Italy - Venice - To Do 08Nov2015 (Doge's Palace, Rialto Markets & Bridge, Murano (Glass Blowing), St Mark's Square and Basilica)

Venice - To Stay
Venice - To Do
Venice - To Eat

Venice - To Do
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Getting There
08Nov2015 

- Door to Door service avail from Marriott Hotel Concierge. Min6pax.

(ABBA Contribution by Jeremy)

€85per pax door to door service.
Pick up at 8am arriving Venice approximately 10am++. Pickup at 5pm to return back to the hotel.- Taking A Train form Milano Centrale

Only slightly cheaper, but you have flexibility of time to stay longer if you choose to. The sun sets are well worth it as the walks during the night.

The concierge is incredibly helpful and efficient. Book a day or days before as your preferred times slot  for the train to Venice maybe completely full. Tickets can be bought at the self service kiosks or ticketing stations at the train station. Easy and hassle free.

€75 Euros round trip per pax. Prices listed online were pretty much the same price or more expensive at €44. Certain timings go as low at €19 one way.
Take the train from Milano Centrale to Veniezia S.Lucia (End to end stop) 2hrs35mins

Stationstaff are present to help out. 

ABBA Contribution from Edwin Tay 05Jun2010*

Go to Milano F.S. Centrale and board a train from there to Venezia S.L. station.
Train ride is 2:35. 2nd class ticket cost 30.50 euro one way. Advisable to buy the return ticket once you reach destination.
TRAIN TICKET EXPLAINED

At Venezia S.L., one can buy 12-hr transport ticket (16 euros). Ticket can be used on water bus & land bus. Maps can be bought at ticket office for 2 euro. VENICE WATER BUS

Take Water Bus Line 1 which covers the Grand Canal and terminate at LIDO Beach. Photo tip: grab a seat in the front of the boat for unobstructed views.

ABBA Contribution from
Edwin Tay 05Jun2010*

Venice - Day1

Departed Milan at 09:05hrs Arrived at 12.40hrs. Additional 70min delay due to removal works of a world war 2 bomb along the original route.

Getting Around in Venice
Walking from the central station to St Mark Square takes approximately 30mins (2.3km). The entire place is walk-able with fairly spaced signage. It's like a video game, searching for the next arrow sign to get you to where you want to be going.

Alternatively one can take the water taxi from point to point along the map.
Shops are open till 7pm-8pm at night with some shops have siestas. Food and shopping options are in abundance and in stiff competition with one another. Try looking out for trip-advisor certificate of excellence.
ABBAtip:
Due to the tall buildings, GPS signals are scratchy and unless you've got address of specific restaurants you'd want to find, it is a challenge. Not to worry, loads of eats all over the place. Pizzas and pasta galore. 

Saint Mark's Square

Doge's Palace
(Palace in Venice)

Click here for ABBA llocation of Doge's Palace, San Marco, 1, 30124 Venezia, Italy

Entry: €24 per person. 4 museums included. No other option available.

 They only sell a multi-pass which allows you into 4museums valid for 6mths.

I thoughtResidenze (Munich) was opulent, impressive and over the top but this one is defiantly a contender. It's location by the waters with the view of San Giorgo in the back ground is absolutely stunning.

 

Both it's exterior and interior give a very different view as the sun sets. The exterior and inner court yard has its beauty in symmetry, while the interior, typical murals and paintings, with each room outdoing the other in both splendor and size.

Well worth the view and experience. They have an adjoining prison where captives view through grills where the royals stay. 

Not to be missed, and even if this were the only Museum visited among the multi entry  pass, it's still ok. Of course visiting the rest of the Museums would maximize your entry ticket.
Click here for ABBA llocation of Doge's Palace, San Marco, 1, 30124 Venezia, Italy

Day2

Rialto Markets & Bridge 

Opens from 7am to 1pm.
Rialto Markets

 

 

A little of a let down as seafood section was closed! Like many places in the world, wet markets generally aren't open on Mondays! However, the butchers and greens sections were still open and operating. Fairly priced products fill this relatively small market space.
Go early and avoid Mondays. An oversight on my part. Opens from 7am till 1pm.

Rialto Bridge

The Rialto bridge is just the iconic bridge which when taken, was under renovation. Shop lots line the inside of the bridge.

Murano (Glass Blowing)
On a separate island

Getting there

Taking the boat across with a €5 ticket valid for 75mins

 

 

Pretty much the same retail items spread out amongst Venice shops, you will find in spades on Murano Island. Larger and defiantly, more impressive pieces with equally fat price tags to boot!

Glass making Museum
Murano Island - Entry €10

A waste of time and money. Pretty much the intro video of how they make their glass pieces was way more interesting than the rest of the collection combined. Much more intricate pieces could be found in the many glass ware shops on the island.

Live glass making demonstrations at the shops

Click here for ABBA location of random shop walked into for a live demonstration.

