Abdullah_Diaey

Hi all, I will go to Venice next week and want to know somethings.
What is the best way of transportation there?
How is the weather?
Is there any daily pass for buses or train?

Mimar

There is no subway or train within Venice. The only public transportation is by water bus, called a vaporetto. Otherwise you go on foot or take a water taxi. Here's information about vaporetto fares and passes: www.actv.it/en/movinginvenice/movinginvenice.

As for the weather forecast, here's another website: www.weatheronline.co.uk/Italy/Venice.htm.

nytraveler

There are no roads in Venice - so no trains or buses. There are only canals. So you can walk along the canals or take the vaporetto (local boat - making regular stops like a bus).

Since the area is small walking is often best to get anywehre. But when ariving from the airport - with luggage - you won't want to haul it over a lot of bridges. You need to contact you hotel and find out where the nearest dock is - and how to get from there to your hotel.

You don;t say if you are flying or training into Venice - and how to get to the vaporetto system differs.

For weather have a look at weather.com or another site that has forecasts for the next week or so,.

Abdullah_Diaey

Thanks, I'm flying to Venice.

klondiketoo

For the vaporetto, we chose the pass option (vs. buying single tickets) and felt it was a good value, not only simplifying the experience but allowing us greater flexibility to 'hop on-hop off' when we saw something that interested us. We purchased ours out in front of the train station terminal, where all the buses drop off/pick up passengers.

While walking is an essential part of the Venice experience, the easiest way to get from tourist point A to tourist point B is often by water. It's also very relaxing or a great way to study masses of humanity, depending on the time of day, while enjoying great architecture through the canals.

If you are staying several days, be sure to take a side trip to the islands of Murano and Burano, which have very distinct personalities, different from Venice.

Mimar

There are 3 ways to get from Marco Polo airport into Venice proper: bus, water shuttle (Alilaguna) or water taxi. The taxi is very expensive but a great way to enter the city. The Alilaguna is cheaper and only makes certain stops. But it too allows you to arrive by water. The bus takes you to the Piazzale Roma, near the train station. You can then catch a vaporetto to go elsewhere in the city. Or walk.

Here's information about the different methods of arrival: http://www.veniceconnected.com/node/1289

I urge you to stay in Venice proper, not on the Lido and not in Mestre. You miss so much of the experience if you don't stay in the city.

nytraveler

You need to contact your hotel and ask them where the nearest dock is for the vaporetto or alliguna. Without that info you will be lost.

Abdullah_Diaey

So what are your suggestions Mimar for accommodation in Venice? As I booked in Mestre but I can cancel the booking.

Thanks for replies.

Mimar

What is your hotel budget per night? What kind of a room do you want? Single, double/twin, quad?

Abdullah_Diaey

The one I booked is almost 40$ / night. Single room for sleep will be ok. I will stay 6 nights.

Mimar

Without knowing your exact dates, I looked at booking.com and venere.com. There are some very inexpensive youth hostel rooms and some slightly more expensive options, like the Hotel Bernardi Semenzato in Cannaregio (a neighborhood of Venice) for $250. Both these web sites allow you to specify single rooms and have a map to show where the hotels are located. Rooms in Venice are more expensive, but you gain so much more in the experience of staying in Venice itself.

Good luck.

Mimar

To be clearer, that was $250 for 6 nights at the Hotel Bernardi Semenzato.

MelJ

arvedg, my group of seven people will be in Venice from about noon on July 5 to around 6 am on June 7th. I can't remember the cost of individual alleguna rides, but I don't anticipate taking that many in so short a time. The 72-hour pass (including the round trip from the airport) is, I believe, e46.

Can you remind me of the cost of the inividual rides so I can decide whether we should purchase the pass or just get the airport round trip pass (e24) and buy single alleguna passes as needed.

Thanks!

arvedg

MelJ,

just to make sure we're talking about the same: you probably think of the regular waterbus service, these boats up and down the canal, around the island and so on for daily use hopping on and off. Those are the Vaporetto.

There is also a company called Alilaguna, but mainly it serves as airport shuttle. A single ride from/to the airport with Alilaguna would be 15 Euro.

The regular waterbus service in town, the Vaporetto, is 6.50 Euro a single ride - even if you just cross the canal for 2 minutes aboard. Travel passes begin from 16 Euro, details you can find at the official website of Actv, the Vaporetto running company: http://www.actv.it/en/movinginvenice/movinginvenice

If your group arrives at the airport there are travel passes including airport transfer with public bus line no. 5. For prices of those combined tickets you might check the online booking system: http://www.veniceconnected.com/buy/calendar

Yo will have to enter your arrival date and son on ... Online usually you get a (sometimes major) discount. You receive a code which you enter in the ticket machine at the airport or in town for the ticket. No hassle.

Have a nice stay! Arved

MelJ

arvedg:

Many, many thanks for your insight. That's what I was looking for. Yes, I meant the vaporetto for the daily water rides, but the Alilaguna offers a pass that includes the round trip airport run and 72 hours of riding. I assumed the 72-hours is for the vaporetto, but now I'm guessing that it's for the Alilaguna.

I'll check the sites you offered above.

Thanks again!
Mel