Venice: Waterbus fares
 

I am looking at the fares for waterbuses up and down the Grand Canal and am a bit confused by what seems to be conflicting information. I am looking at this site:
http://www.actv.it/english/navigazio...iffe_vaporetto

At the top of this page I see ordinary water services tickets cost 6.50 euro. I don't know that I understand the description of the services but they sound like waterbuses.

Toward the middle of the page I see single fare waterborne services for 1.10 euro. I can't tell the difference between these two fares.

Can anyone please clarify or provide insight into these fares? I'm looking to get from the train station to our hotel, close to San Marco, and back. We may also take one or two canal cruises on the waterbus just to see the city from the water.

The 1.10 Euro fare is only for residents.

You might want to consider one of the timed passes; it will generally come out as cheap or cheaper than 4 x 6.50 Euro, and it is more convenient.

16,00 € - 24 hours
21,00 € - 36 hours
26,00 € - 48 hours

Very confusing mdtravel, but Italian website often are imo.

I clicked around on the website and here is another page.

It sounds to me like the 1.10euro is for land service not waterservice, but who knows? I don't.http://www.actv.it/english/automobil...a=auto_tariffe

When you get there you can find out from the ticket office. Have a wonderful time in beautiful Venice!

Hi mdtravel,

We were in Venice less than two weeks ago. The 6.50 Euro ticket is good for one hour of transportation. There are ticket booths with long lines (fortunately the line moves quickly) as you exit the train station. It was less than a 10 minute ride to our stop near the Rialto Bridge. We spent the rest of the day and the following day exploring Venice on foot. On our third day we bought the 16 Euro 24-hour ticket which enabled us to cruise the canals, take a trip to Lido and return to the train station the following morning. It was less expensive this way than purchasing the 72 hour ticket. You will need to decide which ticket option works the best for you.

The standard fare of 6.50 euros is valid for 60 minutes (travelling in one direction) on vaporetti or waterbuses.
The fare of 1.10 euros is for holders of a CartaVenezia which non-residents can buy for 40 euros.
Tickets for 12, 24, 36, 48 or 72 hours are much better value.

mdtravel,
Definitely take advantage of the 24 hour waterbuss pass. You just hop off and on and it is sooooooooo
convenient. Have a great time. Venice is the best!

Hi mdtravel,

the crucial question is how long you are staying in Venice?

the longer you are there, the better value the passes become. in fact, if you are staying 4-5 days, a Venice card - blue or orange - may be even better for you that the basic vaporetto [water bus] passes. go to www.hellovenezia.com for further details.

but however long you stay, and however far you walk, they passes are always worthwhile, IMO. they not only cover all your boat travel within the Venice and the lagoon [so you get free travel to Murano, burano, Torcello etc] but also for the ACTV [land] bus from the airport.

and they give you freedom to walk further, as you don't have to worry about the cost of getting a boat back.

as examples, let me tell you about two of the days we spent in Venice at easter [admittedly they were the ones when we used the boats most, but we did use them every day].

Day 1 - from Rialto to St. Marks. over to san salute, then from the zattere to guidecca. another boat to san georgio [to climb the tower, hlaf the price of the one in st. Mark's square] then back to the Zattere, walk to ca rezoninco, boat back to rialto. I think that's 7 boats, which at 6.50 each boat is a tidy sum.

another day, we went out to Burano, caught the shuttle to Torcello, then back to Burano, caught the boat to Murano, then another that took us round to the giardino, and finally from st. Mark's back to the rialto. only 6 boats that day!

the weekly blue venice card is only 45E or so, so it paid for itself in one day or so.

who wants to spend their holiday worrying about whether they can afford to get on the vaporetto? or queuing for a ticket every time?

regards, ann

Thanks for all the great information folks. In that we will be taking the vaporetto to and from the train station and most likely another two times on our two day stay the 48 hour timed pass is pretty much a no-brainer at 26.00 euro.

As I recall from our last trip, all of us tourists seem to congregate at the ticket booth to the right as you exit the train station and the one to the left is relatively shorter in terms of lines.