Give the Glass Museum a miss. You're not missing anything. Instead go to some of the larger glass wear shops. They've got live demos of glass blowing and shaping at a small fee €5. for the one we went to.

Well worth the experience and sight. With a few twists, pulls and blows, beautiful demonstration pieces were quickly churned out. These, for-demo pieces break after awhile due to thermal shock as those for sale, need go through a second stage of controlled cooling.Click here for ABBA location of random shop walked into for a live demonstration.

ABBA recommendation for Murano:

We by-passed the Cemetery stop between Venice and Murano which you could get of to have a look.

- Arrive on Murano and go straight for the major glass houses and catch a live demo.

- Check out the many shops along the way with their different works up for sale.
- After which, one can catch a great lunch at Trattoria Busa Alla Totter (beside the clock tower), presumably Michelin recommended from all it's window decals.

Click here for ABBA location of Trattoria Busa alla Torre, Campo Santo Stefano, 3, 30141 Murano, Venezia VE, Italy

 Ordered on09thNov2015

Venice Appetizer Set €12

*Cod cooked in milk pâté. Scallop and crispy fried shrimp. All nice and classically Venican eats.*
Grilled Sea Bass €14

*Beautifully cooked and prepared.*Mixed fried Seafood
*Fresh and sweet morsels of good eats. The sole fish was smooth, sweet and tender. Fried to perfection. Not overly greasy with a light battered coating.* €18
Prices non inclusive of an additional 12% tax charge.

 

Click here for ABBA location of Trattoria Busa alla Torre, Campo Santo Stefano, 3, 30141 Murano, Venezia VE, Italy

- You could catch the boat to St Marks Square from Murano, but due to the fog during our visit, it was not an option.

Saint Mark's Square Basilica

A nice cathedral with really impressive mosaic displays. It's design reminds myself ofdesigns found in Hagia Sofia, Istanbul. Well worth a walk inside, but there are some charges to view the Museum (€5) section as well as other sections of the church at €2&€3 respectively.

Because back packs are not allowed, it is a little troublesome to first have bags checked into a cloak room of a concert hall located to the left side of the church. Go to the exit line and see the signage where to offload big bags. Security are quite particular on that. Entry into the church itself is free.

Museum Correr
(Included in Doge's palace multi-museum pass Reviewed above)

Since tickets were already payed for Doge's palace, we checked out this other Museum. Found at the other end of Saint Mark's square, Museum Correr is very similar to Doge's palace, though not as impressive. A rich man's residence with distinct chambers for different functions.

However where it differs from Doge's is that at Correr, it houses a wider private, though seemingly non-cohesive collection, that extends the length of Saint Mark's Square. Marble busts, statues, paintings and many more fill the individual rooms.

If you are a history buff and have yet to see such kinds of works of art, it's fairly worth the visit. However, in my opinion to bundle so many museums in a compulsory ticket doesn't make it worth its while for a (single or even few day) traveler to fully enjoy all the sights. Too much history in limited time. However, the not to be missed is still Doge's palace. Doge's palace entry alone was well worth the ticket price and should not be missed. 

Getting Lost in the streets

Loads of shopping opportunities from big brands, with a wide variety of interesting produce and products to purchase. Every corner offering something new.

Self proclaimed world's most beautiful book shop

 

 

Venice one day or two?

Venice can be completed in a single day and is best done if you arrive early in the morning to catch the Rialto markets that start at 7am. (Avoid Mondays so you can see the seafood section as well.)

- Take a boat to see the Murano glsss making. Shops there opens about 10-10.30am.

- Take a boat from Murano to St Marks. (You get to enjoy Venice from the sea)

- Saint Marks Square for the Basilica (closes 4/5pm) and Doge's palace(steep entry charge if that's all you're going to visit) (closes at 7pm).

- Street shopping opens till about 8pm.

A single day would be mostly surface converge major things to see and that's if you get to go in really early and out late. A two day trip would be just nice to most aspects without rushing and really take your time to soak in the sights as well as the shopping.

ABBATip:

Visited on 9thNov2015

 

 - Venice weather is generally foggy during this time of the year. The fog doesn't lift throughout the day! Check weather conditions prior. We were really lucky on day 1, however day 2 weather was what is usually expected during the season.

A Day trip To Venice
ABBA Contribution *Pics and text by Edwin Tay 05Jun2010*

Grand Canal from the Ponti di Rialto

Ponti di Rialto

St Marks Square

Gondolas parked at Hard Rock Cafe

ABBA Tip:
- Avoid gondolas - tourist trap
- Food & shopping is plentiful.
- Accommodation: Expensive. Better to stay at Mestre and take the train there.
- Best way to explore Venice - get lost in the alleys !
Options: visit outlying areas of Murano, Burano, Torcello & Chioggia. go by ferry
Flooding: Depending on time & tide. St Marks Square can be flooded. Check before you go.

*Pics and text by Edwin Tay 05Jun2010*