We will be staying in Crowneplaza in Pudova and will be going to Venice Island for three days. Would we be better off buying a rail pass? If so, where can we buy such a pass? Would such a pass be good on fast trains?
Will appreciate any information/guidance. Of course, we can always ask the hotel after we check in, but it is better to have some information before hand.
Thanks,
---Pradip V. Mehta
Good heavens no. It is only 4.15 EUR ticket and trains run 4 times an hour. They alternate between Regionali which make all the stops and take 50 minutes and Regionali Veloce express that take 27 minutes. There are also Freccia trunk line trains, but they are much more costly but no faster than Regionale Veloce trains.
Schedule at http://www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en
Be sure to use the correct Italian spelling for city names, Padova and Venezia S. Lucia.
Your hotel is a ways from the train station, but there is a U13 bus that runs on the street your hotel is on. It makes its way to the train station. Hotel should have time table and costs.
I assume you mean Padova?
As Sam mentioned, a rail pass would definitely not be cost effective! Keep in mind that if using the fast trains, these have compulsory seat reservations which are NOT included with rail passes. You'd have to pay separately out-of-pocket for those.
I'd suggest using Regionale trains as much as possible, and particularly the Regionale Veloce as they're about as quick as the fast trains (for much less money). Current fares are listed at €4.15 PP each way. You can see all the solutions on the Trenitalia website.
One important point to add is that with locally purchased Regionale tickets, you *must** validate these prior to boarding the train on the day of travel or risk hefty fines, which will be collected on the spot! DON'T forget, as the fine is about €50 PP! The same applies to Vaporetto tickets in Venice (in that case, the validation machine is electronic - if you get a green light, you're good to go).
If you are going into Venezia every day, a vaporetto pass might be a good idea. You can use it as many times as you want in the islands of Venezia, just tap it in the validation machine each time you use it.
Agree, only buy the train tickets when you need to get from Padova to Venice.
Agree the 72 hour vaporetto is a must do. We used ours literally to the minute.
Padova is really great.
The Scrovegni Chapel (make reservations!!) http://www.cappelladegliscrovegni.it/index.php/en/ is fantastic as is the Basilica of St. Anthony. You must do both in my opinion at a minimum if going and staying in Padova.
Have a nice dinner in Venice - but not in Venice - take the vaporetto to Lido, walk down the main street in Lido to "Parco delle Rose". Great food, wonderful setting. Reasonable and fun. Just past the little arcade .
