]

We are looking at using Viator for trip visiting Murano, Burano and Torcello. It seems very cheap. It departs 2pm and returns 6pm. Our ship departs 8pm. Do you think this allows enough time to get back....would you risk it? 2 hrs seems fairly reasonable??!

 

Thanks

We took the same three island tour with Viator. It is a good tour. The boat docks about 100M from St. Mark's square. You can walk back to the ship easily in one hour (I think we walked from there to our hotel near the rail station in a little over 30 minutes). The vaporetto stops at a lot of places before you arrive at Piazzle Roma, so it may not be faster than walking. You might check on the vaporetto routes. I think there may be one directly to the cruise terminal?

[nerysj]

Are you able to use the People Mover to get to San Marco square, thus avoiding the ship's shuttle charges. If so, how long does it take?

 

Thanks

[samavarcruiser]

Hello Katydid!

 

You may find these websites helpful:

 

Venice:

Great website full of information on Venice. Including how to get to the port, step by step!

http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/

 

Venice – Frommers

http://www.frommers.com/destinations/venice/0067010001.html

 

Vaporetto:

http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/vaporetto_routes.htm

 

People Mover in Venice:

http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/venice-people-mover.htm

 

Rick Steves’ Grand Canal Tour – Audio Walking Tour

http://www.ricksteves.com/news/travelnews/0602/italy_downloads.htm

 

Good websites for Venice:

http://www.walktomycruiseship.com/venice.htm

 

http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/

 

http://www.mediterranean-cruise-ports-easy.com/walk-venice.html

 

Thanks for sharing, very helpful links :)

[theman1]

Are you able to use the People Mover to get to San Marco square, thus avoiding the ship's shuttle charges. If so, how long does it take?

 

Thanks

 

No, People Mover has very limited route :)

[euro cruiser]

Are you able to use the People Mover to get to San Marco square, thus avoiding the ship's shuttle charges. If so, how long does it take?

No, but you can use the People Mover to go to Piazzale Roma and either walk or take the vaporetto from there.

[nerysj]

No, but you can use the People Mover to go to Piazzale Roma and either walk or take the vaporetto from there.

 

How long would it take to walk from Piazzale Roma to St Mark's square. We don't mind walking, it is just that we would arrive back from a tour at 6.30pm in the square and the ship departs 8pm. Is it unrealistic to get back to the ship with anything other than the ship's transportation. Can anyone remind me how long it takes for the ship transfer from St Mark's back to the ship?

 

Thanks

[euro cruiser]

How long would it take to walk from Piazzale Roma to St Mark's square. We don't mind walking, it is just that we would arrive back from a tour at 6.30pm in the square and the ship departs 8pm. Is it unrealistic to get back to the ship with anything other than the ship's transportation. Can anyone remind me how long it takes for the ship transfer from St Mark's back to the ship?

 

I'm not sure this plan will work under any circumstances. You'd need to be back by 7:30 for an 8 PM departure, which only gives you an hour. Adding up the time to walk to the People Mover at the cruise port, plus waiting for it to arrive, then getting to Piazza San Marco (either on foot or by vaporetto) times two for the return ... that's just not going to happen in 60 minutes.

 

What kind of ships tour in Venice doesn't go to Piazza San Marco?

[nerysj]

I'm not sure this plan will work under any circumstances. You'd need to be back by 7:30 for an 8 PM departure, which only gives you an hour. Adding up the time to walk to the People Mover at the cruise port, plus waiting for it to arrive, then getting to Piazza San Marco (either on foot or by vaporetto) times two for the return ... that's just not going to happen in 60 minutes.

 

What kind of ships tour in Venice doesn't go to Piazza San Marco?

 

I was planning on a private tour....but it seems I may have to rethink. This was a Viator trip to Murano, Burano and Torcello from 2.30pm to 6.30pm ending in St Mark's square.

 

Oh well!!

[aquilegia]

OP, I'm not sure I understand euro cruisers reference to 'times two' or perhaps it's your posts I'm not understanding. If you're saying that the tour you want to take ends in St Mark's Square at 6.30pm and you need to be back on the ship by 7.30pm, I wouldn't have thought it would take more than an hour to get back from St Marks' Square to your ship.

