ianni

We will be in Venice this June for 4 nights/5 days...is it a good idea to buy a 3 day pass? The VeniceCard says it provides free public transportation...along with many other discounts. Does this include vaporetto transportation? Are there other multi-day options? Thanks for your help here.

maryk

There is a 3 and 7 day Venice Card (valid for 72 & 168 hours respectively) and they come in two versions - the Blue Card includes vaporettos and public toilets & the Orange vaporettos, public toilets, the churches that are part of the Chorus group and the main civic museums. You can also get them including the Allilaguna fare to and from the airport.
The other option is to buy a 72 hour vaporetto ticket from any of the manned (which is most of them) vaporetto stops. These cost 25 euro.
I think it's worth getting one if you're in in Venice for a week, but for your stay you'd probably be better with a 3 day vaporetto pass.
Details on the Venice Card (and on-line ordering) are at www.venicecard.com

Lesli

http://www.venicecard.com/prezzi_eng.jsp

There are several variations, explained here. The public transport in Venice *is* the vaporetti, so that's included. You have the option to also include the Alilaguna to/from Marco Polo Airport.

As for whether it's "worth it" or not, you need to decide how much you'll walk versus taking the vaporetti, and whether you're interested in visiting the museums covered in the discount.

Type "venice card" into the search box to find many threads discussing this topic in great detail.

Neopolitan

I've never found the "all inclusive" Venice cards worth it. You might if you're doing a lot of the miscellaneous stuff it covers. On the other hand I always do a 72 hour vaparetto pass which covers you all the way to Murano, Burano, Torcello, and the Lido. When I have the pass, it's amazing how often I'll hop on a boat when I'm tired of walking, or just do one late at night or early in the morning for a wonderful perspective from the water -- the best place to observe Venice from.

dewdrops

ttt

Alec

With a walk-on fare of 5 euro a ride and 2 euro for short traghetto ride, 1 or 3-day travel cards are excellent value.
Venice card is probably not worth the extra, unless you want to visit most of the (relatively minor) churches.

ellenem

Also, if you are under 29 (I think) years of age, you should get the Rolling Venice Card. It costs 4 euros and offers transportation, museum, and restaurant discounts. My 20-year-old niece bought one on our recent trip at the same time as we were buying our 72-hour vaporetti pass at the Piazzale Roma landing. The Rolling Venice card made her pass just 18 euros instead of 25--an immediate savings that made up for the cost of the Rolling Venice card. She also used it for a 4 euro discount at the Doge's Palace. She received a pamphlet that listed restaurants and shops that offered Rolling Venice discounts, but she did not bother with them.

kappa

> ... 2 euro for short traghetto ride

Traghetto (a gondola just to cross the Grand Canal) is €0.40/0.50 per ride as far as I know.

Alec

50 cents is only for locals with a pass. 2 euro for everyone else!

Neopolitan

Interestingly, I've never taken a traghetto across the canal. Is it included with the 72 hour vaparetto pass? I've just never had a reason to do that.

And while I'm at it, once again a reminder that a 72 hour pass is not the same as a three day pass. Let's say you arrive at noon on Monday and validate your pass. It's good until Thursday at noon. That seems like four days, but of course it isn't, it just works for part of four days. Some people would throw them away on Wednesday thinking their three days is up.

Margaretlb

The traghetto is not included on the Venice card. Both times in venice, I purchased the Card; it was well worth it to me. The churches are accessible with the Chorus Pass which you can buy at a discount if you have a Venice card. Hmm, "relatively minor churches" indeed - not minor if you're an art lover. These "minor churches" contain great art and IMHO should not be missed! It's rare to see art of this magnitude still displayed in its place of origin which lends an additional level to its enjoyment.

kappa

Oh Alec, come on, you are mixing it up with something else UNLESS it's a very new pricing since a couple of month (last time I got on a traghetto paying 40/50 Euro was last December, between Santa Sofia and the fish market) which I doubt or we are not talking about the same thing. Is your traghetto to cross the Grand Canal? Traghetto has nothing to do "cards", you pay 40/50 cents, periode. Also it is not included in the vaporetto passes.

kappa

http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/...etto-fares.htm

ok, Alec what you are taking about is "biglietto traghetto" which is actually a sort of vaporetto ride while all others are talking about (I think) the gondolas to cross the Grand Canal as I already said. You can see the detailed explanations of those two on above site. Also I think this 2 Euro vaporetto fare is fairly recent one.

kappa

Even so, the following you said does not make sense. You mean you know locals with residence card pay 50 cents for short vaporetto ride?

> 50 cents is only for locals with a pass. 2 euro for everyone else!

ianni

Thanks everyone for this great info. Looks like there is not a single pass that covers all opportunities. Still, the 72 hr vaporetto pass seems like our best bet. Grazie to all.

Alec

I didn't make myself clear: single vaporetto ticket has jumped from 3.50 to 5 euro in Feb this year. What they call traghetto (ferry) fare is when crossing the Grand Canal on #1 vaporetto (i.e. just one stop), which is now 2 euro. Old recycled gondola trip ('gondola-traghetto') across Grand Canal is privately run (outside of ACTV municipal trasportation) is indeed 50 cents (or was last time I checked), cash only. http://www.gondolavenezia.it/homeng.asp with English translation