Making the most of Venice
Use these notes to shape a realistic day ashore, then confirm any time-sensitive information for the date of your call.
Arriving at the port
Flying into Marco Polo airport? Choose a seat on the plane's right-hand side for striking aerial views of Venice and the cruise terminal.
Marco Polo Airport Terminal is much too small for the passenger numbers it handles. It can feel claustrophobic, particularly when flying home, as it is unclear where each queue starts. Be patient and it will all work out. There is no need to arrive very early: two hours before departure is more than enough, and bags cannot be dropped any earlier anyway.
Detailed directions for reaching your cruise terminal from Marco Polo airport are available.
With time to spare, take the Alilaguna blu line boat for 15 Euro: it provides a 90 minute tour around Venice and docks amid all the cruise ships.
Left luggage costs 6 euro for 24 hours.
Travelling by bus from Treviso Airport to Venice:
A local company, ATVO, operates an efficient Venice coach service timed around flights arriving at and leaving Treviso. Coaches specifically serve arriving flights, so a bus will still be waiting if your plane is delayed. Tickets can be bought in Treviso airport's arrivals hall, then validated in the provided machine before you step outside to coaches on the tarmac. In Venice, buy tickets at the ATVO office beneath the car-park building in Piazzale Roma; they are not sold on the bus.
Travelling by car:
On days when cruise ships are in port, the terminal car park is open; make your reservation online here.
Travelling by train:
From the main station, St. Lucia Railway station, terminals are accessible by: - Public water buses (vaporetti) to P.le Roma (1 stop), where the terminal's bus shuttle, a taxi cab or the new people mover are available. - A water taxi direct to the cruise terminal.
The Port of Venice can be reached from Mestre Railway station (10 km from Venice) by: - Taxi cab (around a 20 minute ride) - Public bus to Piazzale Roma, close to the Port of Venice.
Please note: certain cruise companies suggest taxis are hard to find. Generally, a taxi is cheaper for 2 persons or more than a cruise organised transfer.
At terminal 103, luggage can be shipped to the airport for €12.50 a piece. This is useful when the ship arrives early and a late flight leaves time to explore Venice in the mean time.
Getting around
A popular way to sightsee in Venice is this:
Leave the cruise terminal for the People Mover, buy a ticket (1.50 Euro), then take the driverless train for the few-minute journey to Piazzale Roma. From there, go to the ACTV terminals and purchase a day or longer ticket for every canal bus (Vaparetti). It works like a giant Hop On/Off cruise around Venice, Murano, Burano, Lido and as far as Punta Sabbioni.
ACTV Pass options include:
A 1 DAY TRAVELCARD costs 20,00 €.
A 2 DAYS TRAVELCARD costs 30,00 €.
Note: booths outside the terminal may tempt you to buy local transport tickets after leaving the cruise ship. They sell only Alilaguna boat tickets, which are excellent for the airport and Piazza San Marco but have limited use for discovering Venice as a whole. A return ticket to Piazza San Marco is €15. Check the return times before setting out.
Travelling by gondola
For 50 minutes, a gondola should cost € 70,00 (for up to six passengers), with a € 35,00 surcharge for each additional 25 minutes. Between 8pm and 8am, the price rises to € 80,00 (prices at time of writing). Government sets the tariffs for gondola rides, but gondolier are notorious for extorting large sums from unsuspecting tourists. Agree a price before boarding.
Hop on/off Boat: travel from Piazza San Marco, one of the world's most beautiful squares, to the Bridge of Sighs; from Lido's pristine beaches to the island of Murano.
Venice is not particularly friendly for passengers with walking difficulty, and no shuttles operate in the port area.
Nearby places
Travelling onwards from Venice is fairly straightforward, although Veneto day trips require allowing for the additional time needed to cross Venice on foot or by boat before beginning. Trains from Venice's Santa Lucia Station run throughout Italy, though some services require a change at the mainland station, Venezia Mestre. Padua and Verona are interesting train trips from Venice, while regional buses leave from Piazzale Roma.
Places to see in the Veneto:
Verona is a lovely town for wandering, with Roman ruins and a rather spurious Shakespeare connection. The humbler Treviso is also worth exploring: it is a quiet, prosperous town near Venice with picturesque canals of its own.
With rich history, striking architecture and art, Padua is an appealing, interesting town and a must for the art historian, particularly for Giotto's frescoes.
Venice and its lagoon provide unmissable sightseeing. Once crowded bridges and canals grow tiring, the lagoon offers interesting excursions to quieter places, including the fishing port of Chioggia and the abandoned island of Torcello.
Veneto's wealthy city-dwellers became obsessed with building elegant country villas, employing the finest architects for these rural palaces. Andrea Palladio was the best known; after Venice's canals, the region's Palladian villas are among Veneto's most renowned images. Visit Vicenza for more of his work, or take a trip down the Brenta Canal, passing his famous villa La Malcontenta and scores of other Venetian aristocrats' summer homes.
Culture-lovers may wish to attend the famous outdoor opera season in Verona's Roman arena, and can choose from the region's art galleries and fine architecture. Wine-lovers can find several good local wines, including sparkling Prosecco, sampled in vineyards along the so called 'Ring of Prosecco'.
Food and shopping
A busy retail centre throughout its history, Venice focuses on luxury goods with a flair for the eccentric. Its main shopping areas are the Mercerie and streets collectively called the Frezzeria, winding between campo San Fantin and piazza San Marco. Big-name fashion houses are most concentrated in calle Larga XXII Marzo, west of the piazza, where Gucci, Prada, Valentino, Fendi and Ferragamo cluster. Head to Calle della Mandola for books and glass beads, and explore campo Santo Stefano and San Marco for antiques. Seek out unique boutiques with imported or hand-crafted items between the Rialto…
Cruise terminals have duty free stores, although these often do not operate or are not competitively priced. State officials check hand luggage before you board the ship, but not on the ship itself.
Money
The Euro is used.
Venice is extremely expensive: expect to pay around €14 each for a soda or cappuccino on a pleasant outdoor terrace in San Marco Square, including polished live music from a quintet and perfect service!
Staying connected
At Marco Polo airport, WiFi is free for the first half an hour, then costs 4.95 per hour.
Free WiFi is also available in the cruise terminals. Login codes are posted rather clumsily at the entrance; if you cannot find them, try VTPWIFI and FREE.
For emergencies, call 112.
Opening Hours and
Most clothing and gift stores typically close on Monday morning, while food stores generally shut on Wednesday afternoons.
Current typical opening times are from 9 a.m. in the morning until 7:30 p.m. in the evening, with a lunch-break and nap closure from 1:00 p.m. to sometimes 4 p.m.
Almost every store closes on Sunday, apart from certain souvenir shops.