How to Get Around Venice on the Cheap

Getting around Venice is an adventure in itself. There's something wonderful about stumbling onto unexpected spots, so wrong turns and flawed directions may be a blessing in disguise.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Walking Shoes
• Maps
• Travel Guides
• Eurail Passes
• Travel Services
• Travelers' Checks
• Maps

1. Ride the vaporetto, the water bus run by the Azienda del Consorzio Trasporti Veneziano (ACTV), which also runs the land buses across the water from Venice in Mestre. The vaporetti and motoscafi (express motor launches) are an important part of the Venetian experience.

2. Buy 12- or 24-hour tourist tickets, for individuals or family groups. Three-day or seven-day tickets are also available to tourists.

3. Check the sign at the vaporetto stop to be sure the line you want really does stop there and at your destination. The lines are all numbered and color-coded, but the colors on the maps and the actual stops sometimes differ, and sometimes a line with a single number will have more than one route.

4. Take route 1 if you want to take your time getting along the canal. It stops at every stop, and you'll spend about 45 minutes getting from the train station to San Marco.

5. Walk whenever possible. Venice is lots of fun on foot, although you will need sturdy, nonslip shoes, especially in the rainy season.

6. Get lost! It's easy in Venice, but it's also easy to find your way again, since there are directional signs painted on many walls, and most people are helpful and quick to offer directions. Half the fun of the city is wandering through hidden alleys and small side canals, then figuring out where you are.

7. Use the traghetti if you need to get across the Grand Canal, rather than along it. There are only three bridges that cross the canal, but seven places where you can catch a traghetto. A traghetto is a gondola that will take you across the canal for a very small fee.

8. Take the inexpensive elevator ride to the top of the bell tower in the Piazza de San Marco. It's the best view in town, and you may be able to have your visit coincide with the ringing of the immense bells, just inches overhead.

Tips & Warnings

• Venice is divided into districts, or sestiere. It helps to know the street name and number and the district when trying to find a particular address on your map.
• If you have your heart set on a gondola ride, try to defray the cost by going with a group. It'll be less romantic, but far more affordable. You can sometimes haggle a bit with gondoliers, but always make sure that you agree on a length of time for the ride, and that you get what you have pay for.
• When you make hotel reservations, ask for specific directions to the hotel from the train station or main parking lot, depending on how you plan to arrive.
• The stairs and bridges in Venice can hinder disabled travelers, so if you're in a wheelchair or are traveling with someone who is, ask at the tourist information center about accessible routes through the city. There are also wheelchair-accessible vaporetto stops, marked on maps with the international symbol.
• Avoid the water taxis, or taxi acqueo, which are pricey. However, you may want to take one if you have lots of luggage to transport to and from your hotel.

on 1/24/2006 Stay at Camping Miramare in Punta Sabbione and buy a 3 or 5 day pass for the boats. You can take a tent or caravan or hire a chalet. It's 45 minutes by boat to St. Mark's square, but this is definitely the way to arrive. With your boat pass you can visit many other islands as well as Venice and whenever you're tired, just hop on a water bus. A traghetto is so much cheaper than a gondola.

on 11/22/2005 It's a lot quieter and is cheaper to stay on Murano which is about a 15 minute water ferry ride away from Venice.

on 11/22/2005 It is much cheaper to stay in a hotel in Mestre. Mestre is the mainland town where the the train and bridge to Venice connect.

on 11/22/2005 Take a vaporetto from the airport - it's like the city bus. It will be a fraction of any other form of transportation and take no longer.