Transportation in Venice

Vaporetto pass is pricey, but for us it was worth it. It's actually an attraction in its own right to ride, if the boats are not too crowded. You could get by without it if you must, certainly.

We were in Venice at the end of May and other than our trip to Murano, we did not use the vaporetto. Venice is a beautiful place to walk. We did get recommendations to take the vaporetto for siteseeing, but we never got around to it.

Sandy

Even if you don’t get the pass I HIGHLY recommend doing the RS audio guide of the Grand Canal. It starts at the train station, but to get a front seat take a vapereto from St Marks to the BUS station get off then get on again to sit up front. The audio tour starts as you leave to stop at the train station. Really fun way to get to know the sights along the Grand Canal.

if you are there for a few days, get the vaproretto pass. It's wonderful for just being able to hop on and hop off wherever and whenever you want.

I also recommend the Rick Steves audio tour via vaporetto. We took it and enjoyed it very much.

Yes, Venice is very walkable, but it is a large city really, and you can get around so easily with the vaporetto.

Some people visiting Venice walk a lot, some take a lot of vaporetti, and some - like me - do both. I bought a 72 hour vaporetto pass, and it paid off by the end of the first day!

The only places you can't walk are the islands outside of the six main sestieri, such as Giudecca, Lido, Murano, Burano, and Torcello. However, some places are truly much easier to connect with a vaporetto ride than a long convoluted walk.

I went to San Michele (the cemetery island) my first day, which is part of what made the pass such a good value for me. Also remember that while the passes seem expensive, so are individual rides, so if you take more than a few rides a day, the pass pays off quickly. If you are having a day when you decide to go to an outer island, you can always buy a pass just for that day.

FYI, S. Lucia train station is IN Venice -- where is the location of your AirBnB ? It might be possible to walk, hauling your bags, if you have the time and the energy. But as others have advised, vaporetto is more than transportation, it's an experience in itself. (What really-old-timers would call an E-ride.)
We get a pass for the number of days of the trip -- take one Grand Canal trip in the daytime and another at night just for the views. Maybe a ride to an island and back. Plus using the vaporetto when we're tired or hot and just want to get home to the hotel.

Think of it this way. A 1-day pass is 20 EUR, 2-day is 30 EUR, 3-day is 40 EUR. Single rides are 7.50 EUR. You stated you need rides to and from Santa Lucia station, so there is 15 EUR right there, leaving 25 EUR, which taking 4 additional rides will be past your break even point.

One useful little journey is to San Giorgio Maggiore island to go to the top of the Campanile. No line, much cheaper than the San Marco Companile, and a great view, looking accross the lagoon to Piazza San Marco.

Another, an afternoon trip to Murano. Then you've paid for the pass.

One of the fascinations with Venice is that the city "buses" are boats. Watch the teamwork of the Capitano and the conductor docking the boat at each stop, letting passengers off and new ones on and then off to the next stop.

Riding the vaporettos also gives a view of how the city works. How goods are delivered to stores, how UPS packages get delivered, how the garbage gets removed. Ambulances are the only boats that get to tear around the canals at high speed, everyone else it's a no-wake zone.

It mostly depends on where you're staying. Some places are so central that you may not take the vaporetto more than once or twice. Other places may mean 30-40 minute walks to get to and then from sights - and that could be more than once a day if you want to go back to your room before dinner. If you are staying in the Dorsoduro, the vaporetto can be useful to cross the Grand Canal, rather than walk a somewhat long distance to get to a bridge. You can also use a traghetto to get across the canal but the service can sometimes be sketchy.

This was our 6th trip to Venice in In late May. In the past we purchased the Vaporetto pass on line and went to the kiosk outside the train station to pick up the pass itself. This year I did the same but we came by bus from the airport and went to the kiosk in Piazza Roma. They would not take my print out of the purchase but sent me to a machine. There is absolutely no instructions on how to obtain the pass. I went back to the kiosk 3 times and they would not help me. Finally, I pleaded with the lady and she took my paper work and within 3 minutes I had my passes. I would wait in future to purchase the Vaporetto pass when you get there. It may be a bit cheaper on line. Perhaps someone could comment if there is a price differential.

