have any of you used the orange venice card?
is it a true saver, or simply a convience, or an expensive convience? we will be in Venice for 3 days, plus a trip back to the station on the 4th morning, which means we would have to buy the 7 day ticket to take advantage of the transportation back to the station. total cost 7 day 2 people 132 euros
approx $158.00 US

I can't help with the Orange Card but if they do a 3-day option won't it work out cheaper to buy a 3-day card and then just buy a one-off ticket to get you to the station on the morning you are leaving Venice?

I found the 3-day (or it may be 72 hour) vaporetto pass for €22 to be a worthwhile investment. Even better since it was actually €15 with a Rolling Venice card but that's only available to under 30s.

Just got back from Venice a week ago. Didn't buy the Orange Card; simply bought the 72 hour pass. It was a time and money saver. I think we got to see more of Venice because we could hop on and off the vaporetto at will.

On the fourth day, your trip to the station will run you €5.00 per person; any boat that runs on the Grand Canal is €5.00; other routes are €3.50.

I assume tou mean the train station. If you mean the airport terminal, consider Alilaguna, it's a boat taxi that runs from select stops about Venice, and takes an hour to get to the airport, and costs €10.00 per person, a significant savings over a private taxi, which I think run €80.00, but are a lot faster.

You would really need to look at what the Orange Card covers, which museums are free with it, and decide if you will be going to these places. If not, then it is a waste of money. Just get the 72-hour vaporetto pass for 22E and pay 5E for your last ride back to the station. Since you talk about the station, I assume you're not coming from or going to the airport. Even then, 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.

thanks for all your advice. and yes, we are arriving and departing Venice via the train station. also, at a risk of sounding hyper-cheap--does the 72 hr vaporetto pass mean 72 hrs from the first time stamp, or 3 calendar days?
If it is actually 72 hours, then the
3 day pass includes our entire stay.

It's good for 72 hours.

thanks eloise- that is very helpful. I will also research the other museum passes and figure out what would be the best all around plan. I am assuming that the vaporetto pass includes Murano?

The vaporetto pass includes Murano, Burano and Torcello as well as the smaller islands.

If you will be visiting a number of churches, you might look into the Chorus pass:

http://www.chorusvenezia.org/english/home_eng.htm

9 Euro to visit quite a number of churches; individual admission to each of the churches is 2.50 Euro.