Has anyone used either a Venice Card or a three day pass for transportation in Venice. The Venice Card includes some museum admissions, discounts, etc but is approximately twice as much as the 3 day pass (46 Euro for the Venice Card versus 22 Euro for the pass). Is the Venice Card worth it, or are you better off just paying the admission to the museums? Any other advice on visiting Venice???

Peggy: I keep waiting for someone to answer your question - Venice is high on my list of places to visit. Was there more years ago than I care too remember and loved it ...now I want to go back as a semi mature adult - and would love to collect as much info as possible - Joanna

I'm waiting for an answer too. I've read a couple of websites that say that the Venice Card isn't of much value--you're better off getting a 3 day waterbus card and paying for museum admission separately. Then I've also seen a couple places that recommend the Venice Card. So I'm confused. The problem I see with the Venice Card (besides the fact that it costs more) is that you can only pick it up at the airport, train station or the place where you park cars. That seems kind of inconvenient. We're really looking forward to spending a few days in Venice at the end of our Rome-Venice trip on the Diamond. We leave for Rome on the 18th so I'm well into the "planning the details" stage...

Peggy: Have you been on the Diamond? It was our first cruise in Sept 2003 and we loved it!! Keep good Venice notes - Joanna

This will be our first trip on the Diamond--we just got lucky and booked this cruise before we knew the ship would be leaving Radisson. We originally had planned to do the trip in September--I'm glad we changed our minds--I would have hated to scramble to find another cruise had ours been canceled. I'll try to keep good notes about what we learn during our stay in Venice. I've already found a website where you can reserve a time to go to St. Marks and the Doge's Palace,etc. to avoid all the lines--the website is www.museicivicveneziani.it if you want to take a look. You can also check out www.weekendavenezia.com, www.thingstodo-venice.com. and www.europeforvisitors.com/venice. I'll send you an email when we get back with any other pertinent information. Do you have a specific plan for a trip to Venice--or is it just on the wish list? If you're like we are, our wishlist is pages long--so many places, so little time (and money ;) ).

Peggy--have just returned from Venice to Rome trip on Silver Shadow and spent 3 nights in Venice pre-cruise. I had great intentions of pre-booking visits to St. Marks and Secret Tour of Doge's Palace but then decided not to lock us in to particular times--really wanted flexibility. That being said, we ended up not going inside St. Marks (that area was so congested with tourists that it was difficult to even walk through the square) and we did just the regular tour of the Palace which I thought was excellent (with audioguide) and no reservations needed. We spent time at the Peggy Guggenheim Museum, the Accademia (about a half hour wait if you didn't have a reservation), and Ca Rezzonico--didn't have the Museum Card. We also walked everywhere--didn't use the vaporettos because we felt we could see more by staying on land. We used a traghetto once just to get over to Dorsoduro--only about .50Euro one way. I was so overwhelmed with the magnificence of the Dei Frari church and the Scuola di San Rocco--will try to see St. Marks another time, maybe in the off-season.

Whatever you decide to do, you will love Venice, especially when you get away from the craziness of S. Marco and into the quieter neighborhoods.

Susan

I'll send you an email when we get back with any other pertinent information. Do you have a specific plan for a trip to Venice--or is it just on the wish list? If you're like we are, our wishlist is pages long--so many places, so little time (and money ).\

Just like us ....just a wish list ...no plan cruise or otherwise but would LOVE to hear about your experience - joanna

Thanks--we appreciate the reply and the great information! One of the things I have on my list of things to do is a trip to Murano and Burano--did you go there or did you decide not to. If not, was there a particular reason you didn't go?

If we had another day in Venice, possibly we would have considered a boat trip to the islands. The concierge at our hotel was pushing the "free" trip offered in conjunction with the glass factories on Murano. We had been warned away from these promotional trips by other travelers...there is a lot of glass to be bought in Venice itself anyway. But I had heard that Burano and Torcello were lovely...another reason to go back to Venice!

Susan

If you go to Murano be careful from the so called "deals" on crystal. Don't go with the so called "free" trip offered by the hotel( as explained by Susan above)

Also, if you can't bring it with you don't buy it. I've heard several horror stories about people buying crystal and then never getting it or getting a diferent thing!

Enjoy Venice!

We cruised from Venice to Rome on the Song of Flower. The ship was just out of dry dock and we were able to use it for our hotel one night prior to the cruise.

We took the ship's excursion for a special night-time tour of St. Mark's. Amazing. The lights are very low and slowly, one by one, they begin illuminating the interior. All the gold and colors of the ceiling and surroundings just glitter and shine. Really beautiful and unique.

We also took the ship's excursion to Murano, Burano and Torcelli. Enjoyed it very much. Except, didn't care for the glass factory tour in Murano (felt like we were set up and expected to purchase at probably the most expesive factory on the island). Burano is charming and I enjoyed it the most. We have great photos from there. Liked Torcelli, too.

Now that I have been there, I think I'd be comfortable taking the water taxi's to the islands and walking around on my own.

Oh, we also did a walking tour of Venice with an art historian. Lovely.

Venice is one of my favorite places and I want to go back. I loved just walking around the city.

Thanks for the good advice everyone. I'm sure we're going to have a great time.

We bought the Venice card. It was not worth it. It is cheaper to go a la carte to the sights and just take the 3 day water taxi.

They are both really pretty places.. but not to be stuck with some guy trying to sell you a trip to the glass blowing..
if you have seen Venice and have time then do it on your own..