Ah, Venezia! City of Love, City of Light, City of Water, City of Bridges, Queen of the Adriatic... so many wonderful nicknames for an enchanting city. Click here for a wonderful Youtube video of Venice.

The Merrytimers embark on Celebrity Constellation on August 30th and overnight in Venice so they get to spend one night in this beautiful place!  If anyone wants to stay a night or two before the cruise embarks, I highly recommend the Papadapoli Venezia located in Santa Croce on a canal and not far from Piazzali Roma. Ken & I stayed here for the second time two years ago and found it be very lovely and convenient.  You can take a bus or a taxi from the airport to the Piazzali Roma (which is the land closest to the island & the transportation hub for Venice).  From Piazzali Roma, it's about a 5 minute walk to the hotel; but be aware that you do have to drag  your luggage over a canal bridge which has perhaps 10 steps to the top of the bridge and ten steps down. The Papadapoli is about a 20 minute walk to St. Mark's Square or you could walk to the vaporetto station for the water bus, which is very close. It's easy to take the water bus to anywhere in Venice; the vaporetto takes about as long to get to St. Mark's Square as walking, but it offers some nice photo-ops of the grand canal.  There are standard rooms and deluxe rooms; if you get breakfast included with your rate, you won't be disappointed!  There are a couple of other hotels located in this area that get good reviews on Tripadvisor, but I have not stayed in either of them:  The Best Western Olimpia and the  Hotel Antiche Figure.

Most areas of Venice, including the San Marco area, will require a water taxi to get you there and then you will be dropped at the hotel’s dock (if it has one) or a dock where you may have to walk a few minutes to get to your hotel.   You would also need a water taxi to get from the hotel to the ship; they run around $120 Euros (more or less) per trip; two couples could share one or possibly 3 couples depending on amount of luggage. Here’s a website where you can book the transfer http://www.venetoinside.com/en/transport/

Travel by water is indeed a Venetian experience!

Want to avoid queues and get tickets in advance? Click here and you can purchase tickets for the Doges Palace, Doges Palace Secret Itineraries Tour and other museums. On the Secret Itineraries tour, you will see the secret passageways and offices of the Doges, where Cassanova was imprisoned and much more. Go to the fish market near Rialto for lunch, the Jewish Ghetto (at the museum they will give a guided tour) At night sit down in St. Marks Square for the most expensive cup of caffe you have ever had, but listen to the most wonderful violin music. Stop and have a gelato….feed the pigeons and visit the bell tower, the church, take a gondola ride, especially an evening gondola ride with serenade!

Shopping in Venice? How about Murano glass? Glass cherries and glass candies make a beautiful display in a glass vase or bowl on a coffee table, Murano glass wine bottle stoppers, glass jewelry, glass beads (also known as Venetian pearls)… Walk into the back areas of Venice (with a map!) and just wander; you'll come across many lovely smaller shops with the most spectacular pieces in their shop windows (i.e. get further away from the Grand Canal) and perhaps be able to negotiate a little if you pay cash and come away with a stunning piece (or more)! Venetian Carnevale masks are also beautiful souvenirs! Don't miss the fabulous jewelry shops surrounding Piazza San Marco; if you like fine jewelry....some of the most beautiful and original design and interesting stones in the world! Also if you like fine linens, the table and bed linens are wonderful!

Italian tenors interest you? How about this for a nice Venetian evening: An opera performed in a historic Venetian Palace, Musica Palazza. Here's a youtube video for an online experience of the performance and palace. 

Venice's Top 11 Free Sights
From: Venice for Visitors

1. Piazza San Marco

2. Basilica di San Marco

3. Venice Waterfront (St. Mark's Basin)

4. Grand Canal

5. Rialto Bridge

6. Rialto Food Markets

7. Venetian Ghetto

8. Canali, campi, calli (canals, squares, and back streets)

9. Churches (Salute, Carmini, and others that don't charge admission)

10. Shopping Streets

11. Islands of the Lagoon (San Michele cemetery, Murano, Burano, Torcello, Lido)

Concerning WCs in Venice: There are public wc's and the cost is generally 1.5 Euro. As in any European country, be sure to bring some toilet paper in your bag or backpack. Of course, you can always stop for a glass of vino or a cup of caffe and use the restaurant wc!

Here are a couple of notes about our most recent time in Venice:  Transportation from the cruise terminal to Venice proper is now convenient and inexpensive via the "people mover".  It's about a ten minute walk from the ship to the people mover monorail train.  Fare is one euro and the ride takes about four minutes into the Santa Croce area.  We happen to love Santa Croce, but you can walk to Rialto and San Marco in about 15 to 20 minutes.   Be sure to take your camera along as you can snap photos of Venetian doors & door hardware, laundry hanging and dangling from windows and verandahs above the canals, flowers, gondoliers flexing their muscles, and of course food and wine!  Pizza, pasta, wine, and gelato in Venice did not disappoint.  We shared a pizza at Trattoria da Silvio, the Venetian pizza - tomatoes, mozzarella, olives, ham, and artichokes.  It was yummy.  We had fun in a little glass shop and got to know the owner and his daughter.  Then it was off to the Coop grocery store near Piazzali Roma to get those provisions that I didn't pack trying so hard to stay within the allowed airline luggage weight limit.

Some links to helpful website:
Venice Connected
Port of Venice Information for Cruise Passengers
Venice for Visitors