Useful tips for Venice bus groups with ‘what to see’ and ‘what to do’ items and ‘bus- friendly’ or must see tourist sites in Venice. Check our list of attractions before planning your bus tour with a stop or departure in Venice. Let us know if your favourite attraction or ‘bus-stop’ is not there and you think we should add it to our list of Venice highlights.
If on your group tour of Italy you visit Venice you must give it some time: give your bus driver a free day (or 2 free days). As most of the roads in the centre of Venice are canals your coach bus or minibus will have to be left in the parking lot. Depending on the exact location of your hotel perhaps you will need the bus to get to the center in the morning and then collect you later. The European law of driving and resting hours obliges bus drivers to take 1 full day off in an 8-day tour. The city of Venice is the ideal place to plan it since your group will move around partly walking and partly by boat.
We recommend that you make sure not miss these "compulsory" Venice tourist attractions that are listed here:
The San Marcos Square is without a doubt the heart of Venice, and the first must-see once your bus has taken you as far as possible, i.e. to the surroundings of Piazzale Roma. From there the promenade through the street and channels will take you in some minutes to this Piazza (square). It’s unique in Venice, since the rest are piazzali or campi (fields). Its construction dates from the 9th century, but was it paved 100 years later. San Marcos Square is the lowest place in Venice, so when there is "acqua alta" it’s also the first place to flood, and walkways are placed for the transit of citizens and tourists. Depending on the season when you travel to Venice, you can see the square full of water. In addition, in this square, which has always been the centre of the public life of the city, you can taste a (very expensive) coffee while you listen to the tunes of a piano that entertains the coach tourists visiting the various restaurants of the square.
In the case he’s walking with your group than this is the opportunity to do your minibus or coach driver (and maybe tour guide) a real favour by inviting him for the most expensive coffee on your bus tour.
The Basilica of San Marcos is without a doubt one of the iconic images of Venice. Inside the Basilica the dominant colour is the golden one because the mosaics in the Atrium are made of gold leaf. Although the entrance to the Church is free, you have to pay to see the Museum and the treasure of the temple. If you go to the Museum you will be able to see ceilings and mosaics of the Cathedral closely and you will also see the original sculptures of horses of San Marcos, which are four gold-plated bronze horses.
The Rialto Bridge is the oldest of the four spanning the Grand Canal in Venice, and it is best known for the beauty of its design. It was built in the sixteenth century to replace an earlier one that had collapsed. Any time is good to visit the Rialto Bridge but it is difficult to get some photos among the thousands of tourists who are there. Venice is perhaps the city where largest number of travellers gather at all times of the year so don’t be annoyed and just deal with it. Another very famous bridge is the Bridge of Sighs it’s narrow and short gets even more overcrowded, so making a snapshot there will be almost impossible!
The most characteristic of Venice are the canals that run along the streets, and whose reputation for bad smell is nothing else than that, a mere reputation. The largest and most important of all is the Grand Canal, which is four kilometres long and runs through the city, dividing it into two parts. A good choice and alternative to have transport on it is the ‘vaporetto’, it is like ‘the public bus’ of the very patient Venetian inhabitants. The vaporetto travels along the Grand Canal alternating stops on the two banks. From the vaporetto you will have a nice view of the wonderful palaces on the banks of the canal. The best vaporetto-boat to travel the Grand Canal is the line number 1.
The Ducal Palace dates back to the 9th century and is one of the most beautiful of it’s time. At the beginning it was a fortress, which is why there were defensive walls, but in the 14th century it got burned and was rebuilt as a palace.
The most important Venetian art collection is located at the Academy, with works by Titian, Veronese, Tintoretto, Da Vinci and Canaletto.
It is well-known that the best ice-creams in a country specialist in this delicacy can be found in Florence and, especially, in Venice. The ice-cream parlour La Mela Verde is located near San Marcos Square and when you see the shop window you will begin to salivate. These ice-creams are a real feast for the eyes as much as for the taste. If you have a delicious cone, be very careful not to get the rental bus seats all dirty with ice-cream! You don’t want to listen to the words of an upset Italian coach driver.
