Vaporetti in Venice? Need advice

You should consider a vaporetto pass if you will be in Venezia for two days or longer. You can buy it at the Venezia Santa Lucia train station, or at the kiosk near the vaporetto stop. Just tap the pass at the machine and you have unlimited rides for the duration of the pass. Those €7.50 rides add up.

Hi Peter,

This will answer all of your questions and if you use the drop down bar, tons of info on the city.

https://quickvenice.com/transportation/actv-tickets.htm

If you plan on using the vaporetto several times the travel cards are a good value.

http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/venice-vaporetto-fares.htm

Wow, thanks, everyone. All useful info and the Web sites you suggested are excellent.
I suppose if we buy the Travel Card that can be used to go to Burano too without worrying about the 75 minute limit of the single fare. Grazie.

It may be useful to know that for individual vaporetto tickets, most docks have ticket vending machine that take credit cards. But sometimes they are absent or out of order. In that case, you inform the conductor (person who works the ropes when docking and opens and closes the gates) immediately upon boarding that you need to buy a ticket. They will tell you to stand nearby, and once they depart for the next stop, they will sell you a ticket.

That said, a pass covers you on the first day if you take at least 3 trips, and the price per day goes down the more days you buy up front. Remember to scan your pass on the reader before you walk onto the floating docks, as it is a violation to even be standing on the dock without a validated ticket or pass.

By all means, take the "slow boat" (No 1) and enjoy the ride. Rick has an audio tour elsewhere on this website, https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/audio/audio-tours/italy
You can hear Rick's narration for the sites between every stop along the way on your device (i-phone, MP3, etc)
Watch the conductor handle the docking ropes, work the gates, letting people off first and then signaling the new passengers on the boat. Each stop like clockwork.

Later, if you find this sort of thing interesting, see how goods are delivered to all the shops and supermarkets, how Fedex and UPS packages are delivered, and even how the garbage is collected. All done with boats.

Peter,

As the others have mentioned, it's very easy to buy Vaporetto tickets in Venice. Once you exit the rail station and down the stairs, look slightly to your left (as I recall) and you should see the ticket booth.

One other point to mention is that you MUST validate your tickets prior to boarding the Vaporetto. Venice uses an electronic reader instead of the usual time & date stamp of rail validation machines. If you get a green light and a "beep", you're good to go.

This website should provide information on the schedules and travel times for the Vaporetti.

I suppose if we buy the Travel Card that can be used to go to Burano too without worrying about the 75 minute limit of the single fare. Grazie.

For travel passes, you need one of these passes which includes travel to Murano, Torcello, Murano and Lido.

ACTV - TIME-LIMITED TICKETS

Public Transport in Venice, islands and mainland (vaporetto and bus) 1 way / 1 day / 2 days / 3 days / 7 days

OFFER DETAILS

ACTV - 1 day Ticket ACTV Public Transport Services (vaporetto and buses in the City of Venice) € 20,00 Validity: 1 day (24 hours)

ACTV - 2 day Ticket ACTV Public Transport Services (vaporetto and buses in the City of Venice) € 30,00 Validity: 2 days (48 hours)

ACTV - 3 day Ticket ACTV Public Transport Services (vaporetto and buses in the City of Venice) € 40,00 Validity: 3 days (72 hours)

ACTV - 7 day Ticket ACTV Public Transport Services (vaporetto and buses in the City of Venice) € 60,00 Validity: 7 days

There are other passes sold that include entrance fees to some sites, etc.

When you walk out of the train station, slightly to your right is a manned booth selling tickets. Next to it is a machine selling tickets. It has instructions in English. Be cautious--I had thieves try to distract me while buying a ticket to get into my bags. To the right of the booth/machine is the dock for boat #1. Take it to your stop. The stops will be announced. It will take about 45 minutes to get to San Marco and worth it. It takes you down the Grand Canal. The best sightseeing for only 7.50 or for the price of the pass.

Check with your hotel to find which would be the closest stop. My hotel is near San Marco but was told the stop before, Giglio, was closer.

I did all of this a few days ago.

By the way, there are no "buses" in Venice. The vaporetti are the buses. Both locals and tourists take them. (The buses are on the mainland.)

And don't forget to validate your ticket beforehand.

Wow, this forum is much better than any I have found re: travel advice. (Hope I can help others too, since I am familiar with many places, though not Italy.)

And thanks for the link to http://www.veneziaunica.it/en/e-commerce/services I can pre-purchase transit tickets here and not worry about doing so on arrival in Venice.

Cheers! Peter

Rats. After specifying the tickets I wanted to pre-purchase, I wanted to pay, but this screen popped up: The web page you have been looking for, no longer exists. During the last few day, the Venezia Unica website has been going through a change!

I clicked on check out a few more times and eventually it did take me to the screen for payment.

Even if you buy ahead, you still have to pick up the passes when you arrive, either at the Hello Venezia office outside the train station, or from a ticket vending machine referencing the code they email you.

Thanks, Green Bay. I printed the voucher; it has a bar code (and a written code). This will be easier than trying to figure out how to use a credit card in the machine (I hope).

Cheers, Peter

Using a credit card in the machine is as easy as using a credit card in a machine in Southern Ontario. Venetians are used to having company over.

A few things to know:

Most vaporetto stops have numerous boarding docks labeled A, B, C, etc. depending on the line it serves and the direction of travel. There is a key to the docks on a board somewhere---make sure you get the right one.

Be sure to validate your ticket on the little machine before you step onto the dock. Some will have turnstiles as well, especially at Ferrovia.

The No. 1 and No. 2 vaporetto both head down the Grand Canal to San Marco. The difference is that the No.1 makes all the stops, and the No. 2 is an Express which makes only a few stops.

There are several different vaporetto stops in the San Marco area, so know in advance which one you want, and whether the No. 2 stops there.

And did I mention to validate your ticket before boarding?

If you happen to be at an outlying area with no functioning ticket machine, you can board without a ticket, but I advise telling the sailor who manages the boarding as you step aboard, not afterward. Make eye contact and say "I need to buy a ticket". He will acknowledge you and ask you to board and stand near the gate until boarding is complete and he can sell you the ticket.

Thanks for all the advice. Here is what I personally found in Venice this week.

The major vaporetto stops, including the one at the train station, have employees who will sell you a ticket. Unless arriving at midnight when it might not be staffed, this seems to be simpler than buying tickets online and then figuring out what to do with your voucher once you get there! And simpler than buying a ticket from their machines!

We had a voucher and managed to get their staff to provide actual tickets instead of trying to figure out how to do that at a machine as they first insisted. The next day we bought a ticket from staff (without a pre-purchased voucher) and that was even simpler and quicker) One ticket is Euro 7.50 and that seems to be good for 75 minutes. A 24 hour, One Day ticket is Euro 20. You can use it to go anywhere, including Murano, etc. A bargain by comparison. We rode it for hours.. Multi day tickets also available.

When getting onto the platform for the boat, you just scan your ticket at the machine by the turnstile. Simple. You cannot get through without scanning it so you won't forget. I assume that also validates it.

The staff can also advise you which boat to take to a specific location. E.g. Number 2 to the train station and then Number 1 toward .... or something like that. Get them to repeat it to be certain you have it right. Also proved to be simple. They all seemed to speak English.

We talked to people who had taken a water taxi and that was incredibly expensive. Vaporetto is the best bet.