Destination Venice: What Cruise Passengers Should Know

Another article from www.italytravelnotes.com from today. If you are headed for Italy and if you are cruiing there – you may find these travel tips useful.

<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />With European cruises increasing in popularity, more and more Americans passengers are likely to make port in some of the great cities of the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Mediterranean. One of the oldest of these harbor towns is still a top port of call for modern cruise lines: Venice.

Venice is not like anywhere else on earth. It’s not the only city that is laced with canals (Amsterdam has canals, too, so does Stockholm), and it’s not the only city with an ancient past (Rome probably beats Venice in the historical department and Florence definitely edges her out in art). But there is something incredibly different and delightful about Venice.

You can’t drive in Venice. Entrance in and out of the city is by boat (you take a water taxi from the airport), so arriving by cruise ship is close to the way the city was meant to be approached.

When you actually reach Venice, you’ll have to get around by walking or boat. By far, the quickest, easiest, and least expensive way to go from point A to point B is to jump on the boat-bus, called a vaporetto. You buy tickets for it just like the bus. If you’re a cruise passenger in town for the day, it may pay for you to buy a pass good for the whole day. Not only could it save you some lire, you don’t have to hassle with buying tickets when you want to get a ride.

to read the full article go to: http://www.italytravelnotes.com/