vaporetto pass

Yes a vaporetto pass does make sense. I was there for 3 days and got a 3 day (72 hour pass) and it paid for itself in just 5 or 6 rides. I recommend taking the vaporetto the length of the Grand Canal for a great "tour" of Venice.
I bought mine at the Vaporetto Ticket counter at the pier as I exited the train station (Santa Lucia)

Particularly at 70+ when that last walk back to the hotel seems soooo long, having unlimited vaporetto use is great -- take the scenic Grand Canal in the daytime and again at night for romantic lights, ride out to the islands, walk as far as you want and then ride home even if it's only one stop.

The vaporetto pass is great if you just want to cruise around, especially as a break from walking; also if you accidentally go to the wrong boarding dock (I've done it many times), you need to pay for a ticket (if there is no shared boarding space) without the pass.

As well as allowing you to visit the islands to the north of the city (principally Murano, Burano, Torcello), the vaporetto will take you to the island that holds the Basilica of San Giorgio Maggiore, across from the Piazza San Marco. The views are fantastic, particularly if you go up the bell tower. You take a designated #2 vaparetto from the S. Zaccaria 'B' stop, just east of the Doges' Palace.

Definitely get the pass. If you're flying into Venice you can buy them at the airport along with the museum pass. It's much much easier than worrying about individual vap tickets and you just swipe the pass by the little gate just before you get on. You can buy a pass for several days or for a full week.

Allow me to ask a variation of the OP's question. We're taking that tour in May, landing late morning the day before the tour begins. We'll need to get from the airport to our hotel, then we'll have that afternoon and much of the next day on our own before the tour meeting at 4 p.m. I expect we'll just do a lot of walking on our own, but it's at least possible we might need/want to take another vaporetto ride or two before the tour and/or on our free afternoons. So would it make sense in this case to get a pass? I've been wondering about this, but, admittedly, I haven't sat down to do the math yet. Any thoughts?

sandyfunk1: I hope you enjoy the tour! I'm really looking forward to it.

@stoutfella, it really is a "do the math" question. Three day pass is only 2x the cost of one day pass, so probably worth getting if you are planning on three days of wandering. But if you will already have tour activities planned, you might not get in the 5 trips in 3 days that make it a financial buy. (Does the tour include a Grand Canal ride ?)

We love walking in Venice, so when we spent a full month there we only bought a single 24-hour pass, and fit all our vaporetto travel between 10 am one day and 10 am the next. Day One, we went to San Giorgio, Giudecca, rode down the Grand Canal (start at Piazzale Roma, not Ferrovia) then went to Murano to look around and rode back at sunset (highly recommended). from Fondamente Nove we took a boat that went around the island clockwise for a nice water view of Arsenale and the St. Elena area at night---it must have been a 5.1 or 5.2. The next morning we rode out to San'Erasmo, the farming island, for a long walk. This overstayed our 24-hour pass so we paid to return to Fondamente Nove.

Someone with limited time in Venice would not want to do all this, but you still might consider grouping the rides younwant to do within a 24-hour period. If you want to use the vaporetto to your hotel when you arrive by air, you need to add the bus extension from Marco Polo to Piazzale Roma; it is not included in a vaporetto pass.

The vaporetto pass allows you to go to Murano as well as just cruising around Venice?

Yes you can use the vaporetto to get to murano Burano and Torcello. We have five days in Venice in April and plan to get the full week pass. I figured we would go out to the surrounding islands mid day when the crowds are filing in to San Marcos Square. We are staying near that, early mornings late evenings in the square.

Question: can you give the pass to someone for any time balance left when we leave?

Tourist vaporetto passes are not person specific, although if I remember correctly there is a place to write your name.

I don't use those as I have pass normally used by residents and very frequent visitors. That one has my photo with it and must be only used by me.

I would recommend the pass. I also would recommend getting acquainted with the layout of the city in advance. Barnes & Noble usually carries some nice pocket maps...

Some advise on the Vaporetti. The stops next to Piazzale Roma, in front of the train station (Ferrovia) and at San Marco tend to be VERY busy. It's often a lot easier to catch the boat at stops just a short walk away from these points - especially in the morning and afternoon rush periods when day-trippers are arriving and departing.

I'm glad you are spending so much time in Venice. The city really comes into its own in the evening hours when the day-trippers leave. If you need a place to get some respite from the crowds, I would head to Murano and Burano.

