2.09.2012

Tips to Save Money on Transportation in Venice

By Barbra Sundquist


If you're going to be visiting Venice, you'll quickly notice that it's a very expensive city, even by European standards. However, there are some tips and tricks you can learn in order to save money in Venice.

Although water taxi rides look tempting, you will save tons of money if you choose to travel by public transportation instead. You want to use vaporetto, which is a water bus and is the cheapest method of public transit.

Buying a multiday pass is a good way of saving even more money on the vaporetto. Lots of people don't know about this or are not sure how to use it. The multi-day pass means that you can get on and off the vaporetto anytime you like. In this way you will save money and have more precious time for sightseeing.

You can save money in Venice in other ways as well. If you wish to experience a ride in a traditional Venetian gondola, without paying a hundred euros for it, try a traghetto ride. A traghetto is a gondola that goes in one straight line from one side of the Grand Canal to the other, and is considered a part of public transportation.

Taking a traghetto will save having to spend much of your walking time looking for bridges to cross the canal, and it's also a great way to participate in an authentic Venetian experience with the locals.

What are traghetti? They are old gondolas stripped of their fancy decoration. They are rowed by two oarsmen: one who stands in the back like a traditional gondolier, the other closer to the bow.

Be sure to get your terminology correct: it's easy to confuse the words "traghetto" and "vaporetto". To clarify, a vaporetto is a motorized water bus that runs the length of the Grand Canal. In contrast, a traghetto (or traghetti, plural) is a gondola that is rowed by oarsmen and crosses the Grand Canal from side to side.

There are various traghetti operating at seven convenient spots on the Grand Canal. Just look for the striped pole that marks the spot. Be aware that most of the traghetti only operate until about lunchtime each day.

So there you have it: two great ways to save money in Venice are by using the water bus instead of the water taxi, and taking a traghetto ride instead of a private gondola ride.




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