[TheBestIsYetToCome]

I'm probably not understanding the question, either, because I thought the concern was about getting from San Marco back to the pier, but the question is about walking from P. Roma to San Marco. Unless you are very familiar with the walking route, I would not use it if you find yourself in a time crunch.

 

You can do this on your own by getting an early start to your day

http://www.actv.it/pdf/navigazione/Mappa_linee.pdf

Buy a 12 hour pass for 16 euros vs Viator price of $28 plus transportation to/from San Marco.

 

1. People Mover to P. Roma (1 euro, runs contiously)
   
2. Line DM: P. Roma to Murano (TImetable: roughly twice hourly, takes 20 minutes, http://www.actv.it/pdf/navigazione/direttomurano.pdf )
   
3. Line LN Murano to Burano (Timetable: roughly twice hourly, takes 30 minutes, http://www.actv.it/pdf/navigazione/LN.pdf )
   
4. Line T Burano to Torcello (twice hourly, take 5 minutes)
   

 

Explore the map and timetables on at actv.it , other plans may work better for you.

[nerysj]

OP, I'm not sure I understand euro cruisers reference to 'times two' or perhaps it's your posts I'm not understanding. If you're saying that the tour you want to take ends in St Mark's Square at 6.30pm and you need to be back on the ship by 7.30pm, I wouldn't have thought it would take more than an hour to get back from St Marks' Square to your ship.

 

You are correct.....our private tour would end at 6.30pm - our ship sails at 8pm (so need to be back 7.30pm)

 

Is this doable?

[iancal]

We just got back from vacation. Spent a few days in Venice. You definately DO NOT need a ships tour or a Viatour for this agenda. All you really need is a basic understanding of the vaportto routes time needed for each destination.

 

We bought 72 hour vaporetto passes on the Venice connected site for 24.50E each. We had to buy them 7 days prior to arriving and we picked them up at the airport. The street price at the booth was something like 33E.

[euro cruiser]

You are correct.....our private tour would end at 6.30pm - our ship sails at 8pm (so need to be back 7.30pm)

 

Is this doable?

Okay, now I'm clear. I think your previous posts didn't have enough information in one place.

 

So as I now understand it, the question is whether there is enough time to get from Piazza San Marco to the cruise port in an hour. The answer is yes, and there are a few ways to do this.

 

You could walk, it's only about a mile and a half, but the chances of getting lost along the way are pretty high, which would eat up time.

 

You could take the vaporetto down the Grand Canal to Piazzale Roma and the People Mover from there.

 

You could take the Alilaguna blue line from San Marco at 6:05 PM directly to the cruise port, arriving at 6:27 PM. http://www.alilaguna.it/lineablu-eng.html This is the easiest option, and costs 7 Euro.

[agabbymama]

Okay, now I'm clear. I think your previous posts didn't have enough information in one place.

 

 

You could take the Alilaguna blue line from San Marco at 6:05 PM directly to the cruise port, arriving at 6:27 PM. http://www.alilaguna.it/lineablu-eng.html This is the easiest option, and costs 7 Euro.

 

Won't be able to use the 6:05 time as they won't arrive back to San Marco until 6:30 pm.

 

An hour SHOULD be enough time to get back to the ship, but lots to consider. Are you in good health for the walk over lots of bridges? Making sure if you take the vaporetto that you get on one going the right direction?

How often do the ship's shuttle run, until what time?

 

I mention the vaporetto, as we allowed ourselves an hour to get from our hotel in Piazaale Roma to San Marco. But we didn't pay attention that we got on one going the opposite direction. We went out and around the cruise pier, stopping at many small distant stops, arriving in San Marco 15 minutes too late for our tour.

 

When things are new and something we aren't used to, it's not always easy to get around in a strange place.

 

Have a great trip!

[euro cruiser]

Won't be able to use the 6:05 time as they won't arrive back to San Marco until 6:30 pm.

Doh! (as she smacks her head).

 

Then the next one will work.

[nerysj]

Thanks for all your replies...a lot to consider!