With that much time, you might also consider a day trip to Vicenza and Padua. The two cities are easy to visit by train (in that order). Vicenza has a very beautiful theater (Teatro Olimpico) Designed by Andrea Palladio. Padua has a wonderful old center (easily reachable via a tram from the train station) with a couple very historic churches. Scrovegni Chapel in Padua is also a worthy visit but tickets need to be booked in advance in the high tourist season.

Verona, with its Piazza Bra and Roman-era coliseum is only about and hour and a half by high-speed train from Venice.

We took a guided day-trip into the Dolomites. While the scenery was absolutely stunning, it was a lot of riding around in a van... We did, however, stop in Auronzo di Cadore and Cortina.

Vaporetto Passes are called Tourist Travel Cards and you can buy them for 1, 2, 3 or 7 days. Those are 24-hour days, not calendar days. The time runs from the first time you validate your card by tapping it on the machine on the boarding dock. You are supposed to validate it before each use. And you must complete your last journey within the allotted time. For example, with a 24-hour pass, you might activate it at 11 am on Monday. It is still valid on Tuesday morning, but you should complete the journey before 11 am. If you start a ride down the Grand Canal at 10:45, and they happen to check tickets at 11:10, you can be fined for not having a valid ticket.

And yes, you can give Travelcards with unused time to someone else to use. Just make sure they know exactly how much time is left ( apparently you can check that on the machines, although I have not tried that).

Just a word of advice re passes. You MUST validate your pass at the reader EVERY time you use the pass. There are heavy fines for travelling without a validated pass. Even if the gates to the vap pontoon are open (frequently the gates are inoperative), do validate your pass. You will see people walk onto the pontoons without validating, and they are likely to be people with a monthly pass which does not require validation.

If it were me, staying in Venice for a week, I would buy a seven day pass. The pass costs 60 euro, the equivalent of eight single trips. The pass can save a heap of walking, for instance getting from San Marco to the Salute, or from Rialto market to Ca d' Oro.

So worthwhile. One of the best things to do is ride the vaporetto and watch the city glide past you. The older boats have outdoor seating in the very front - the best viewpoint, but the back is good too. Mysterious in the early morning mists, fun during the day when there's lots of traffic on the Grand Canal, and romantic after dark. Go across the Giudecca Canal for views from the church tower and a good photo op of the Piazza on the way back.

Buy a pass. Be sure to get out to Murano and Burano. They have a different feel from Venice. One is brightly painted which made for some amazing photos. Yes, at busy times walk down the canal to another stop in St. Marco and the train station. It makes a huge difference.

I would also recommend a boat trip to Isola di San Michele, the cemetery Islands. We stopped there on our way to the other islands (Murano, Burano . etc.)
It is a very well kept cemetery and so many famous people are buried there. We enjoyed a walk around the beautiful grounds. Special view : a boat was pulling up to the dock with a funeral party and elaborate casket, so we got to see a bit of an actual funeral/burial.

I was most surprised by the smaller bridges on the other islands, and the flat canal-crossings on Burano.

What would be a fair amount of time for Tortecello or Burano ? Is this something we might do same day as San Georgio Maggiore and the bell tower? Island hopping so to speak.

ttmom12, Depending on whether you go slowly or go, go, go in a hurry, Tortecello or Burano or Murano will take at least a half a day. If you really want to enjoy and experience two or all three plan on a full day. San Georgio Maggiore can be done fairly quickly -- say an hour and a half to two hours max. Just one opinion

TC Thank you for the answer. Helpful in planning around the San Marcos crowds, we are staying near by.

Torcello is a great place for a picnic. Do climb the Torcello campanile, and it is much esaier than it might appear. A ramp winds its way through the campanile, with a few steps, and the view over the lagoon is amazing.

If you do Burano / Torcello, you need half a day or a bit more. Take the vap from Fond. Nova, and the trip is about 3/4 of an hour. Get off at Mazzorbo, the vap stop before Burano, and you can walk over a bridge to Burano, passing through a vineyard and vegetable gardens.

Coming back to Venice, if the line for the vap at Burano is enormous, you might not get on the first vaporetto. But if you walk back to Mazzorbo, they have to let you on.

We have visited Burano and Torcello half a dozen times and love it. Murano, not so much.