Will be visiting Venice for the first time and getting around seems a bit confusing. I know that the gondolas are expensive but what about the vaporettos and water taxis? Can you buy a multi day pass? How do I get from the airport to the city? All help would be appreciated. Thanks

No one uses a gondola for transport. Water taxis are also very expensive. You can buy vaporetto passes; see
http://www.actv.it/english/navigazio...iffe_vaporetto

Most people take the blue express ATVO bus from the airport directly to Piazzale Roma for 3 Euro and then a vaporetto. If you want to save 3 Euro, buy your ACTV pass at the airport and take the local orange bus to Piazzale Roma.

Here's information on vaporettos (water bus)
http://www.actv.it/english/home.php


Lots of notes on Slow Trav.
http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/venice/index.htm

If you use the search box above and type in "venice and taxi" or "vaporetto" you'll find plenty of discussions.

You can also take one of the Alilaguna lines from the airport to central Venice. It's a 10-minute walk to the dock, it takes longer, and it's more expensive, but some people seem to like it.
http://www.alilaguna.it/

Hi A,

Read a good guide book for all your answers.

Here's an excellent site which should answer most of your questions:

europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/vaporetto_routes2_table.htm

We had 6 days in Venice a few years ago. We bought a 7 day transport pass each, when we first got off the train in Venice and used it every day on the vaporettos. The vaporettos are just like buses, only on the water, and are used extensively by locals and tourists. You just have to figure out which direction you want to go in and wait for the vaporetto to come alongside the dock, along with everyone else. Watch your footing getting on board, as the boats rock sometimes. I saw a woman trip over, she wasn't hurt, just shaken.

We used the 7 day pass to go out to Burano and Murano as well. It was incredibly handy, no queuing for tickets each time we wanted to go somewhere and we didn't have to worry about validating (date/time stamping) tickets either. This was done once, when we bought the ticket.

We did get a gondola ride once, it was very expensive and not as good as I had hoped, very commercial. The best thing was that you are taken into the narrow side canals and get a different view of Venice, looking up at the bridges and people. I'm glad I did the gondola ride but wouldn't do it again.

Kay

7-day vaporetto pass has been discontinued since about 5 years now. You can see the details on the actv site posted above but there are today, 12hr, 24hrs, 36hr, 48hrs and 72hr as far as I remember. 72hr pass costs now about €31. That's a huge increase considering I paid €22 a few years ago but still a good value if it fits your travel plan. For 7 days, there is Venicecard that includes vaporetto, public toilets, Museums (state museums only) but they are not a good value at least for me for what it offers so I have never bought it.

I read also there is a type of Venciecard that also includes Alilaguna airport shuttle. For some people it may be worth.