Travels & Tours
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George & Audrey DeLange
August 1999.

Venice or Venezia, Italy: The Piazza San Marco, or St. Mark's Square, is undoubtedly the most popular tourist destination in Venice. You're bound to visit it at least once, here's a list the Piazza San Marco landmarks and attractions: 1. Valaresso vaporetto stop. The No. 1 vaporetto or waterbus stops at these floating platforms, and so does the Alilaguna airport boat. (Note to Hemingway fans: Harry's Bar is located a few steps inland.) 2. San Marco Giardinetti vaporetto stop. 3. Giardini ex Reali. The city's public gardens open onto the waterfront through an iron gate. The white building at the west end of the gardens is the tourist-office headquarters; a public toilet is also nearby. 4. Museo Civico Correr. This "Museum of the City and the Civilization of Venice" contains paintings, sculptures, clothing, maps, coins, armor, and many other objects from the city's early days. 5. Procuratie Vecchie. This arcaded office building, now owned by an insurance company, was constructed in the early 1500s after a fire destroyed its predecessor. Shops and cafés occupy the ground floor, under the arcade. 6. Torre dell'Orologio. Animated statues of Moors use hammers to strike the hours at the Clock Tower. Underneath is a passage leading to the Mercerie, the series of shopping streets that connect San Marco to the Rialto Bridge. 7. Campanile di San Marco. Here you can climb stairs or ride up an elevator to the top of the Bell Tower for an aerial view of the city. 8. Basilica di San Marco. This vast cathedral is famous for its Byzantine domes and gilded mosaics. It was built to honor St. Mark after the saint's bones were kidnapped from Alexandria, Egypt in the 9th Century. 9. Palazzo Ducale. The Doge's Palace housed Venice's rulers for more than six centuries. It connects to the adjacent Prigioni Nuove ("New Prisons") via the Bridge of Sighs. 10. Procuratie Nuove. This building was intended to replace the Procuratie Vecchie when it was constructed in the late 16th Century. Today, it houses a wing of the Museo Correr, the Museo Archeologio, the and the Caffè Florian, which has catered to the cognoscenti since 1720. 11. Zecca. The former Venetian Mint containing the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, a research library with more than 900,000 books and 13,000 manuscripts. We were there in August of 1999. It was very hot and humid.

Getting to Venice, Italy: Even though most people enter Venice by water the most direct way is by air. The closest commercial airport is the Marco Polo Airport (ICAO: LIPZ, IATA: VCE), located on the mainland near Mestre (a more typical Italian city, without Venice's unique structure). The Treviso Airport (ICAO: LIPH, IATA: TSF), located 25 km (16 mi) from Venice, is relatively smaller but it is becoming increasingly busy as the main destination for the Ryanair, Wizzair, and Transavia budget flights. From Treviso Airport, ATVO offers a €10 round-trip ticket price from-to Venice. Both airports have bus connections with Venice (Piazzale Roma), Mestre, Padua and other towns. The ATVO 'pullman' coaches (€10 return) run to and from Treviso to co-incide with flights. The Marco Polo airport runs a shuttle bus --€3-- (or just turn left and walk 10 minutes under the awning) to the Alilaguna water-bus jetty, where €13 gets you a leisurely 75 minute boat trip to San Marco via Murano, Lido and the Arsenale. Or you can take the cheaper boat (€6,50) to Murano which takes only half an hour. Alternatively, you can travel in style (and much faster) by hiring one of the speedy water-taxis (30 mins) for about €100. There are numerous flights into Venice and numerous hotels in Venice. There are several Guided Tour Agencies offering standard city, and historical tours of Venice and the surrounding area. After arranging your flight we would suggest getting your hotel and then letting them arrange tours of the area for you. If you call the hotels Concierge Services ahead of your arrival, all of this can be pre-arranged for you. We do this all the time. It is safe and it works!!! We have never experienced a problem doing it this way! We have links to Priceline.com on our page so that you can arrange your flight and hotel in Venice.

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