Venice transportation

Vaporetto will cost around 6€ each person. I suggest buying a pass for your length of stay. You can ride as often as you wish for a reasonable rate.

Do you mean from the the Santa Lucia train station to the Rialto vaporetto stop? I'm not aware of a Santa Maria station or stop in Venice. Also, the Rialto Mercato is more of a produce market area. Assuming that you want to go to the Rialto vaporetto stop from the train station, take the No #1 vaporetto that says LIDO. It will be coming from your right and heading down the Grand Canal to your left.

I don't know of a "Santa Maria" station. If you mean the main railway station in Venice, that would be Venezia Santa Lucia. If that is where you mean, the cheapest option is to walk. Turn left as you go down the steps at the station, follow the herd which is following the yellow signs which read "Per S Marco" and "Per Rialto", and when you get near the Rialto bridge only follow the signs "Per Rialto" and when you get to the Rialto bridge, cross it. When you get to the other side turn right and go a few yards back up the Grand Canal until you get to the Rialto Mercato dock. It is cheapest because it is free. Not easy, especially with luggage, but free. You asked cheapest. Me, I'd take the number 1 vaporetto from Ferrovia (the station) a few stops right to the Rialto Mercato landing in about 10 minutes or so. Cost 7€ or included in a pass.

First of all my apology, it is the main station in venice, Santa Lucia. We r family of 4 and in venice for 2 nts, so not sure if the pass would be worth or not. Kids r 16, 14 and they would not mind walking. Is there any other recommendation on the walking routes, we will have luggage with us.

Walking in Venice is great but not with luggage. You will likely cross over several small canals using arched footbridges. No smooth areas for wheeled luggage. It's bumpty-bump up and bumpty-bump down. Been there done that. The single fare price for riding the vaporettos is 7Euro. You can get 12hr, 24hr, 36hr or 48hr passes. For 4 people, this could get a bit pricey. If you are all riding at the same time, there is no sharing of the passes.

Walking with luggage as noted above is tiresome. Getting LOST with luggage is grounds for a hissyfit. Take the vaporetto and find the apartment, leave the luggage, and take pictures of some of the closest corners, so when you get lost looking for the apartment later you have some clues. Cause there is a high probability you will do some wandering even when you don't want to. Venice's curves and twists and 6 streets leading away from one piazza are lovely and confusing.

I vote for getting transport passes. Yes they are over priced, especially compared to a Paris Metro pass, and locals pay way less, but it gives you a complete sense of freedom to go anywhere in Venice you want to go without fretting the cost, you already spent the money. Taking the #1 from ferrovia to San Marco with the RS audio guide on your MP3 is worth the price of admission. You can run over to Murano and not think twice about it. Besides, the ACTV can always use the money.

Seema, I also vote for the vaporetto pass (you can choose how many days you want). Last summer in Venice I noticed some of the main footbridges had temporary-looking "ramps" installed at the sides of the staircases (probably trying to make some of Venice more accessible), so there's a possibility you can drag your luggage up these ramps (there are a few in the vicinity of Piazza San Marco and the Rialto).

Thank you all for suggestions, will look into venice pass

Assuming your bags are more cumbersome than the Rick Steves backpacks we use, I would agree with the others about paying the stiff fee for the vaparetto. It's also a pleasant way to get a glimpse of Venice's Grand canal. Take note; for most of the distance of the grand canal, there is no walkway along the edge. So walking what should be a direct and simple path is neither direct nor simple. If you arrive in Venice early, buy a one-day pass for that day so your first trip is covered. Then once you are settled, take several other trips to get your fill of Venice by water. Go nuts. Then spend the rest of your time in Venice walking. Assuming you have a map (Google Maps, if nothing else), walking is easy and the best part of being in Venice is getting lost. Having a vaparetto pass for your entire stay is likely overkill. We used that plan when we were there for three nights last June and had a great time. We also noted that on the day we bought and used a vaparetto pass - and rode them almost a dozen times throughout the day - no one ever looked at our pass, or seemed to pay any attention whatsoever to who got on the boat. Just sayin'...

Randy's implied suggestion to risk riding the vaporettos without a ticket or pass is a)illegal and b)often expensive. Much of European transit is worked on the honour system. You are trusted to do the right thing. To back that up is a small army of ticket inspectors whose job it is to find fare dodgers. They often conduct checks at a particular place or at a particular time, and often are in plain clothes. I have seen them at work frequently in Venice. Just because you didn't notice them doesn't mean they weren't there. When they catch you, it is a criminal offence and on the spot fines can be very expensive. If you don't have the cash they will march you to an ATM or arrest you. Its not a game. Advice to the contrary is bad advice.

My brief post make abundantly clear in more than one statement that a pass/ticket should be purchased for use in Venice. It also made clear that we did same. It is common for Americans, who almost never go without any ticket being checked, to be puzzled by the rather cavalier attitude regarding ticket checking in much of Europe. I was simply pointing out a fact worthy of note. To attempt to get a family onto a vaparetto with a bunch of luggage without buying a ticket would be foolish, as well as dishonest.

Chiming in one more time, the conductor did come through and check tickets tickets/passes when we were there in May, usually on long stretches like between San Marco and Lido. The passes are chip cards you scan at the boarding dock. Very easy. At 35 euro for 72 hours, not all that bad if you compare it to $106 for a Vail one day lift pass, or $89 for a DisneyWorld day ticket. I assume you'll be returning to the station after 2 days.

Yes, we will be taking train from venice to florence, 35x4 does add up.

Sam has an excellent point. I had forgotten just how close together the pricing options were. But on the other hand; 1) a 12-hour pass purchased between 8-10 AM is essentially an "all day" pass. And you can do a heck of a lot in those 12 hours. We visited Murano and Burano and took another 5-6 trips just for the heck of it, including a late-night run down the grand canal. Frankly, I wouldn't have wanted more time on the water than that. 2) Unless you are infirm, there is almost nowhere in Venice you can't walk to in a reasonable amount of time. It's just not that big. People get the impression that boats are a necessity. They are not, really, unless you are schlepping 70lbs of baggage behind you.

Seema, you could get the pass for one day and use it a lot (as suggested previously), then pay for the vaporetto ride on your way out of Venice on a single ticket (for each of you). If you use a pass, you are supposed to validate it every time you board the vaporetto (boxes are located at the boarding area). While tickets/passes are not always checked, there are stiff fines for riding without a valid ticket/pass. Not to mention the ethical issues.

The sliding scale for passes encourages getting the largest amount. single ride=7 eu 12 hour=18 eu 24 hour=20 eu 36 hour=25 eu 48 hour=30 eu 72 hour=35 eu Buying a 12 hour on arrival and a single ride return would cost 25 eu, so spending an extra 10 eu gets you unlimited travel for your entire stay. Info at http://www.veniceconnected.com/ecommerce/carrello.php?lang=2&g=20121220
Nothing listed after Dec 31, so maybe another price increase in the offing?