Hi, just got back from a weekend in Venice and thought I'd pass on some tips. We booked our hotel in Mestre (Sirio) as it was much cheaper than the island of Venice, especially at short notice. We Flew into Treviso with Ryanair. We had decided before leaving that we would get the 2-day Venice travel card. These cards were available from the ATVO desk at Treviso airport, along with the ticket to get to Venice on the blue bus. You have to 'activate' your blue bus ticket at the desk (there is a machine that time-stamps your ticket) The girls on the desk spoke good english. Don't activate your travel card until you reach Venice. These can be activated on the local buses or at the vaporetto (water bus) stops. The activation machines are usually an orange box situated behind the driver. You simply insert your ticket and it time-stamps it for you. You only need to do this once. Once activated then you just board the bus or vaporetto and take a seat. Sometimes they are checked so don't travel without an activated ticket. The travel cards are valid for land buses in Mestre and all vaporetto in Venice (including travel to the lido or other islands). If you are staying in Mestre, make sure you don't get the blue bus that goes direct to Venice, as there is one that stops twice in Mestre. The driver will point this out to you. All buses stop in Venice at Piazzalle de Roma. From here you can catch vaporetto to all routes. To travel back to Mestre, we used the bus No.2. The local buses are the orange ones. They run from the very early hours until very late at night, and usually every ten minutes or so. Don't confuse the bus numbers with the stand numbers, for example the no.2 bus can be caught from the no.6 stand. All the stands have a list of bus-stops en-route for the appropriate bus. The buses and vaporetto can be very busy all day, and the locals think nothing of standing whilst travelling. you are not guaranteed a seat at any time. If you have time to wander aimlessly the Venice without a map is delightful. It's easy to get lost in tiny streets, safe in the knowledge that at some point you will find a sign pointing to St.Marks or Rialto etc. However, if you are short on time, and looking for somewhere in particular, then I recommend that you buy a map as it is easy to get lost. If you are going to board a vaporetto, make sure it is going in the direction you want as they stop on both sides of the canals. Also, the vaporetto go from different piers in the same area, for example the no.42 at P.de Roma has two different piers for the boats to go in opposite directions, but on the same side of the canal. These piers are often approx 100m. apart. Hope these help.

Cheers

Mark