Venice

ACCOMMODATIONS AND CLIMATE

Il Burchiello at Oriago. Telephone +39 041 429555. Address: Via Venezia 19, Oriago Di Mira 30034 , Venezia (Italy). On the Brenta River between Mira and Oriago, (according to the hotel web site) 15 minutes from Venice. Google says 30 minutes by road. Email: hotel@burchiello.it. Sent an email 4/21 asking about late night travel to hotel from Venice.

Venice (map)

Weather in May--55 to 70 degrees Farenheit.

Public toilets often are not free; carry change. (I get the idea they are €1.) Pubs sometimes have turkish style toilets.

Venice Tourist Board. The Tourist Office's headquarters are in a freestanding white building by the public gardens just off the Piazza San Marco. They sell walking maps, including the pocket-sized Touring Club Italiano's Centrocitt à Venezia 1:5000 map, which shows the historic center in great detail (also from bookstores).

Riviera del Brenta Tourist Board.

Excellent private site about Venice.

TRANSPORTATION

Public transportation on land and water--ACTV. Primer about local transportation. Fare listing.

I can't find bus route maps. You can buy bus tickets at ACTV offices and tobacco stores. There does seem to be a bus that runs from near our hotel to Venice, until around midnight. The VENEZIA-MARGHERA-ORIAGO-MIRA-DOLO- FIESSO-STRA-PADOVA line. There is a timetable in Italian here. The bus stop in Oriago is at the Vettore hotel, at Via Venezio 216, which is 1 mile from our hotel.

The public boats called vaporetti and motoscafi run almost constantly. The waterbus used most often is the No. 1, the local that stops 13 times between the Piazzale Roma and the Piazza San Marco. For convenience, "vaporetto" is often used as a generic synonym for "water bus," but technically there are three types of boat: the "vaporetto," a flat-decked boat used on routes such as No. 1 (Grand Canal) and No. 2; the "motoscafo" (used for routes that go into the Lagoon); and the "motonave" (a large double-decked vessel that looks like a ship and is used for commuter service to the Lido, Punta Sabioni, and Treporti). The ACTV offices (there is one at the Piazzale Roma--the bus parking lot) have route maps. These are covered, enclosed boats. If you can board at the end of a line, you may be able to sit at the bow, where standing isn't allowed. Boat No. 1, from the parking lot to San Marco to Lido, is slow and crowded. Water routes.

Water taxis can be expensive; prices differ and can be negotiable.

The city of Venice sets official rates for gondola rides, which start around €80 for 40 minutes. Additional 20-minute increments are €40. After 7 p.m., the base rate climbs to €100, with €50 for an additional 20 minutes. Up to six people can share a gondola. Decide what kind of trip you want, then find a gondola stand in the area nearest your destination. Someone raving about a gondola ride taken through a tour company.

Goldola Ferries Traghetto (plural: traghetti) means "ferry" in Italian. On Venice's Grand Canal, traghetti are the passenger boats that cross the canal at seven points between the railroad station and St. Mark's Basin. The boats are old gondolas that have been stripped of their brocaded chairs and other luxury trimmings. They are rowed by two oarsmen: one who stands behind the passengers like a traditional gondolier, the other closer to the bow. There are seven traghetti routes. The routes are clearly marked on any good street map of Venice (look for straight lines across the Grand Canal), and you'll often see yellow signs pointing toward the traghetto landings when you're walking through neighborhoods along the Grand Canal. €0.50/ride. Normally the boats run from early in the morning until 7 or 8 p.m. These are not flat bottomed boats.

GLOBUS ITINERARY

Saturday, May 24...Innsbruck to Venice,Italy

The spectacular Brenner Pass leads through the barrier of the Tyrolean Alps to Italy. Enter Venice in style by PRIVATE BOAT to ST MARK'S SQUARE in Venice. Admire the byzantine Basilica, the Clock Tower, lavish Doges’ Palace and the Bridge of Sighs. Watch skilled GLASSBLOWERS fashion their delicate objects, then time to explore or to join an optional gondola ride. (BB,D)

Optional Tour

Enjoy a serenaded ride in a traditional gondola (for 6 people), gliding through centuries-old canals, under famous arched bridges, and past lavish palaces and quaint piazzas. Approximate value: EUR €40 per person

Sunday, May 25...Venice to Rome

A scenic drive across the Apennine Mountains and through the vine- and olive-clad Tuscan hills, home of the popular Chianti wines, brings you to the Eternal City. (BB)

ITINERARY

Danieli Hotel. Take a pop in to see the grand property. A couple blocks east of St. Mark's Plaza on the waterfront. There's a restaurant/bar on the rooftop where they serve snacks from 3:30 to 6:30pm. Picture.

St. Mark's Basillica Ticket Reservations. Have booked 2 for 2pm and 3pmon 5/24/08. Still to book for 4pm.

Doge's Palace. A Museum card will get us in the palace, the clock tower, and the Correr Museum. To bypass the long lines at the palace, can buy at the Correr Museum. It was €12 in 2007. Or could order on-line for €23 and pickup at the group desk at the palace. Card does not have times on it. Can also get for €17 here (the card not the pass).

Galleria dell'Accademia. Across the Accademia bridge (the one nearest St. Mark's). Also at a water bus line. Last admission at 6:45pm. Venetian art from before the 1800s.

Entrance not included on any of the museum cards or passes. Long lines. Audioguide available. €7 to get in and €7 for a double headset. A booking time is required. Go through a link at the bottom of this page to book tickets. Right now, only 10:30, 12:30, and 1pm tickets are available for our date. Sent an email 4/22/08. May need to call. Reservations 041,5200345 (need country codes) Mon-Friday 9am to 6pm. Saturday 9am to 2pm. Can also book here. Also here (this place has you print a voucher you take with you; you don't know right away whether they can get your time).

Correr Museum. Part of the Museum card. An overview of Venetian history and art. Far end of Square opposite basilica. Open until 5pm. Last entry at 4pm.

Rialto Bridge. Have to cross it!!

Jewish Ghetto. Catthom recommended it.

Self-guided grand canal cruise. In the RS Italy book and on audio tour. #1 boat from the train station to the plaza is 45 minutes. The #82 bus is 25 minutes (too short).