Take the vaporetto from the... by pinganille
Take the vaporetto from the railway station down the Canal Grande. This was the first thing I ever did when visitting Venice for the first time, and it was amazing. You get to see most of the splendour of the town and why it has impressed so many people. Step off at Piazza San Marco, and you have the best entrance/presentation of Venice:)A gondola ride. The ride was interesting, but the funny thing was the gondolier having a 'yelling' conversation with his friends about an important soccergame. It was old and present Venice at the same time:)The Italians lost by the way... snif.