Venice Day Trips

[grapejuice]

Will be in Venice for 1 week after cruise - wanting to do day trips maybe 3/4 trips to Verona, Lake Garda etc - what is the best way to do this by train.

1. Buy train pass online before travel?

2. Buy ticket on the days at the station?

3. In early July will there be long lines at the station wanting to do the same thing?

4. Is it best to reserve your seats - just to make sure?

5. What is the name of the train service from Venice to the different cities - are there a few or just one?

Thank you for any replies to my question

[CathyCruises]

I would just buy your tickets the day you travel, or possibly the day before, but certainly not any more in advance. There's just no need. 2nd class is more than adequate.

 

If you are staying in Venice proper, you will go from the Santa Lucia station (Venezia Santa Lucia). We went from there to Switzerland. As we were out and about the day before, we stopped in and bought our tickets to avoid any delays the day of travel, which worked well. I think we had about a 10 minute wait in line which might have been a bit stressful if we were trying to catch a specific train.

 

If you go to trenitalia.com you will be able to see timetables--you may have to put in dates close to now to get anything to come up because they may not post the schedules that far out.

[Hlitner]

The train is fine if you simply want to go to the center of Verona although we do think that best thing in Verona is the amazing operas that are performed in the old Arena (the largest opera venue in the world). But when you start wanting to see places like Lake Garda a car makes a lot more sense. It is easy to rent a car in Venice (there are several rental car agencies located right in the Piazale Roma) and just drive. The Lake District charms cannot be really appreciated by taking a train from point A to point B.

 

Hank

[agabbymama]

I second Hank's idea of a car rental. You will see so much more at your own pace. And driving in Italy is easy.

[slidergirl]

Go for the car. It really is easy to drive in Italy. And, it will free you up to do much, much more than a train.

You can also drive North to the Dolomites. Amazing scenery.

[firefall]

Slidergirl

 

I am in the beginning stages of planning a week (pre-cruise) from Mestre. We want to explore the Dolomites. Any information you can give us would be greatly appreciated. Such as:

Best car rental company?

Best route to take?

Best towns to stay overnight in?

We would like to stay a couple of nights in Verona but that's all we have so far. Thanks for any tips you might have.

 

Kathy

[truel1111]

Slidergirl

 

I am in the beginning stages of planning a week (pre-cruise) from Mestre. We want to explore the Dolomites. Any information you can give us would be greatly appreciated. Such as:

Best car rental company?

Best route to take?

Best towns to stay overnight in?

We would like to stay a couple of nights in Verona but that's all we have so far. Thanks for any tips you might have.

 

Kathy

 

 

Hi Kathy:

I did the Dolomites last Oct. We flew into Rome, took a train to Milan. From Milan we took a train to Venice (Mestre). We stayed in Marghera which is on the south side railway tracks. Mestre is on the North side of railway tracks.

 

We rented a with SIXT. We shopped around, find SIXTY rate to be best. We got 4-class free upgrade because SIXT did not have the cheap model we booked.

 

From Venice we drove Verona, to Lake Garda. From lake Garda we drove to Bolzano --> pass Sella --> some othe passes --> Cortina --> Venice.

 

I stayed 1 night at Selva di Val Gardena in Dolomites. I regret I did not stay one more night in Dolomites. The toll highway between Venice and Cortina is excellent. I did 170km/hr, there were BWM, Audi passed me.

 

Let me if you need more information. I have some Dolomites web sites I saved somewhere.

[euro cruiser]

If you are renting for three or more days check the consolidators (autoeurope.com and kemwel.com) as they often have much better deals than going directly to the rental agencies.

[truel1111]

For train ticket, I buy online, bought the cheapest non-refundable, can exchange for a fee. I paid 9 Euro one-way from Milan to Mestre which is 1 stop before Venice. Regular ticket would cost 3 to 4 times more.

 

Verona is a very small town. You might get bored after a day or two. I find Verona more interesting than Venice. Verona has less tourists. Instead of staying a few days in Verona, you may want to spend more time in Dolomites. Hiking, ride the cable cars to the top. The view is just breath taking.

 

You can go thru Dolomites in a day, but you need time to stop along the way and enjoy the scenery, ride the different cable cars.

View on top of Sella Pass is heavenly like.

[firefall]

Thank you for all the wonderful information. We want to take our time and explore all we can. Probably 2 nights in Verona and then 3 + 3 nights in 2 other towns. I just need to pick the best ones as bases. Rick Steves rec'mds Castlerotto outside of Bolzano??

