Vaporetto and other Venice, Italy Transportation Tips

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Ship/Boat
Getting TO/AROUND: There are quite a few ways that you can get around in Venice. Besides walking and gondolas, there are the traghettos and vaporetti. Since there are only three bridges that cross over the Grand Canal, it is often useful to hop onto a traghetto at one of their strategically placed points (a vistor's map of Venice will highlight these points) to get across.

The vaporetti are the "water buses," their form of mass transit. You don't have to wait long for a vaporetti to come by, however, during tourist season, the boats can get rather crowded and you will have to wait for the next one. You can purchase point-to-point tickets, but I found the three day pass to be more useful. Since I was there three days, I purchased a 72-hour pass that provided me with unlimited rides on the vaporetti. This card also allowed for travel to Murano and Burano. You can buy the card at any of the vaporetto offices. However, do remember to validate it at the time stamp machine before you get on. This will save you a hefty fine should they discover you without a validated card.

With as much walking as I did, it was nice to hop onto the vaporetto when I got tired. It was also an easy way to get around from place to place. And one musn't miss the entire Grand Canal ride on the vaporetto!! (Be warned though, the workers are known to strike at any given time...fortunately, it doesn't last extremely long...usually only a couple of hours!

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'Mode': AROUND
Category: Other
Getting TO/AROUND: Walking. This is probably one of the most underrated ways of getting around Venice. It happened one day that the vaporetto workers went on strike for about two hours. We had made it to the Academia in the morning and were planning on heading up to Rialto Bridge. So instead, we went walking and wandering all over Venice. The different neighborhoods and churches are really neat. You can run into some very neat little piazzalles like this. Although the addresses and such in Venice are confusing at first, if you just start wandering around, you will find that it is difficult to get lost...after all you are on an island!!!

My advice, wear some comfortable shoes and TRY to get lost in Venice!!

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'Mode': TO
Category: Ship/Boat
Getting TO/AROUND: This is a great way to get from Marco Polo Airport to Venice. I guess it also the most fitting way since Venice is known for its water!

The red line takes you from a pier at the airport to Murano Museo. From there, it proceeds on to Lido (S.M.E.). It then continues onto Arsenale, Piazza San Marco, and then Zattere on the Giudecca Canal side of Dorsoduro.

There are two blue lines that will take you other routes. One takes you to Murano Colonna, Fondamenta Nove, San Zaccaria and then San Marco. The other blue line shuttles between San Marco and Stazione Marittima.

COST: From airport to San Marco - 10€ ; check their website for other destinations and costs of tickets.

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Website: http://www.alilaguna.it/

'Mode': TO
Category: Bus
Getting TO/AROUND: If you are a light packer like myself, you might appreciate this tidbit. It's also helpful if you are trying to keep costs down. There is an airport bus that will take you from Marco Polo Airport to Venice. It's about a 20 - 30 minute ride that departs from the airport and deposits you at the Piazzale Roma.

There is the ACTV (orange) bus. It has many runs between 4:05 am and 12:10 am. This is the local bus and it runs you to Venice for about 0.70€. This is the cheapest route, however, you will have to take all your luggage on the bus with you and there are no luggage racks. (Not a problem if you travel light!)

ACTV phone: 041-5287886
Website - http://www.actv.it/

There is also the Azienda Trasporti Veneto Orientale or ATVO (blue) bus that runs you to Venice for about 3€. They run between 8:40am to 11:30pm about every half hour.

ATVO phone: 041-5205530
Website - http://www.atvo.it/

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