imcpa Posted January 19, 2015 #1 Share Posted January 19, 2015 My wife & I are schedule to be on the Spirit in July for Venice to Istanbul. I will be posting several questions about the Spirit in the coming weeks (we sailed the Cloud in 2010). For now, does anyone have any ideas of what day trips to do while staying in Venice? We have 5 days before our cruise and have been to Venice twice, so we want to venture away for a day (but sleep in our Venice hotel every night). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wripro Posted January 19, 2015 #2 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Go to Torcello. It's about a 45 minute ride via water and have lunch at Villa Cipriani. It's a magnificent experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Gourmet Gal Posted January 19, 2015 #3 Share Posted January 19, 2015 I am taking this same cruise in September and will be interested in following this thread.. Would also be interested to know which nights are formal nights so we can either dine ashore if possible or stay in. Just not interested in packing and lugging formal attire for a non-event like dinner on a ship (unless it is a gala fundraiser). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herman The Cat Posted January 19, 2015 #4 Share Posted January 19, 2015 (edited) Go to Torcello. It's about a 45 minute ride via water and have lunch at Villa Cipriani. It's a magnificent experience. Excellent idea. You can take the ACTV (water bus) to get there. I would also suggest a 1/2 day trip to Burano and lunch. You might also want to consider a day trip to Verona. It's about a one hour and 20 minute train ride each way. Padua is enroute to Verona--beautiful gardens and Giotto frescoes in one of the churches. Padua is about a 1/2 hour outside Venice. Edited January 19, 2015 by Herman The Cat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imcpa Posted January 21, 2015 Author #5 Share Posted January 21, 2015 Thanks for the replies. Is it possible to do Tuscany in a day or is it too far? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herman The Cat Posted January 21, 2015 #6 Share Posted January 21, 2015 When you mean Tuscany, I assume you mean the city of Florence? You can certainly take the train to Florence and it's about a 2 hour train ride. If you mean touring around the region of Tuscany, you would really need to do so in a car and it is too much for a day trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare RachelG Posted January 21, 2015 #7 Share Posted January 21, 2015 Thanks for the replies.Is it possible to do Tuscany in a day or is it too far? Tuscany is a large region of Italy. We have done a 10 day land trip there and just scratched the surface. You could visit Florence as a day trip--again you would just scratch the surface, or you could see Pisa and Lucca easily in a day. Lucca is one of my favorite Italian towns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Gourmet Gal Posted January 21, 2015 #8 Share Posted January 21, 2015 Two full weeks wasn't enough for us. It's a lovely area especially off-season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare TLCOhio Posted January 22, 2015 #9 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Thanks for the replies. Is it possible to do Tuscany in a day or is it too far? It is true and great that you can take a train in only about two hours from Venice to Florence. To do this great Italy city could be done and sampled in one long "day-trip" from Venice. BUT, Tuscany gets more challenging!! Why? There is so much, so spectacular around in Tuscany, that it would take more time to do all of the logistics and get a reasonable sample with the varied small towns, historic areas, wonderful countrysides, etc. To do justice to Florence and Tuscany might mean giving up that ideas of sleeping all five nights at your hotel in Venice. Florence, if you want to see the two excellent art museums there, might involve some advance reservations to avoid long lines at peak times, etc. Below is a link with much more on Venice and its great options, including the concept that just "walking around", personally sampling its great history and architecture, etc., can be your best strategy for Venice. If Venice is one of your future desires or past favorites, you might look at this earlier posting that shows many options and visual potentials. This posting is now at 46,527 views. Venice: Loving It & Why??!! http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1278226 THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio Did a June 7-19, 2011, Celebrity Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Dozens of nice visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc. We are now at 192,747 views for this live/blog re-cap, including much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at: http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imcpa Posted January 28, 2015 Author #10 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Has anyone done a Viator excursion in Venice, specifically the Murano, Burano & Torcello Half-Day Sightseeing tour? If so, how did you like it or any tour provided by Viator? Thanks for the help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare RachelG Posted January 29, 2015 #11 Share Posted January 29, 2015 No reason to pay viator for an excursion you can easily do on your own. Just get on the vaporetto and it will take you to these islands where you can wander to your hearts desire and at your own pace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stapler40 Posted January 29, 2015 #12 Share Posted January 29, 2015 We're on the Venice to Istanbul trip as well. Did the Whisper, Baltic, in 2013 and the Wind, Med 2014. Really looking forward to this ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UKCruiseJeff Posted January 29, 2015 #13 Share Posted January 29, 2015 No reason to pay viator for an excursion you can easily do on your own. Just get on the vaporetto and it will take you to these islands where you can wander to your hearts desire and at your own pace. Really agree ... it would be such a shame not to use the vaporetto. You end up not going at your own speed but normally with someone droning on and taking you to glass factories where they get their cut. