Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Weekend Tour Packages for Students in Venice
Andy Steves (my son) runs Weekend Student Adventures, offering experiential three-day
weekend tours for €199, designed for American students studying abroad
(
www.wsaeurope.com
for details on tours of Venice and other great cities).
TakeajoyrideandintroduceyourselftoVenicebyboat.CruisetheCanalGrandealltheway
to San Marco, starting at the train station (Ferrovia) or the bus station (Piazzale Roma).
If it's your first trip down the Grand Canal, you might want to stow this topic and just
take it all in—Venice is a barrage on the senses that hardly needs narration. But these notes
give the cruise a little meaning and help orient you to this great city.
Thistourisdesignedtobedoneontheslowboat#1(whichtakesabout45minutes).The
express boat #2 travels the same route, but it skips many stops and takes only 25 minutes,
making it hard to sightsee. Also, some #2 boats terminate at Rialto; confirm that you're on a
boat that goes all the way to San Marco.
To help you enjoy the visual parade of canal wonders, I've organized this tour by boat
stop. I'll point out both what you can see from the current stop, and what to look forward to
asyoucruisetothenextstop.Youcandownloadthisself-guidedcruiseasafreeRickSteves
A Few Tips:
You're more likely to find an empty seat if you catch the vaporetto at
Piazzale Roma. You can break up the tour by hopping on and off at various sights described
in greater depth elsewhere in this chapter (but remember, a single-fare vaporetto ticket is
good for just one hour; passes let you hop on and off all day). The trip is best in a boat with
seats in the bow, but many boats no longer offer these great front-row view seats. If they do,
make a beeline for these seats as soon as you board. From the front, you can easily look left,
right, and forward. If you find yourself stuck on the side or in the cabin, do your best. Avoid
sitting in the back, only because you'll miss the wonderful forward views.
Overview
The Grand Canal is Venice's “Main Street.” At more than two miles long, nearly 150 feet
wide, and nearly 15 feet deep, it's the city's largest canal, lined with its most impressive
palaces. It's the remnant of a river that once spilled from the mainland into the Adriatic. The
sediment it carried formed barrier islands that cut Venice off from the sea, forming a lagoon.