Talking about the bus or coach that you have hired you must be aware that in the historic centre of Venice, around the Grand Canal you will only have a few means of transportation: your feet, the vaporetto or a gondola if you have enough money to spent (the prices for a ride on a gondola with a serenade included are very high). Therefore, your driver will have no choice but to take the afternoon or day off.
Venice cannot be visited without viewing it from the water. There are those who want a gondola ‘ride’ because they have seen it in the movies, or because they think it is a very romantic thing to do. There will be others also who, seeing the price of this tour, will prefer to take the vaporetto and share the trip with those traveling in a more economical way. You can rent a bus in Venice for tours in the city or in Veneto Region.
You cannot leave the city either without having lived it at night, although it can be admitted that it is not one of Italy"s liveliest cities. However, you can always take a drink at San Marcos square’s surroundings after dinner, as the Venetians do, knowing that your rental bus and driver will wait and you can drink without a problem!
You can rent a bus in Venice to make tours by the trafficable part of town or in the region of Veneto. Also you can rent a boat to move through the centre of the city, or take the vaporetto, i.e. the bus of the Venetians. Although there are many possible tourist routes in a unique city like Venice, the most essential thing to visit is without doubt the magnificent San Marcos Square with its Basilica, the Rialto Bridge, the Grand Canal, or the Accademia.
Your tour with private transport in a rented bus or coach with driver around Veneto can start at one of the many opportunities for leisure and tourism for all tastes in this region. Its capital is very famous worldwide for its canals and its gondolas, as well as its palaces of decadent beauty. But the region has much more... It has picturesque villages such as Desenzano sul Garda or Peschiere sul Garda, as well as cities of art and culture, such as the romantic Verona or the mystical Padua, and also lakes like the Garda Lake, beaches, and spas. In addition, in Veneto you can savour great food and taste good wine - although the wine area par excellence in Italy is Tuscany. For all these reasons, the region attracts millions of tourists throughout the year, and options of transport by rental 0bus or minibus are multiple.
The province of Venice is, without a doubt, the ideal destination for lovers of unique places and cities with a special charm, since it offers the possibility of visiting one of the pearls of the country, the lagoon of Venice.
Another important province is the Padua province, another suitable destination for tourists, since geographically it possesses Pre-alpine landscapes, many rivers, as well as cities that are worth visiting such as the capital of the province, whose architecture is part of UNESCO’s World Heritage.
If you or your group are planning a holiday in the region of Veneto, we suggest that you organize your itinerary in advance to avoid unforeseen problems, and take profit from your time as well as possible. On your tour with private transportation in a rental coach or minibus with chauffeur around Veneto, you can choose an excursion to the Lake Garda region, or a visit to the main towns and historical centres such as Padua, Verona and Treviso.
Lake Garda is the largest in Italy, and several provinces surround it, such as Brescia and the Veneto. It has more than 370 m2 and is located about 25 kilometres west of the city of Verona, which is a good starting point from which to visit the Lake by bus. The towns of Desenzano del Garda, Sirmione and Peschiera del Garda are the ones you can find in this section of the lake, and they are well worth the visit. In this last town you can see the Santuario della Madonna del Frassino, a small church of great beauty.
The city of Verona was declared world heritage by Unesco in the year 2000, because of the great architectural integration of different historical periods. In addition, the natural environment of the city, with the stunning Lake Garda at your feet, make it one of the most beautiful cities of Italy.
The historical Arena of Verona is a symbol of the city and it is also the third Roman amphitheatre in Italy because of its size, and during the summer it becomes the setting of big performances, concerts and lyrical seasons. Verona is famous also for being the city of love. Here is also the House of Juliet, with its famous balcony, evoking the tormented love story written by the most famous playwright of all time, William Shakespeare.
The Erbe Square brings together Roman architecture, medieval and Renaissance, and also from the nearby Tower dei Lamberti you can enjoy a panoramic view of the city. In the same square there is a Roman Theatre and a stone bridge of the same era. Since you are in Verona, and if it is already late, you can get close to the restaurant L"Osteria del Duca, where you will not be able to find a seat later than 7:30 pm! Another one of the must-see of the city is, of course, the balcony from which it is said that Juliet had her famous dialogues with Romeo under the moonlight.
Would you like to organize a bus tour to see all these beautiful highlights? Request quotes and compare the different bus and coach hire companies:
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