Venice

Arriving

Venezia Santa Lucia. The station opens straight onto the Grand Canal: vaporetti leave from the pontoons outside. Make sure your train ends at Santa Lucia, not Mestre (the mainland stop, one more hop across the lagoon).

Tickets · ACTV

Vaporetto single €9.50: 75 minutes, one direction on the water bus network.

Passes: 24h pass €25, 48h pass €35, 72h pass €45.

Venezia Unica machines at major stops, tabaccherie, or the AVM Venezia app; load passes once and just tap at the pontoon gates.

Tap your ticket at the reader before every boarding, even with a pass; inspectors board the busy lines often.

At 9.50 a ride the passes pay for themselves almost immediately: two vaporetto trips a day makes the 24h pass worth it, so most visitors staying 2 or more days should get one.

On foot

• ·Walking is usually faster than the vaporetto for anything inside the main islands; the boat wins only for the Grand Canal end to end, Lido and the outer islands
• ·Bridges everywhere and no step-free shortcuts: pack light or choose a hotel near a vaporetto stop, dragging cases over bridge steps is the classic Venice mistake
• ·Getting lost is part of the city; yellow signs to San Marco and Rialto are on most corners when you need bearings

Taxis and driving

• ·Water taxis are private boats with private prices (often 80 to 150 euros per hop); fine split between a group with luggage, overkill otherwise
• ·There are no cars, so there are no street taxis inside Venice; land taxis exist only at Piazzale Roma and the airport
• ·Cars stop at the edge: Piazzale Roma and Tronchetto garages charge serious daily rates and fill up. Cheaper plan: park in Mestre and take the 10 minute train or tram across