I am confused..is there a 48 hour card thatwas mentioned...or just a 24 and 72 hour pass. I'm not sure what to get..We land in venice on a tuesday at 3pm...and we leave from the train station at noon on friday..so we will technically be there just a few hours under 72. I know we wan to take the Alilaguna from the airport to st marks square and walk to our hotel. We want to use the Vaporetto and traghetto's to get around....maybe got to Murano or Burano. My point is...is it worth it? it looks like a 3 days pass will cost aslmost 100 us dollars? Help!!! Any feedback is appreciated

IMO, unless you have some mobility issues or are very unfit, I find walking in Venice preferable over taking the vaporetto. We were in Venice for 5 days in 2005; I think we took the vaporetto a total of 3 times. We walked all over Venice the rest of the time. We also took the traghettos once or twice just to cross the canal. Those only cost €0,50 or €1.

yk - I suppose that yours and my experiences were rather different. in 6 days we used our 7 day pass everyday, and some days almost enough to pay for itself on that day alone.

Particularly if you want to go to the islands like Murano or burano, a pass comes into its own. one day, we got the boat to Burano, then over to torcello and back, back to Murano, than another boat to the giarndini, then a final one back from san marco to rialto.

or another day, we went down to san marco, over to san salute, then from the zattere to guidecca, across to san giorgio, back to the zattere, then up the grand canal to the rialto again. if we'd had to pay for every boat separately, the reality is that we wouldn't have seen half of those places.

Even if you don't intend to use them that much, they do enable you to wander off the beaten track knowing that when you get tired, you can just hop on a boat and get back to base.

regards, ann

Yes, ann, I think that if we had bought a vaporetto pass, we definitely would have used it more often.

But since clifbob is concerned about the cost of the 72hr pass (~$100 USD for 2 people), I'm just tellhing him that one can easily walk around in Venice (with the exception of visiting the islands, or course!).

We really enjoyed walking in Venice. We even walked all the way to Giardini and Arsenale to see the Venice Biennale, and then walked all the way back!

Since clifbob really has just 2 days in Venice
(plane LANDS at 3pm Tues; train LEAVES at 12noon Fri),
I'd recommend him just stay within Venice proper and not even try to visit Murano and/or Burano.

Here's the full current list of passes:

14,00 € - 12-HOUR TRAVELCARD
16,00 € - 24-HOUR TRAVELCARD
21,00 € - 36-HOUR TRAVELCARD
26,00 € - 48-HOUR TRAVELCARD
31,00 € - 72-HOUR TRAVELCARD

A single ride costs 6,50 €.

So do the math. For a 72-hour card to be worthwhile, you have to ride 5 times. How many times do you plan to ride? If you must take a vaporetto to arrive and depart your hotel, that's two rides. If you plan to go to Murano, that two rides more. One ride on the Grand Canal will bring you up to five rides.

You decide based on your plans.

Oh, by the way, the traghetti are not covered by the pass.

Just realized you arrive via Alilaguna. You will probably need to take a vaporetto to the train station from your hotel. You might want to ride the Grand Canal once, unencumbered by luggage. Add in a roundtrip to Murano = 4 rides

You might pay individual fares as you go or you might put all you boat rides into one 24- or 36-hour period. Since you'll probably need to head to the train station by about 11AM, you could first validate your 24-hour pass at 11AM the day before when you head to Murano. Once you're back from Murano, take a ride on the Grand Canal. Then ride as much as you want until you depart the next day.

Instead of spending 26,00 € on four individual tickets per person, you will have paid only 16,00 € for a 24-hour card, for a 10,00 € savings per person.

With only four rides, you'd still save on a 36-hour card.

Hi yk,

RESPECT!

you must be fitter than me. the simple truth is that unless we could get the boats back from wherever our wanderings have taken us, we wouldn't have seen as much as we did.

the OP could save money AND use the boats to their optimum by some clever planning and buying just 36 or 48 hour passes.

regards, ann

Hi ann, we were on our honeymoon :), so we found it more romantic to walk than to take the crowded vaporetto.

But both you and ellenem made an excellent point. clifbob should be able to save some € by buying a shorter duration pass and still get to ride the vaporetto quite a bit if he plans his routes/itinerary right.

yk - that makes quite a difference of course.

those who might like to take the water-bus and avoid crowds especially on the no 1 [which plies up and down the grand canal], should look at the no2 which stops less frequently - and is therefore faster and less crowded.

in fact, most boats are less crowded than the no 1.

regards, ann

clifbob this is for you.

when you arrive at Marco Polo, you will exit arrivals go to the first hallway and turn left. You will find the ACTV ticket office. You will purchase two (2) 72 hour ACTV passes. You turn around go to the main passage out, turn left and exit through the front of the terminal. You will proceed to the curb, where you will look around for a yellow box attached to a collumn where you will insert your tickets to be time stamped and validated. They are now good for 72 hours from that time.

