venice -doing own tour

[ukoyster7]

Did this last week.

 

5 min walk from ship to people mover monorail. EUR1.50 each way for people taller than 1.00m.

 

Then approx. a 35-40min walk to the Rialto bridge through some lovely streets and across a number of canals.

 

Pretty easy to walk. I had 2 small children so had to carry the pushchair with child in it over some of the bridges that had steps rather than ramps. No probs with this though.

[mercury7289]

We did Venice on our own in April, we just walked out of the port and followed the foot path along side of the road, it's about a 5-10 minute walk to the Plaza Roma Vaporeto stop, we bought a day pass for 20 Euro's and then came and went as we pleased, it's really easy just do a walk through using google map

 

I pushed my wife in her wheelchair, and took the same route to Plaza Roma, got on Vaporeto no 1 which goes through the Canal We were in St Marks square at 8.15 am. Very easy:halo:

[yuvraj]

We got the water shuttle to and from the ship. Seemed easy.

 

I have been to Venice twice. No need for a tour IMO. Easy to walk around, catch the main sights and try some local food. Lovely city.

 

I was a little cautious about the touristy Gondola thing but I was pleasantly surprised.

[Merlin7]

For those with limited mobility just take in the lovely area where you get off the people mover.

[tom_uk]

Been to Venice a couple of times - cruise and non-cruise. Agree with people who recommend walking/vaporetto - I've done the walk from Piazalle Roma to the Rialto, on to San Marco and then on again to the waterfront - great walk.

 

It's a good idea to read up on the mechanics of using the Vaporettos - which tickets to buy, etc. That link to Toms Port Guides is very good. We once found buying tickets at the booth at Piazalle Roma was very confusing and hectic, and did better on a subsequent visit when we bought from an automatiuc ticket machine at a vaporetto stop. Also, on both trips we found some of the vaporettos very, very busy, esp. 1 & 2 that go up and down the Grand Canal. You really had to shove to get on.

 

But most of all we enjoyed the quiet strolls around the back streets. Once you get away from the Rialto, San Marco and the waterfront, Venice can be remarkably quiet.

[groovechick]

In Venice DH's usually impeccable sense of direction unaccountably deserted him and we ended up going away from where we wanted to go on the vaporetto, but it was lovely (and cooler) sitting on the boat and viewing the fabulous architecture. We just got another boat back and wandered round, but the humid August heat wiped out the kids, so I took them back to the ship via vaporetto and people mover (as we'd travelled in) whilst DH used our all-day ticket to go out to Murano. Confirm it takes about 10-15 minutes to walk from St Mark's to the Rialto Bridge - you can't do more than amble because there are so many people.

[Host Sharon]

Check out the ports section of CC to for more great ideas.