Don’t worry about the 3rd question. Unless someone thinks there are better ways.
i found out that there is a bus service called ATVO from venice to Treviso Airport. 6 Euroes onway and the journey takes 1.10 mins. Two Stops on your way.

Only thing missing from my search is the address of this bus station in Venice.

- Shiyam

All trains to “Venice” stop at Mestre, on the mainland. Most also go across the causeway to St. Lucia which is “in Venice.” I have taken the train to St. Lucia — it’s definitely the best way, unless your hostel/hotel is in Mestre instead of Venice.

Check the Treviso airport website and the website for your air carrier on the best way to get to Venice from the airport and the location of the bus station they use. The ATVO buses use Piazzale Roma, relatively near (though not easy to get to from) St. Lucia. It’s kind of at the west end of the Grand Canal. It’s probably best reached using the vaporetto (water bus) from any of the “normal tourist attractions” in Venice.

A lot of people recommend staying in Mestre because it costs less. I think arriving in Venice by train at St. Lucia and stepping outside is a great experience, one everyone remembers.

For leaving, you may be constrained by the time of your flight. Our flight left very early and I think the buses didn’t run that early, so we had to take a boat at something like four in the morning (I’m too frugal to take a water taxi, even if I could have found one that early). I suppose I could have taken a land taxi, but as I recall it would have been difficult to get from our hotel to the taxi stand at that hour.

Thank you Oldlady.

- Shiyam

Thanks clevelandbrown.

Hotels in Venice certainly look expensive. (We are thinking of going to Florence from Venice (not the other way around as how our plan was)).

If it were you, would you choose Li do di Venizia or Mestre to stay ? And why ?

Also, in Old Lady’s post, we might have to take vaporetto (waterbus).. is it a bad thing to take a vaporetto? I was thinking it would be just another bus with similar time tables as normal busses in other cities. Please let me know if crossing the canal is time consuming, as my day and a half in Venice is quite tight.

Thanks friends!

- Shiyam

I’ve heard many people were happy staying in Mestre; I don” have any information on Lido but as beach resort, I would think it would be not inexpensive. We stayed in Venice proper, as we liked to walk around in the evenings and not have to worry about getting back to another town to sleep. But that convenience came at a cost. For a day and a half, considering the price differential, I would stay, and eat, in Mestre.

I think everyone uses the vaporettos. They are like a bus system, with different routes, and stops usually alternate sides of the canal. The route that circles on the grand canal is an excellent was to see Venice, and a ride in the early evening is particularly pleasant. You can buy a pass for the vaporetto system right outside the train station at St. Lucia on arrival. I think they have one for 24 hours, which might fit your day and a half. Most gondola’s are not transportation as much as they are a romantic experience (you can even get one with a musician). There is one place where a couple of gondolas go back and forth across the grand canal with as many people as they can hold, or more, for a low price, and it seems to be popular with tourists so they can say they rode in a gondola.

There are many canals in Venice, and there are bridges, so crossing a canal need not take a lot of time. However, you may have to walk some blocks to get to a bridge, and the streets in Venice are small and twisty, and it is easy to get lost, which would add to your time used. But in a day and a half, you will probably be seeing only the main sights, and it is easy to do that without getting lost.

No, it’s a good thing. It is by far the cheapest way (other than walking — Venice is compact so you can easily walk from St. Lucia and even Pizzale Roma)) to get around Venice. Water taxi’s are expensive and Gondola rides are astronomically expensive. The only problem with the Vaporetto is if you have way too much gear. It’s easy to get on and off with a reasonable amount of gear, but you need to keep track of your stuff (Venice is probably the world capital of stolen luggage) which can be a hassle if you’re standing and busy snapping pictures of all the incredible buildings along the Grand Canal. You can get a free map with information about the Vaporetto routes at the tourist information kiosk at the train station. For the major routes, there are boats every few minutes, so schedule isn’t really an issue. Service is less frequent to some of the outer islands, but still fairly frequent during the day. Look at a map, there are numerous bridges over the smaller canals and at least one over the Grand Canal. While you could easily spend a week in Venice looking up the tiny museums, palaces and churches that each house one world famous art treasure, a day and a half is plenty to get a feel for the place and see the major attractions. If you can find something reasonably priced, I’d probably stay in Venice, but Mestre is okay, too. Have you tried “hostels” under the “bookings” tab at the top of the page, here? There are some reasonably priced hotels there. This site has been considerably cheaper that orbitz, expedia, etc. for any hotel I’ve looked at.

Thanks a lot for your time clevelandbrown and oldlady.
It was so funny the way you put it – “Venice is probably the world capital of stolen luggage”.
I read that there is a baggage Office (Deposito Bagagli) at St.Lucia’s Station. It cost 4 Euros for first 5 hours and 0.60 Euros every additional hour. Hope that is safe .

Any ways, what are the places you would consider as “main sights” or “major attractions” in Venice (As you think that can be covered in a day and half?. I know exactly what we want to see in Rome (I am a Dan Brown fan ) and Naples. But for Venice, I only got three in the list so far: Dogge Palace, St Mark’s Square, Just walking by the canal.

I will look for hostels in Eurotrip.com – but doesn’t this site have hotels or apartments. As far as I know for hostels, we have to share bathrooms; Am I right ?

Thanks,
Shiyam

There are numerous hotels and some apartments listed under the “hostels” tab. Most have “private” rooms and “ensuite” bathrooms — read the listings and look a the check marks on facilities. I have stayed in several of the hotels and never shared a bathroom.

I think insuite facilities are common in hotels, but a few smaller hotels have a few rooms that share facilities. In contrast, my dated experience is that hostels usually have shared facilities (like a barracks or an old college dorm) and a few have a few rooms with insuite facilities.

As to what to see, with only a day and a half you won’t be able to see much. The doge’s palace almost always has lines, as does the cathedral and bell tower at St. Mark’s square, but all are interesting places to see. In the cathedral, you can go up to the balcony over the entrance and see the famed horses (or at least reproductions) and get some good views, and the best view is from up in the bell tower, a separate site. I would ride a vaporetto around the island (I think route 1 is the one, but it has been a while) and stop to see the realto bridge. Also, in the evening they have the so-called battle of the bands in St. Marks square, with four or five small orchestras vying for your attention; you can stand and watch for free, or take a table and enjoy a snack or some wine (its not as overpriced as some say). Some people say this is corny, but the musicians are very good and my wife and I both enjoyed it, more than once. Considering the time you will be waiting in line, the time you will be walking around, and your limited time in Venice, I don’t think you should plan on seeing much more than that. Some things, like a lagoon where gondolas congregate (you can see some tied up at St. Mark’s square), and a vegetable and fruit market on the banks of a small canal, where the goods are displayed both in the store and on a boat tied to the bank, are probably too hard to find to get to in your short visit.

Thanks a lot both of you.

- Shiyam