Upcoming trip to venice

I was just in Venice for the first time in June. To be honest, I have no idea about the different Vaporettos you mention. They all looked the same to me. So I'm pretty sure it's all the same ticket. It's not a tightly controlled process. You're pretty much on the honor system when buying tickets, as you don't have to show it to get on a boat. After that, if you're at a main stop, there's usually multiple docks and multiple boats going both ways up and down the canal, some of which make more stops than others. It was a little confusing, but you just have to read the schedules and figure out which boat you should get on. There will also be staffed ticket booths and other uniformed personnel around that will speak English. You'll be able to get your questions answered.

Just FYI, they enforce that "honor system" by stopping boats to check to make sure that people have valid tickets. If not, it's a whopping fine on the spot. No excuses. They target boats that are frequented by tourists, but will give a ticket to anyone. I've seen a nun get ticketed.

You're right Michael! Honor system may not have been the best choice of words. I was just trying to convey that it's not like getting on a bus where you have to show your ticket as you board nor like the metro or subway where you have to put your ticket into the turnstile. So I agree, make sure you do buy your ticket(s) before boarding so you don't end up like that poor nun.

Ticket? I've seen a person walked off of the vaporetto to the nearest ATM to get 50Euro for the fine for not having a ticket.

I know for sure that there are different Vaporettos. And they come with different prices. A 24 hour "tourist travel card ACTV" is 20 Euro, a 24 hour "Vaporetto dell'Arte" is 24 Euro, and a combined ticket that allows you to ride all is called "ACTV tourst pass and Vaporetto dell'Arte" and costs 30 Euro.

This is all new to me. Here's a LINK to the official Vaporetto Dell'Arte website. It has descriptions, routes, timetables and fares.

I don't really "get" this new boat scheme. I've looked at their website and here is my "take". This is based on years of experience of using the normal vaporetti. First - its more expensive. Second - it only goes every 30 minutes, starts late and finishes very early. Only twice an hour can be a bit inconvenient for a HoHo. After all, the number 1 and number 2 are pretty much constant so you will be at the dock watching boat after boat go by before your yellow one turns up. Third - It misses out everything from Ca d'Oro to S Samuele which means it stops nowhere near Rialto Fourth - It looks like its claim to fame (its USP) is that it is multi-media. Who want to be looking at "multi-media" screens on the back of the previous seat when what you want to be looking at is the Canal and the buildings, and Rick has done a great job with his Grand Canal audio tour. It may work out well for them, and anything which opens up a bit of capacity on the normal boats is good, but you wouldn't get me on it. YMMV

If the new Vaporetto dell'Arte boats are less crowded than the regular ones, it might be worth the extra euros.

Thanks Nigel! A lot of useful information. We were considering buying the combined ticket but it's 10 Euros more. I think we will take your advice!

Hmmm. A special floating HOHO boat. It looks nice. Actually, the #1 and #2 vaporettos do that quite well although they do get crowded. Perhaps they figure the tourists will pay the extra dollars and the regular folks won't which keeps the traffic down.