Here is a list of good things to know:

• Walk the streets of Venice at 6am, it is different from any other time. or late at night when the lights twinkle on the water.
• Toilets.  There are several public toilets (Servizi igienici pubblici) around Venice in popular tourist areas; they all charge 1 euro but are kept clean and tidy.  All cafes and bars have toilets and whilst, in law, they should allow anyone to use them, in practice it is customary to buy at least a cup of coffee.
• If a boat from a hotel travels to the glass factories om Murano, it may return on the other side of Venice.
• If the someone offers you a free boat ride to MURANO to see the glass blowing factories, should you decide not buy anything, they will NOT return you back to where you came from. They will give you a "ticket" to take the public boat - if you are lucky, otherwise you are just left to your own devices.  It is easy to go to Murano on your own on the 41 or 42 water buses  (Tickets 6.50 euros for a 60 minute voyage in any one direction). Get off at the Colonna or Faro landing stages for many glass factories or at the Museo landing stage if you wish to visit the Glass Museum in Palazzo Giustinian or the lovely Veneto-Byzantine church of Santi Maria e Donato with a fine mosaic floor of 1140AD
• The glass at MURANO is overpriced. Make sure you check ebay before leaving to see the prices of the vases to be able to buy at the right price. Example: A 1000 Euro vase at Murano can be found at Piazza San Marco for 200 Euro in one of the more upscale expensive stores. There is more competition at the stores by San Marco because they are near each other hence they cannot put totally outrageous prices.  The same vase though sells for 40 Euros at Burano!   If the seller gives a 30% discount...laugh at that because you should be getting 95% discount.  Beware that some unscrupulous people sell glass imported from the East and sell it as Murano glass.
• The concierge and the boat men get a cut when you buy something at Murano.
• Burano cannot be reached on the 41 or 42 water buses.  You have to take the Linea N ferry which sails from Fondamenta Nove, calls at Faro landing stage on Murano and then sails on to Mazzorbo before reaching Burano. The Linea N continues its journey and could, if you wish, take you on to Treporti and Punta Sabbioni before returning to Venice.  See www.actv.it for details of timetables. There is an interesting small Lace Museum on Burano but sadly very little hand made Burano lace is available nowadays.  Almost all the lace on sale in the shops on Burano is machine made lace imported from abroad.
  
• The gondola rides are expensive tourist attractions or romantic tours, depending on your personal opinion.  80 Euros for 20 to 30 minutes is outrageous!  The official rates for gondolas, published on The Gondola website is 80 euros for a 40 minute ride, plus 40 euros for every further 20minutes. After 7 p.m. the official rate goes up to 100 euros for 40 minutes, and a further 50 euros for every extra 20 minutes.  For this you hire the whole gondola, which will take a maximum of 6 passengers but the cost is no greater if you only have two of you in the gondola.
• Planning to take a coffee and sit at St Mark? Beware of the hidden covercharge. The sign said "8 Euro" for the coffee. So that means 16 Euro for 2. However, when the bill arrives, don't get shocked to see 55 Euros for 2 coffees. The explanation? The place charges for sitting on their chair and listening to their orchestra!   If you wanta reasonably priced coffee or a spritz or a glass of prosecco there are many other fine campos in Venice - try Campo Santa Margherita or Campo San Polo for instance.  You will not have the orchestras to listen to but they are still lovely spaces in which to sit and watch the world go by.
• Fixed price "tourist dinner" may be cheaper than ordering a plate of spaghetti because the latter does not include the famous cover charge!  But no guarantees about quality with Menu Turistico.   "Pane e Coperto" is charged per head and many restaurants now  make a service charge of 10 or even 15 % on top of everything else. Do read the menu posted outside very carefully before entering so you know what you are commited to.
• The famous Venetian masks are also overpriced, look for them online.
• Take out your camera at sunset for truly stunning pictures.
• Be very careful when ordering food, especially fish, from sidewalk cafes.  The quality of the food may well be outstanding and delicious, but the price may give you a heart attack.  Read the menu and you will see that fish is often sold by weight, not by the piece.  7 Euros means 7 Euros per etto (100 grams), so 1 piece of fish weighing 5 etto will cost 35 Euros.  No fish, no matter how good-tasting, is worth that much money.  Do enquire before ordering such a dish.
• Beware the jewellery being sold in the boutiques near St. Mark's square.  The items are very costly and upon closer examination you will find they are quite junky.  
• Do check out the wine shops the locals frequent . They have these big glass bottles in a basket and pump the wine out into any receptacle you have , be it a water bottle or anything else . These wines may be better value than any regular bottled you can buy though not necessarily better quality. It is what the locals use as their daily wine ,and sometimes better than regular bottled .In any case its a lot of fun and worth a visit. Of course they have many different types and prices.    
•  Do use the free hotel monthly exhibition booklet. It provides details of concerts, shows around the town for that month , exhibitions and other useful information.   "Un'ospite di Venezia (Guest in Venice) is published fortnightly in high season and monthly at other times.  It is available free of charge in most Hotels.
• A Rolling Venice Card is charged at 4E but can give you great discounts for certain sites. It is only avaialble for 15-29 year olds (Juniors). Buy this with the 3day transport pass at Marco Polo airport for 22E each.
• A free Venice map was given out along with the transport ticket pass at the airport (essential for first timers). Everywhere else, they seem to charge for the map, including the tourist office..  Many Hotels will have free copies of Venice street maps available at their Reception.