You will wait for an orange ACTV bus. You will get on that bus and show the driver your pass. Stow your luggage overhead (you did remeber to pack light?) About 25 minutes later you will get off the bus at Piazzole Roma.

At P. Roma, you will proceed to vaporetto stop on the Grand Canal, a few steps. You will get on either the #1 boat or the #2 boat. The #1 stops at all the stops and the #2 is an express with fewer stops. The landings for these boats are clearly marked as are the boats. Plus as you look at the canal from the land, you will want a boat that is pointing to your right. You exit the vaporetto at San Marco-Valoresso turn right and proceed to Piazza San Marco where you will follow the directions from the hotel website to your hotel.

The cost for the 72 hour pass which will cover your every moment in Venice is currently 31 euros. It is cheaper than an Alilaguna fare plus a 36 hour pass by 2 euros, 12 + 21 = 33. And it's only 3 euros more than Alilaguna and a 24 hour pass.

Really do it this way, taking the bus and changing to the vaporetto is not that big of a deal.

hey eleenem,

you listed a 36 hour card...? is this the same casrd that includes the alilaguna.

tHANKS not bob,

I don't mean to sound cheap..i just wanted to get the best bang for my buck.on the other hand..I don't want to miss out either. Is the alilguna much more nice then taking the bus..as far as getting the whole Venice experince?

bookmarking

None of the passes I listed include the Alilaguna. The passes are for local ACTV public transport, which includes the vaporetti and the local bus described.

For your hotel location Alilaguna would be very convenient with fewer changes of transport and for a first visit you might find it exciting. The times I've taken the Alilaguna I didn't find it all that wonderful a way to arrive, unless your hotel is right near one of the stops. I felt restricted by the schedule and my trip to San Marco seemed to take forever. But I have to been to Venice many times and so was feeling antsy to get there rather than enthralled by the ride.

On my recent visits to Venice I used the bus, but opted for the slightly faster ATVO blue bus to Piazzale Roma, but I was staying near San Stae so this was the better option.

I've also taken a private water taxi, which is indeed a magnificent way to arrive.

clifbob - just trying to illustrate that if you are going to get a pass just get the 72 hour one and use it for the bus. It will cheaper and more efficient than Alilaguna and a shorter pass or individual tickets. the time to get to San Marco will be about the same. The Alilaguna makes a couple of stops before arriving at Venice and takes about an hour. Alilaguna as a boat is nothing special. It is a bit narrower than the vapoeretti and is enclose with hard fiberglass seats.

As ellenem says, they all have trade offs. Do the way I suggested ACTV all the way and you'll have to change transport. Use Alilaguna and you'll have to walk to the dock at the airport and wait for the next boat. It's rare that you'll hit it perfectly.

We have done both ways and lately have just taken the bus.

You are in the sweet spot for the 72 hour pass because it will cover your whole time in Venice and it is less than the price of 5 rides.

dear eleenem,

where are you from? sounds like you have been to venice Numerous times. It's going to be my first. We are staying at teh Riva near the spanish steps. Any restaraunt recommnedations?

I am from NYC and have friends in Italy so visit there a lot--more than 20 times.

I think you're a bit mixed up. The Spanish Steps are in Rome. You're satying at the Hotel Riva, near San Marco. I would wander away from that area for dinner. there are plenty of theads here that discuss options.

clifbob - I didn't mean to sound grumpy or cross in my first message, but most of the time when I am planning, I get to the point where i just want someone to tell me what to do and not give meany more choices. It was sounding like you were getting there.

There are several threads on food in Venice. One of the best is Franco's favorites.

Depending on how you are feeling with jetlag etc when you finally get checked in, you are not too far from one of our favortie places in Venice. Osteria Al Mascaron in Castello. You would just walk over to campo Santa Maria Formosa and the Osteria is just a few meters off the campo. Here is a website review.

http://www.italylogue.com/planning-a...in-venice.html

If you google them, you'll see they aren't very far.

If you like shrimp, try the canoce if they have them when you get there. Absolutely wonderful!

dear eleenem,

You must have some favorite places to eat while in venice(I'm originaly from jersey)

My most recent favorites are near where I was staying on Santa Croce . . . Trattoria Nono Risorto, Trattoria al Ponte Megio, Osteria Vecio Fritolin, Osteria La Zucca, Trattoria Alla Madonna. My biggest criteria in Venice: turn you back to piazza San Marco and keep walking, the further the better.