I have recently came back from Venice and I want to share with you a few tips and tricks that will help you travel on a budget in Venice! People say that Venice is expensive but I will show you that it is not!
*If you haven't seen my last post 'best tips for budget travel' I encourage you to have a read as there are some useful tips!
Chapters:
- Flights
- Transport from and to the airport
- Bus/Waterbus (Vaporetto)
- Torcello
Flights:
I used Ryanair as it had the cheapest flight tickets. I used a promotion on Ryanair's website for low season flights and bought the tickets for £5 ($6.60) each way! The plane was half empty! |
| Bus/waterbus card |
Transport from and to the airport:
If you land in Marco Polo's airport (the closest one to Venice) don't be fooled by the airport transport! It costs €8 ($9) one way or €15 ($17) return. Don't waste your money on that!
You can easily buy a regular bus ticket to Venice, Mestre or Maghera for €1.50 ($1.65) one way! The bus to Venice centre is number 5. You must purchase the bus tickets at the airport (the shop is inside the building where it is said ACTV or transport. Over there you can buy tickets that will be transferred on a paper ticket card. You need to remember how many tickets you purchased as there is no information on the card itself. Make sure you buy enough tickets because if you run out of them you will have to go to the ACTV official shop which is in the Venice or Mestre centre or as ACTV staff said 'in tobacco shops with ACTV logo' which I couldn't find anywhere. The bus ticket lasts for 75 minutes so you can transfer between buses. When you scan the card on the bus reader it will show you how much time you have left before your ticket will expire.
To catch the bus you need to raise your hand and if you want to get out you need to press the 'stop' button on the rail.
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| The red pin shows the nearest bus stop to Venice for €1.50 |
If you use the bus to go back to the airport you can use a regular ticket for €1.50 ($1.65)! You don't need to buy the €8 ($9) ticket. That's what I did when I was going back to the airport. I didn't stop at the bus stop in Tessera (one bus stop before the airport) but I waited to see what will happen at the airport's bus station. I wasn't sure if they were going to charge me extra for not paying €8 ($9) or not. And you know what happened? Nothing happened! The airport bus stop was a regular bus stop! I was just feeling sorry for the tourists who paid €8 ($9) for the ticket.
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| Card scanner on the waterbus stop (sometimes there are no gates, just the scanner standing on the side) |
Bus/Waterbus (Vaporetto) transport:
The bus ticket and Vaporetto ticket look exactly the same. If your hotel is outside the Venice centre in Mestre or Maghera you will have to use bus tickets (or Waterbus tickets) to get to Venice, it will take approx. 10-15 min.
Waterbus (Vaporetto) tickets can be purchased in the official ACTV shop at the airport or on the waterbus stops in Venice (just after you cross the glass bridge, San Marco stop and more).
Waterbus (Vaporetto) tickets can be purchased in the official ACTV shop at the airport or on the waterbus stops in Venice (just after you cross the glass bridge, San Marco stop and more).
You can buy 24h, 48h or 72h ticket. The time will start the moment you activate it by touching the scanner. So if you activate it in the afternoon it will end at the same time in 24h, 48h or 72h.
One-way ticket costs €7.50 ($8.30) and lasts for 75min so you can change the waterbuses within that time. I don't recommend this option, especially if you want to go to other islands e.g. Murano, Burano, Torcello or Lido.
One-way ticket costs €7.50 ($8.30) and lasts for 75min so you can change the waterbuses within that time. I don't recommend this option, especially if you want to go to other islands e.g. Murano, Burano, Torcello or Lido.
Ticket prices:
1-day (24h) ticket costs €20
2-day ticket (48h) €30
3-day ticket (72h) €40
7-day ticket €60
1-day (24h) ticket costs €20
2-day ticket (48h) €30
3-day ticket (72h) €40
7-day ticket €60
If you are between 6 and 29 years old you can purchase a 3-day waterbus card for €28 instead of €40! On the official ACTV website, it says that you need a Rolling Venice Card for €6 which will allow you to buy the Waterbus card for €22 but the ACTV office sells it for €28 so you don't have to buy those two cards separately. Make sure to have your ID with you as they may ask for it.
The waterbus card includes waterbuses (Vaporetto) and land buses excluding airport bus/waterbus. If you live in Mestre or Maghera, Vaporetto is a great option for you to save a few euros.
*Remember, you don't have to buy the airport ticket. If you walk 10 min from the airport to the closest town (Tessera) there is a bus stop (the first one you will see on your right). There is a wide pavement all the way to the bus stop so there is nothing to worry about.
When I was in Venice in the low season, there was nobody to check the waterbus tickets for 3 days straight! Nobody! I was surprised, knowing that the tickets are quite expensive and more than half the waterbus stations didn't have any gates! There were a few local kids who were going into the waterbus without scanning the card. They probably knew that no one checks the tickets. On the way out, the gates are always open so you don't need to use the card, too. However, there are gates in San Marco station and Burano where you need the card but if you go to the other stations there are no gates.
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| Waterbus stop from the outside |
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