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lincslady Posted January 29, 2015 #14 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Agree - Burano is very pretty. I would not go near Murano personally, just a quick look at someone blowing glass followed by a look at the (IMO) over the top pieces of glass and a sales person hanging over you. Certainly no need to go with a guided tour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lidokey Posted February 1, 2015 #15 Share Posted February 1, 2015 We are on the Silver Wind on May from Venice to Istanbul. Any advice how to get to the ship from Piazza San Marco? Thank you. Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randyk47 Posted February 1, 2015 #16 Share Posted February 1, 2015 (edited) We are on the Silver Wind on May from Venice to Istanbul. Any advice how to get to the ship from Piazza San Marco? Thank you. Sent from my iPad using Forums It's a bit of a walk but not a hard one. We made that trip probably two or three times last year from the Wind. Now if you're talking hauling luggage then I'm not sure I'd want to do that but then again we don't travel light. With luggage I'd look into water transport, either water taxi or the vaporetto. Edited February 1, 2015 by Randyk47 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lidokey Posted February 1, 2015 #17 Share Posted February 1, 2015 Thanks, Randy for the info. We might have more questions. Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wripro Posted February 1, 2015 #18 Share Posted February 1, 2015 Take a water taxi. Don't even equivocate. Yes, it will be more expensive but you'll have luggage and you're ion Venice, for heaven's sake....where else can you take a water taxi through canals like the Venetian ones? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lidokey Posted February 2, 2015 #19 Share Posted February 2, 2015 Thank you, wripro. Absolutely we do agree. First we are flying into Marco Polo and going to a hotel near Piazza Marco Polo and 4 days later taking Silver Wind to Istanbul. Any suggestions from the airport to the hotel? Thank you. By the way we don't have big suitcases... Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mayflower1 Posted February 2, 2015 #20 Share Posted February 2, 2015 Hi Randy & Carey - glad to know that you are in the Med in June on the Spirit - we hope that you have a wonderful time and much fun. Unfortunately we are unlikely to hitch up as we join The Wind in Barcelona on 29 June for our trip to Venice. We will be thinking of you and wondering which of us is likely to experience ' Zampone ' again !!!! We echo the thoughts of others that a Water Taxi is maybe the easiest transfer from San Marco to the ship but a Vaporetto is possible as long as you are happy to handle the luggage in crowds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randyk47 Posted February 2, 2015 #21 Share Posted February 2, 2015 (edited) Hi Randy & Carey - glad to know that you are in the Med in June on the Spirit - we hope that you have a wonderful time and much fun. Unfortunately we are unlikely to hitch up as we join The Wind in Barcelona on 29 June for our trip to Venice. We will be thinking of you and wondering which of us is likely to experience ' Zampone ' again !!!! We echo the thoughts of others that a Water Taxi is maybe the easiest transfer from San Marco to the ship but a Vaporetto is possible as long as you are happy to handle the luggage in crowds. Ah Zampone.....at least it was a good excuse to have one more meal with some great tablemates. Barcelona to Venice on the Wind was tempting but we're still exploring the Med and we're looking for at least a few new and different ports. We did 14 days on the Wind Barcelona to Istanbul a couple of years ago and it hooked us on Silversea and the Wind. Wish we were with you all again though so maybe another cruise some day. I should have said in my earlier post about transportation in Venice that we'll be staying near Piazza San Marco in June. We'll be flying into Marco Polo and already have arranged a water taxi from the airport to the hotel and from the hotel to the cruise terminal a couple of days later. To be honest I mentioned both the water taxi and vaporetto because some shy away from the certainly more expensive taxis. Of course for us traveling light just doesn't happen. We look more like we're moving than vacationing so hauling our luggage by foot or by vaporetto really isn't an option. Edited February 2, 2015 by Randyk47 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lidokey Posted February 3, 2015 #22 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Hi Randy, if possible would you please share with us which water taxi have you booked in Venice? Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randyk47 Posted February 3, 2015 #23 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Hi Randy, if possible would you please share with us which water taxi have you booked in Venice? Sent from my iPad using Forums Based on recommendations here on Cruise Critic and friends we're using the water taxi consortium. Here's the link: http://www.motoscafivenezia.it/eng/biglietto_2.php?a_r=a Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lidokey Posted February 3, 2015 #24 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Thank you. I'll check it out. Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wripro Posted February 3, 2015 #25 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Thank you, wripro. Absolutely we do agree. First we are flying into Marco Polo and going to a hotel near Piazza Marco Polo and 4 days later taking Silver Wind to Istanbul. Any suggestions from the airport to the hotel? Thank you. By the way we don't have big suitcases... Sent from my iPad using Forums Yes, again a water taxi. And make sure to sake him to take you down the Gran Canal as you come in from the airport. It's a great introduction to what Venice is all about. Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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