 

Thank you for the rental car info...

 

Kathy

[slidergirl]

Slidergirl

 

I am in the beginning stages of planning a week (pre-cruise) from Mestre. We want to explore the Dolomites. Any information you can give us would be greatly appreciated. Such as:

Best car rental company?

Best route to take?

Best towns to stay overnight in?

We would like to stay a couple of nights in Verona but that's all we have so far. Thanks for any tips you might have.

 

Kathy

 

We stayed in Venice for the weekend. We had our car through autoeurope - it ended up being from Hertz or Avis (I don't remember). We drove up through the Alto Adige to Bolzano. Along the way, if you look up in the hills, you'll see some old castle ruins. The Alto Adige region has some pretty tasty white wines, too! Spent the night in Bolzano. Then we drove the Great Road of the Dolomites (highway S242 over Selva Pass) through to Cortina. We did this in a January and it was amazing!! From Cortina, we drove on through to Innsbruck (Igls, actually) where we were spending a week. One of the things I want to do another day is to go back in the summer and spend a week exploring the Dolomites. The scenery is just beautiful. One word: if you get motion sickness at all, be sure to stock up on your Dramamine before doing the road through the Dolomites!!! I've never seen so many switchbacks in my life.

I would heartily recommend that you use a little of the time to explore the Dolomites region if you love scenery at all! If you wanted to spend a night up in the Dolomites, I would actually say Canazei or Corvara - they looked like they had the most accommodations. tripadvisor has listings for both places.

[firefall]

Sildergirl

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer. I now see we can cover more territory than first thought. We have a week to explore the Dolomites and then 5 days in Venice. I am excited to be able to make it to Innsbruck. No problem with motion sickness...but thanks for the heads-up on the road...will checkout the maps and allow extra time in those areas! We go the end of Sept. Any hotel rec's??

 

Kathy

[slidergirl]

Sildergirl

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer. I now see we can cover more territory than first thought. We have a week to explore the Dolomites and then 5 days in Venice. I am excited to be able to make it to Innsbruck. No problem with motion sickness...but thanks for the heads-up on the road...will checkout the maps and allow extra time in those areas! We go the end of Sept. Any hotel rec's??

 

Kathy

 

I'm excited that you figured out you can explore much more of the area. I'm jealous, too;)

In Bolzano, we stayed at the Hotel Greif. Definitely not everyone's cup of tea. Very "arty". But, we stayed there because a friend who teaches at the university got us in at a decent rate. It is in a perfect place, right on Walther Plaza. They do have a website and I just looked - they are #1 in TripAdvisor.

In Igls, we stayed at the Romerhof. We were there with a bunch of athletes. A pretty basic hotel, but we enjoyed it enough that we stayed there again another year. Now, this was back in 2001 and 2004, so I can't vouch for it. Igls is up in the mountains above Innsbruck - takes about 15 minutes to get to Innsbruck.

With a week to play in the Dolomites, you could explore both sides - Bolzano is in between. I've never been to the west side - again, I'd love to do it!

[firefall]

Just thought I'd pop in and let you all know that we decided to stay a few extra days in Venice (with friends) and drive straight to Ortisei for 3 nights at Uhrerhof Hotel. We rented a car from Hertz for a reasonable rate. We will drive thru Bolzano on the way there and return to Venice by way of Cortina taking the "Grand Road".

 

The Uhrerhof looks amazing and the price is only €92 for "1/2 Board"...breakfast AND dinner. I'll report back as to how it was. We leave in a week!!

 

Thanks again for all your wonderful information and help.

 

Kathy

[CathyCruises]

Just thought I'd pop in and let you all know that we decided to stay a few extra days in Venice (with friends) and drive straight to Ortisei for 3 nights at Uhrerhof Hotel. We rented a car from Hertz for a reasonable rate. We will drive thru Bolzano on the way there and return to Venice by way of Cortina taking the "Grand Road".

 

The Uhrerhof looks amazing and the price is only €92 for "1/2 Board"...breakfast AND dinner. I'll report back as to how it was. We leave in a week!!

 

Thanks again for all your wonderful information and help.

 

Kathy

 

Oh my!! I am SO jealous!!!

[CathyCruises]

I mentioned your plan to DH and he loves the idea! Thinking about a spring TA anyway, that ends in Rome, so this could work big time!!! Thanks so much for the great plan;)

[slidergirl]

I'm jealous, too!!! I hope you have a wonderful trip!!!

