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Venice to Instanbul

imcpa

By imcpa,
in Silversea

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imcpa

imcpa

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My wife & I are schedule to be on the Spirit in July for Venice to Istanbul. I will be posting several questions about the Spirit in the coming weeks (we sailed the Cloud in 2010). For now, does anyone have any ideas of what day trips to do while staying in Venice? We have 5 days before our cruise and have been to Venice twice, so we want to venture away for a day (but sleep in our Venice hotel every night).

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Gourmet Gal Great Review Rare

Gourmet Gal

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I am taking this same cruise in September and will be interested in following this thread..

 

Would also be interested to know which nights are formal nights so we can either dine ashore if possible or stay in. Just not interested in packing and lugging formal attire for a non-event like dinner on a ship (unless it is a gala fundraiser).

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Herman The Cat

Herman The Cat

Posted
Posted (edited)
Go to Torcello. It's about a 45 minute ride via water and have lunch at Villa Cipriani. It's a magnificent experience.

 

Excellent idea. You can take the ACTV (water bus) to get there.

 

I would also suggest a 1/2 day trip to Burano and lunch.

 

You might also want to consider a day trip to Verona. It's about a one hour and 20 minute train ride each way. Padua is enroute to Verona--beautiful gardens and Giotto frescoes in one of the churches. Padua is about a 1/2 hour outside Venice.

Edited by Herman The Cat
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RachelG "Live from...." Rare

RachelG

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Thanks for the replies.

Is it possible to do Tuscany in a day or is it too far?

Tuscany is a large region of Italy. We have done a 10 day land trip there and just scratched the surface. You could visit Florence as a day trip--again you would just scratch the surface, or you could see Pisa and Lucca easily in a day. Lucca is one of my favorite Italian towns.

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TLCOhio "Live from...." Rare

TLCOhio

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Thanks for the replies. Is it possible to do Tuscany in a day or is it too far?

 

It is true and great that you can take a train in only about two hours from Venice to Florence. To do this great Italy city could be done and sampled in one long "day-trip" from Venice. BUT, Tuscany gets more challenging!! Why? There is so much, so spectacular around in Tuscany, that it would take more time to do all of the logistics and get a reasonable sample with the varied small towns, historic areas, wonderful countrysides, etc. To do justice to Florence and Tuscany might mean giving up that ideas of sleeping all five nights at your hotel in Venice.

 

Florence, if you want to see the two excellent art museums there, might involve some advance reservations to avoid long lines at peak times, etc.

 

Below is a link with much more on Venice and its great options, including the concept that just "walking around", personally sampling its great history and architecture, etc., can be your best strategy for Venice.

 

If Venice is one of your future desires or past favorites, you might look at this earlier posting that shows many options and visual potentials. This posting is now at 46,527 views.

Venice: Loving It & Why??!!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1278226

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Celebrity Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Dozens of nice visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc. We are now at 192,747 views for this live/blog re-cap, including much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

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UKCruiseJeff

UKCruiseJeff

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No reason to pay viator for an excursion you can easily do on your own. Just get on the vaporetto and it will take you to these islands where you can wander to your hearts desire and at your own pace.

 

Really agree ... it would be such a shame not to use the vaporetto. You end up not going at your own speed but normally with someone droning on and taking you to glass factories where they get their cut.

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lincslady

lincslady

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Agree - Burano is very pretty. I would not go near Murano personally, just a quick look at someone blowing glass followed by a look at the (IMO) over the top pieces of glass and a sales person hanging over you. Certainly no need to go with a guided tour.

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Randyk47

Randyk47

Posted
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We are on the Silver Wind on May from Venice to Istanbul. Any advice how to get to the ship from Piazza San Marco? Thank you.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

It's a bit of a walk but not a hard one. We made that trip probably two or three times last year from the Wind. Now if you're talking hauling luggage then I'm not sure I'd want to do that but then again we don't travel light. With luggage I'd look into water transport, either water taxi or the vaporetto.

Edited by Randyk47
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lidokey

lidokey

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Thank you, wripro. Absolutely we do agree. First we are flying into Marco Polo and going to a hotel near Piazza Marco Polo and 4 days later taking Silver Wind to Istanbul. Any suggestions from the airport to the hotel? Thank you. By the way we don't have big suitcases...

 

 

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Mayflower1

Mayflower1

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Hi Randy & Carey - glad to know that you are in the Med in June on the Spirit - we hope that you have a wonderful time and much fun. Unfortunately we are unlikely to hitch up as we join The Wind in Barcelona on 29 June for our trip to Venice. We will be thinking of you and wondering which of us is likely to experience ' Zampone ' again !!!!

 

We echo the thoughts of others that a Water Taxi is maybe the easiest transfer from San Marco to the ship but a Vaporetto is possible as long as you are happy to handle the luggage in crowds.

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Randyk47

Randyk47

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Hi Randy & Carey - glad to know that you are in the Med in June on the Spirit - we hope that you have a wonderful time and much fun. Unfortunately we are unlikely to hitch up as we join The Wind in Barcelona on 29 June for our trip to Venice. We will be thinking of you and wondering which of us is likely to experience ' Zampone ' again !!!!

 

We echo the thoughts of others that a Water Taxi is maybe the easiest transfer from San Marco to the ship but a Vaporetto is possible as long as you are happy to handle the luggage in crowds.

 

Ah Zampone.....at least it was a good excuse to have one more meal with some great tablemates.

 

Barcelona to Venice on the Wind was tempting but we're still exploring the Med and we're looking for at least a few new and different ports. We did 14 days on the Wind Barcelona to Istanbul a couple of years ago and it hooked us on Silversea and the Wind. Wish we were with you all again though so maybe another cruise some day.

 

I should have said in my earlier post about transportation in Venice that we'll be staying near Piazza San Marco in June. We'll be flying into Marco Polo and already have arranged a water taxi from the airport to the hotel and from the hotel to the cruise terminal a couple of days later. To be honest I mentioned both the water taxi and vaporetto because some shy away from the certainly more expensive taxis. Of course for us traveling light just doesn't happen. We look more like we're moving than vacationing so hauling our luggage by foot or by vaporetto really isn't an option.

Edited by Randyk47
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wripro

wripro

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Thank you, wripro. Absolutely we do agree. First we are flying into Marco Polo and going to a hotel near Piazza Marco Polo and 4 days later taking Silver Wind to Istanbul. Any suggestions from the airport to the hotel? Thank you. By the way we don't have big suitcases...

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

Yes, again a water taxi. And make sure to sake him to take you down the Gran Canal as you come in from the airport. It's a great introduction to what Venice is all about. Enjoy!

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