I forgot to mention, like the others it is a good idea to get the pass. we were there only 2 days this time and used it at least 7 times.

Thank you everyone!
Still don’t mind receiving more info!
And loved the RS tour suggestions.
Appreciated Sam’s, Chani’s and Shelley’s suggestions.
And btw Laura, didn’t realize the train station location. Thought it was on “mainland.” Anyway just found out that our bnb is literally a 7 min walk away. And we are traveling light! Lol

If you are walking to your B and B instead of using the vaporetto, you might consider getting just a 24-hour pass for some part of your stay and grouping all your travel to the other islands (Giudecca, San Giorgio, and/or Murano) and the Grand Canal “cruise” with audio tour into that time frame. Especially since you enjoy walking and running.

When we spent a month in Venice a few years back, we only used the vaporetti upon arrival and for one 24-hour period. The rest of the time we walked everywhere. It is the best way to enjoy Venice, in our view.

For the 24-hour pass, we activated it at 11 am one day and headed to San Servolo for a short visit, then returned to the San Marco area and rode over to San Giorgio to admire the church. Then we rode down the Giudecca canal and around to Piazzale Roma to catch the No. 2 for a ride down the Grand Canal. We walked from San Marco to Fondamenta Nove to catch a boat to Murano, walked around there a bit, then rode back to Venice at sunset on a nice uncrowded boat. We sat outside for a “sunset cruise”. Then rode around the outside of the island, going clockwise, to see the lights at night.

The next morning we headed to the farm island of Sant’ Erasmo to take a nice long walk in the rural landscape. (It would be a good place for a run, or a bike ride as well, but probably doesn’t fit into a short visit to Venice.). We overstayed our 24-hour pass and had to pay for the return, but it was worth it for the experience of seeing this side of Venice.

Speaking of running, there are wide sidewalks along the Zattere (Dorsoduro) and from San Marco area out toward the Giardini that are OK for running in the early morning. We also ran back and forth over the Rialto Bridge (10 times each way) in the morning before it became crowded. At 7 am we had it mostly to ourselves. . . .

The on-line price and the over the counter price for vaporetto passes are the same. There is no point buying the pass on line.

Wow, thanks Lola
Your itinerary looks like a winner. Will able to do it!

Thanks Peter, I believe I will wait to buy when I get there, thanks again!

There is an ACTV - Venice transportation- store at the train station. That’s where we bought our 72 hr pass and also an excellent map

It is best to buy the pass for the vaporetto, other wise the price per trip is ridicules.
The cost and crowds in Venice are some of the reasons I will never return.

Chani, I'm interested in your comment about traghetto service being sketchy. I used the traghettos numerous times, but that was 10 years ago. Have they changed? And what is the cost now? Just curious. Thx.

The traghetto service at San Barnaba no longer operates, nor does the service down stream from Rialto.

In addition to those discontinued services, it seemed to me that they stopped fairly early in the evening and trips during the day were dependent on having a minimum number of passengers.

Yes, the early stoppage of the traghetti caught me by surprise too. Since many of the the vaporetti run until about midnight or 1 AM, I assumed the traghetti would also run in the evening, and they don't. I forget the time they stop, but I think some are as early as 4 PM or so (so, I couldn't even use them to get to dinner - much less back from dinner).

I bought a 3 day pass when we were in Venice, and found it was a waste of money...we walked EVERYWHERE! That's really how you get the best sense of the city. However, it comes down to how much walking you can do each day. When departing Venice with luggage you will want to get on a vaporetto; especially to get over to the train station.

Thanks Kapri
Yes, as I research more, I agree with you. We aren’t doing the tourist thing and want to “wander” an get lost by foot. We definitely are walkers. Thanks everyone for your input!

didn’t realize the train station location. Thought it was on “mainland.”

Just for the avoidance of confusion, there are two main train stations in Venice (and 2 or 3 more small ones).

The main station, and the one on the islands, is Venezia Santa Lucia. That's the one with the fabulous view of the Grand Canal from the top of the steps as you leave the station.