[firefall]

I mentioned your plan to DH and he loves the idea! Thinking about a spring TA anyway, that ends in Rome, so this could work big time!!! Thanks so much for the great plan;)

 

I was going crazy trying to figure out where to stay in 3 different places (Lake Garda, Dolomites and Cortina) and how long a drive it was in between each. I found the Uhrerhof and said..that's it!! We will stay there and just enjoy the view with a few drives to explore the mtns. I checked Google maps for driving time there and back and voila..perfect! We're getting the car at VCE and storing some luggage in the Checked Bag Deposit. I read you can do the same at the Mestre train station.

 

I'll let you know how it all works out when I get back :)

 

Kathy

[firefall]

I'm jealous, too!!! I hope you have a wonderful trip!!!

 

Thank you!!

 

K

[firefall]

P.S. Just check how late you can return the car at the station. Piazzale Roma was quite early.

 

K

[CathyCruises]

I was going crazy trying to figure out where to stay in 3 different places (Lake Garda, Dolomites and Cortina) and how long a drive it was in between each. I found the Uhrerhof and said..that's it!! We will stay there and just enjoy the view with a few drives to explore the mtns. I checked Google maps for driving time there and back and voila..perfect! We're getting the car at VCE and storing some luggage in the Checked Bag Deposit. I read you can do the same at the Mestre train station.

 

I'll let you know how it all works out when I get back :)

 

Kathy

 

Since it's just the two of us, what we do is leave our 2 larger bags in the car (usually one in trunk and one in backseat) and then we bring a carryon into the hotels with what we need for the night. Toiletries, jammies, etc stay in the bag, and then each day we restock with clothing and undies from the suitcases. It's worked well for us several times; we really don't NEED a carryon for packing purposes, but we bring it just for this reason. SO much easier than schlepping suitcases in and out each day. Also since we seldom (I think never) return to where we started from, the storage idea wouldn't work for us. . .last trip we started in Rome and ended up in Paris. . .partly by train but mostly car.

[firefall]

I'm always worried about stuff getting stolen out of the car. Friends lost everything when they went into a restaurant :-/

 

We return to VCE to return the car so the locker thing works this time. Thanks for the info.

 

Wow Rome to Paris...heavenly!

 

K

[CathyCruises]

I'm always worried about stuff getting stolen out of the car. Friends lost everything when they went into a restaurant :-/

 

We return to VCE to return the car so the locker thing works this time. Thanks for the info.

 

Wow Rome to Paris...heavenly!

 

K

 

Well, we obviously never leave anything valuable in the car, but I understand that there is always some risk involved. But we spent two months in Italy and France on one trip and never had a problem, which is not to say no one ever has, maybe we have a false sense of security. Multiple trips since then between Italy, France and England, and so far, we're good.

 

That being said, we dump the cars as soon as we get to the big cities; we spend most of our time in the countryside which may be a factor.

[Hlitner]

Have to agree with Firefall. After thirty plus years of vacationing (and driving) in Western Europe we have learned to seldom leave any luggage in an unattended car. DW and I even do some things such as staying with the car in shifts when we are at rest stops (especially in Italy and Spain). We have had too many friends lose their luggage to thieves...and sometimes it happens in just a few minutes when parked in a very public place. There have been times when we have taken a risk that could not be reasonably helped, but we never ever leave valuables in an unattended car.

 

Hank

[CathyCruises]

Have to agree with Firefall. After thirty plus years of vacationing (and driving) in Western Europe we have learned to seldom leave any luggage in an unattended car. DW and I even do some things such as staying with the car in shifts when we are at rest stops (especially in Italy and Spain). We have had too many friends lose their luggage to thieves...and sometimes it happens in just a few minutes when parked in a very public place. There have been times when we have taken a risk that could not be reasonably helped, but we never ever leave valuables in an unattended car.

 

Hank

 

I hear you, and maybe we've just been lucky so far. I have had things stolen from me multiple times in my life, the worst being our brand new camera being stolen out of DH's backpack in Costa Rica, so my radar is always set on 'high'. (No, the worst was having a gun pointed at my head in my garage and being told to 'freeze' while the thief robbed my car. I didn't freeze and 3 days later he was in jail, but that's a long story!!) Maybe it's because we always rent small nondescript cars, or our luggage looks uninviting. And usually the backseat ends up being a huge mess of discarded clothing, maps, brochures, jackets, and baguette crumbs!!! And certainly not very appealing!!

 

Hank, I know you and your wife spend lots of time in the smaller towns and villages--do you feel the risk is just as great there?