victoria_reynolds

I'm trying to get a handle on whether we should consider the various pass options for transportation.. We're a party of 2 senios, 2 juniors in vaporetto lingo. Do the following trips/admissions justify purchasing a pass? We're planning to arrive in Venice on a Tuesday (Day 1) From past experience on arrival in Europe we're pretty jetlagged and/or under the weather, so probably we'll opt for the water taxi (ouch!) to the hotel. That day will be a walking day if we explore a bit...The next (Day 2) , we will go to the St. Mark area (Doges Secret Itinerary, St, Mark's cathedral) from our Dorsoduro hotel (La Calcina)...this could be a vaporetto trip or not. Following day (Day 3) , we're planning on visiting Burano and Torcello (which I think requires a Laguna Nord vaporetto). We may do a gondola ride one evening (obviously that would not be included in the passes if we got them). Finally, we'll need transportation to the train station the last day (Day 4) I suspect we'd be best to walk and/or buy the tickets as needed...Is the admission to public toilets being included a big deal?

Rhea58

In a word -- No.
the Grand Canal tickets are 5,00E;
any other line 3.50.
I don't have the pass prices at hand
but Unless you are making many
trips I found it was not worth it.

The pass that includes the toilets
are only worth it if you have a medical
condition and/or use diuretics as a
single visit is 1E.
note there is no disc for seniors as
I recall.

mclaurie

You should really consider taking the Alilaguna from the airport to the hotel. If you take the one that stops at Zattere, it stops right near your hotel. I think the alilaguna is 10e/person so you'd pay 40e for the trip rather than over 80.

You can walk to San Marco the following day or ride. I think if there were a 3 day pass it might make sense, but since there isn't, just pay as you go.

Try to take a ride along the Grand Canal by vaporetto. Consider it another view of Venice rather than transportation.

victoria_reynolds

There is a 3 day vaporetto pass which costs 22 E for each senior (over 30 years old) and a Blue Venice Card for 3 days for 29 E. I'd have to add 10 E for the one way airport transportation on the Alilaguna if we opted for that. I'm not sure if these passes cover the islands, though, which would be one of the pass days. It sounds like we could be paying 22 E for 2 or 3 vaporetto rides...it seems we should pay as we go unless I am missing something...perhaps if the Laguna Nord is included, it would be worth it..I'll have to research that again.

Eloise

The vaporetti that go to Burano and Torcello are part of the pass. If you time it correctly, and assuming that you leave Venice quite early the next day, you can buy a one-day pass (11 Euro, when I was last there), which is good for exactly 24 hours. (You stamp it the first time you use it.) You can take it to and from Burano and Torcello, do a ride on the Grand Canal, and use it to get to the train station the next morning.

SusanP

If you decide you don't want to pay the high price of the water taxi from the airport, the 72-hour pass covers the orange ACTV bus (not the blue ATVO bus) from the airport to Piazzale Roma, then just take a vaporetto from there to your hotel. This way, your 22E covers your trip from the airport as well as any vaporetto rides while you're there. You would have to buy one additional ticket for the ride to the train station. Very easy to buy the pass at the airport (note you have to have cash, no credit cards for this), walk out the front door to catch the orange bus, it takes about 20 minutes to get to Piazzale Roma.

mclaurie

I'm so sorry, victoria, I mistakenly thought the 3 day vap. pass had been eliminated and it has not. Here's the page with info on all the various prices

http://www.actv.it/english/navigazio...iffe_vaporetto

After a lot of trouble I found some maps of the various vaporetti routes here

http://www.venice-rentals.com/info/routes.html

You may notice that to take a vaporetto from the closest stop to you, Zattere, you'd go the long way round (heading left) and go down the Grand Canal to get to San Marco. This might be a worthwhile trip. Otherwise, walking is not far. You'd head to the Accademia bridge and walk over.

If you really think you'll only use the vaporettos to get to/from the outer islands and then to the train station, perhaps you should only buy a tickets for those trips. As Eloise says, maybe a 24 hr pass could cover both.

All the hotels offer FREE transport to Murano in hopes you will buy something there. Others report just leaving the group and paying their own way back or on to Torcello.

I was suggesting the alilaguna to the hotel as the stop is so close to La Calcina. Perhaps see when you arrive when the next Zattere alilaguna leaves and decide based on how long you'd have to wait. The water taxis and the alilaguna leave from the same general area.

yk

I also agree that the vaporetto pass is not a good deal for you. I was in Venice in October and thought about buying one, but we ended up just walking a lot, which was much more fun than taking the vaporetto.

Since there're 4 of you, I highly recommend taking a water taxi. Me and DH took the Alilaguna, and yes, it was much cheaper than the taxi, but it took forever. Zattere is the last stop, and it takes almost 90 minutes to get there from the airport (vs 20 minutes by taxi). We (in our early-30s) swore that next time we fly into Venice, we'll take the water taxi instead.

Eloise

I also think the Alilaguna takes an age. Consider the ATVO (fast express, not the ACTV) to Piazzale Roma and vaporetto 51 from there to Zattere; 51 doesn't use the Grand Canal, so it costs less than 5 Euro. (Just be sure you get the 51 going in the right direction; I think it's one of the lines that does a circle from both directions. If you take the right one, Zattere is the third stop.) A water taxi costs 80 Euro and up, which I for one would much prefer to spend on a good dinner, or even two good dinners.

victoria_reynolds

As far as the "normal' vaporetti go (not the alilaguna boat or water taxi), would we get dirty looks/rude remarks boarding with a fair amount of luggage (say 1 roller suitcase and a carry-on per person)? I thought I'd head people had felt a little unwelcome with baggage, though it might depend on the time of day too...

Eloise

It does depend a little on the time of day whether your luggage gets dirty looks or not - and whether you are made to pay a fee for it. But in all the times I've been to Venice (about 10, at last count), I've always taken my luggage (one largish suitcase, with rollers after they came in) on the vaporetto 1 or 82 (Grand Canal), and I've never been asked to pay. And if there were dirty looks, I've forgotten them.

SusanP

I also got on the vaporetto with a rolling suitcase plus carry-on and didn't have any problem or get dirty looks. If I had gotten them, I would have ignored them. I had the 72-hour pass, and that also covers any luggage, so didn't pay any extra for it. If you're going to go that way, it makes more sense to take the ACTV bus as I mentioned, since it's covered by the pass. There is very little difference in the length of time to Piazzale Roma between ACTV or ATVO bus.

maryk

I always buy a Venice Card - but that's mainly because I LOVE a trip on the vaporettos up and down the Grand Canal - a great way to both start and finish each day in Venice! If you're not wanting to buy the 3 day Venice Card you could always get the one day card once you're there. Don't forget that you can use a tragetto to get from near your hotel across to the St mark area - it leaves from just near Salute.
As far as getting a water taxi from the airport - I'd say absolutely do that - (particularly after a long flight)- it's a glorious way to arrive in Venice and with 4 of you will be not much more expensive than the Allilaguna and much, much quicker. The bus from the airport drops you at Piazzale Roma which then means a vaporetto from there to Salute.