A main junction station for Venice, especially for trains continuing to or from Trieste and other parts northeast, is Venezia Mestre. It is the one on the mainland, and it is very much a standard mainland station with adjacent bus stops, car silos and big chain hotels across the street. Mestre is part of the commune of Venice - it is part of the mainland part of the city.

Don't confuse it with Venezia Santa Lucia.

I do NOT recommend using the app if you do purchase Venezia Unica cards to use the transit. The QR code we were given for our app NEVER worked (looked like it should work, counted down our 72 hour limit) but was not recognized by 5 different reader machines we tried. The staff at the booth could not get it to work, refused to let us speak with a supervisor and claimed they could do nothing to help us because we had tried the app. We have not had reply from the ACTV company. The suggestion of the staff was to climb under the turnstile of the vaporetto station and hope our tickets were not checked (and we did see security staff checking). So again - DO NOT TRUST THE APP. Maybe the paper ticket option would work......

If you do decide to buy a vaporetto pass, just buy it at any attended ticket selling kiosk. There is no cost saving from buying it on line.

All of central Venice can be reached on foot, exceptions being San Georgio, Giudecca, Murano, Mazzorbo, Burano and Torcello. (Other exceptions are Lido, Certosa, Vignole and Sant’ Erasmo but these islands are less attractive to most visitors.)

You stated you need rides to and from Santa Lucia station

Well I read your post differently, so I recommend against a three day pass. I walk all over Venice and only use vaporetto for going to the Islands. I recommend a one day pass to visit Murano, Torcello, and Burano. Or a two day pass if you also want to visit the Lido and Giudecca and take the ride through Canale Grande.

For more info visit https://europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/vi-transport.htm

We bought the 3 day pass at the train station when we arrived in Venice. We used the vaporetto 1 time during our three days. We just enjoyed walking and finding out of the way places.

I also travel on a budget. And I enjoy walking while traveling in Europe, too. (I typically walk more than 100 miles while on a two week holiday)
I have been to Venice twice and twice I have purchased the Vaporetto pass for the length of days I was staying. Not to avoid walking but because if you head out early in the day (as I do) and head back to your room late (as I do), sometimes having a ride to get off your feet is just the ticket.
Or, as in Sept 2017, when the afternoon sun was very strong, I was able to get from one place to another without being "sun-kissed" the entire way. The weather can also turn rainy and a roof over one's head getting to and from the room can be a very good thing.

Others have mentioned trips to outer islands ( I highly recommend Burano for it's very colorful buildings). If you take a trip from/to the train station and then to and from Murano. Burano, Torcello, or (the ALSO highly recommended) San Giorgio Maggiore, you have already paid for individual rides at a cost that's 75% of the 3 day pass.

I huess it is personal preference with regard to vaporetto useage. I recently spent 17 nights in Venice, and took about 30 vaporetto, bus and tram rides.

I was recently in Venice and unless your hotel is well removed from
the city center, I can't imagine buying a vaporetto pass.

Perhaps you suffer from a lack of imagination?

I can certainly imagine wanting to visit some of the outer islands. I can imagine wanting to get around Venice when the weather is inclement and wanting to minimize the drenching. I can imagine wanting to get around Venice but being limited by mobility impairments. I can imagine just wanting to be a bit lazy for a day and taking a vaporetto instead of walking just because I can. I can imagine having a child in a stroller and preferring a vaporetto to hauling that thing over dozens of bridges every day. In short, I can imagine all kinds of reasons that someone other than myself might benefit from a vaporetto pass, of whatever length.

Just as I can imagine that someone who is fit and healthy and enjoys walking, and is happy to stay on the island would not want or need one.

That local transit pass operates like many multi-day passes, doesn't it? The first day is more costly than the second, which is more costly than the third, etc. If you are staying in Venice for a long time, the daily cost of a pass may be quite low. For the typical visitor staying no more than 3 or 4 nights, a prudent decision involves pulling out a map and tracing the walking path to the key planned sites as well as knowing whether trips to the outer islands are likely.

The cost of a single ticket on the vaporetto borders on confiscatory.

If you're staying 3 nites the 48 hour pass should be sufficient. If you first use it on a Tuesday at 11:00. It's good until Thursday as long as your last ride ends before 11:00. If you use it 4 times, it pays for itself.