Traghetto - the cheapest way to ride and other Venice, Italy Transportation Tips

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Ship/Boat
Getting TO/AROUND: Until 1854, the Rialto bridge was the only bridge across the Grand Canal. Even now, there are only three bridges If you need to cross the canal and you aren't near a bridge, you have two good choices. Take the No. 1 or 82 vaporetto, which zig-zags from one bank to the other as it follows the Grand Canal, or head for the nearest traghetto pier and be rowed to the other side for about 40 euro cents (circa 2003). It'll be your cheapest (and quickest) gondola ride in Venice.

Traghetto means "ferry" in Italian. On the Grand Canal, traghetti are the passenger boats that cross the canal and there are seven points between the railroad station (top end) and St. Mark's Basin (bottom end of the Grand Canal). The boats are old gondolas that have been stripped down & don't have the nice seats. They are rowed by two oarsmen: one who stands behind the passengers like a traditional gondolier, the other closer to the bow.

A small warning - you stand up when you ride a traghetto and it usually doesn't take off until it's full of passengers. It's a fun ride when there is a Vaporetto coming toward you!

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'Mode': AROUND
Category: Ship/Boat
Getting TO/AROUND: Venice has many water based options to get you around the main island and the nearby islands of Murano and Burano as well as the options across the Giudecca Canal. The #82 or #1 motor boat gets you around much of the Grand Canal with the #14 & 15 getting you further afield. Most of the boats can be accessed at the front warf as seen in the photo.

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