Well here I am in Venice again, ready to take another cruise, but before that I wanted to walk the streets and cruise the canals of this world famous city. Apparently there are about 150 canals and 118 islands that form the archipelago where Venice is located.

Population of Venice is about 270,000, electricity here is 220volts and the Euro - €  is the currency used.

Venice is connected to the mainland by a causeway that serves the island with a rail line and highway to a parking lot at the north end of Venice.
Apart from that, all movement on the island is on foot or by boat. It is Europe's largest urban car free area.

For cruise ship passengers there are shuttles from the port area that will bring you to Piazzale Roma - the bus station and drop off point for shuttles from various hotels on the mainland.
From here you can walk or take a waterbus or "vaporetti” to various points around Venice. If you plan on staying in Venice for any length of time and want to explore some other islands I would recommend buying a Venice pass for transportation. The single ticket is not the best value particularly if you are using the waterbuses regularly.

Water buses also serve the Marco Polo International airport, or you can take an express bus from Piazzale Roma to the airport for 3€, much cheaper than a taxi that would cost about €40 or more from Venice. It's about a 20-30 minute drive from airport to the cruise port /Piazzale Roma depending on traffic. There is another airport in Treviso that some of the budget airlines such as Ryanair use, but all North American carriers land at Marco Polo.

Prices for the waterbuses are as follows:
6.50 € for a single ticket one direction valid for an hour from time of stamping and can be purchased from the attendant on board or at the boarding station.
The better bet may be the tourist travel card valid for 12 hours cost 14.00 € and valid on waterbuses and land buses.
Other durations and prices are as follows:
16.00 € - 24-HOUR Travel card
21.00 € - 36-HOUR Travel card
26.00 € - 48-HOUR Travel card

For more info check out the website ACTV

You can also buy the Venice card, which includes transportation, entry into museums and public washrooms, yes they charge for everything. Best to check once you get here for prices as they do change.

Gondola Rides - official rates are set by the city of Venice and start at 80 € for 40 minutes and up to 6 people can share the gondola but that could change. Prices go up after 7:00 pm so talk to the gondolier before heading out to determine what you will be paying.

Venice is a great walking city and it is quite possible to walk from one end to the other in an hour. Makes for interesting sightseeing, but you will need a map to help guide you.
Here are a few things you really shouldn't miss for the short time you are in Venice.

Piazza San Marco (St. Mark’s Square)
The most popular square in Venice, this is dominated by the Basilica of San Marco and the Doge's Palace. With the 325 foot high Campanile (bell tower) San Marco dominating the skyline of Venice.
You can take an elevator to the top for great views of Venice, but expect to wait in line, and they charge for this service expect to pay 8 € for the ride up and back down.

Pigeons are everywhere and reportedly out number the human population
Pigeons – 100,000, Humans 60,000

The Grand Canal
The largest canal in the city, about 3 km long and up to 70 meters wide, crossed by three bridges with the most famous being the Rialto Bridge.

Plenty of shopping available in Venice but make sure your credit card is full, Italian Designers don’t know the meaning of “Sale Priced”

If you have time while you are in Venice I would highly recommend take a side trip to the island of Burano, not to be confused with Murano where hordes of tourist flock to and pay inflated prices for Murano glass.  Not making this up, this is what the front desk clerk at my hotel tells me.

Burano is about a 40 minute water bus ride from Venice. Population of about 4,000. It's known for it's brightly painted houses and lacemaking.

The colours of the houses follows a specific pattern and owners must ask permission from the government who in return advise what colours they may paint their houses. Check out the photos and you will see what I mean.

Next stop for me is the cruise port and then off to Bari, Italy.