What we did in Venice

Flying to Venice: 

We took a Ryan air flight from Stanstead airport to Trevisio airport. We took an AVTO(local transport authority) bus from Treviso to Mystre. This costs 5 Euros  per person each way. We missed our stop at Mystre and ended up at the last stop which was Pizzale Roma in Venice.

Stay:

We stayed at the Garibaldi Hotel in Mestre. The number 2 bus is available right outside the hotel and takes you to Piazzalle Roma in Venice. The trip from the Hotel to Piazzale Roma took about 25 minutes each way.

Travel:

We took the three day travel card at the AVTO office at Pizzale Roma in Venice. If you get off at Mystre, get your travel card at the AVTO office there. The Travel Card is a RFID card which cost us 33 Euros per person and was valid for 72 hours from the time of the first swipe. This allows us to use the buses between Venice and Mystre as well as the vapouretto within Venice. You just need to swipe your cards on the ticket validating machines on the buses or at the Vapouretto stops.

Land vehicles are only allowed upto Piazzalle Roma in Venice, there are no roads within Venice. So the only mode of transport are the Vapourettos. Vapourettos are boats which work like busses within Venice. There are Vapouretto stops all along the Grand Canal and along the outer edges of Venice. You are never too far from a Vapouretto stop.

Getting around in Venice:

Venice a compact city which can be easily seen on foot. All you need is a good map to take you around. Note that there are a lot of steps you will need to climb up and down. A buggy to push your kids around could turn out to be a bigger hassle then just letting them walk around.

Places to see

Most days we took the vapouretto from Pizzale Roma to San Marco also known as Saint Mark's square and began our trips from there. Make sure you visit the Doge's residence,  St Mark's Basillica, Rialto Bridge, Murano Glass Factory, Burrano. We found some very good deals for souvenirs being sold on carts at Burrano. You will have a lot of photo oppurtunities just walking in the narrow streets of Venice.

Food

Food was quiet expensive in Venice. I also found that eating a Pizza turns out to cost the same as eating at a fast food restaurant.

Gondola

Cost about 80 Euros for about 30 mins. It wasn't too exciting either.

Venice in pictures.