Venice by Vaporetto

Image above: A vaporetto passes by in front of the Doge's Palace in Venice, Italy. All photos on this page are by the author, sockii, unless otherwise provided by Amazon.

1. The vaporetto water buses are operated by Azienda Consorzio Trasporti Veneziano (ACTV), the Venetian public transportation system. You will see the "Actv" logo on all vaporatti and each boat is also clearly labelled with its route number.
2. Vaporatto water buses have set bus stops throughout Venice, Giudecca, the Lido, Murano, Burano, and the other lagoon islands. It even seasonally travels to Chiogga and reaches the mainland at Treporti and Punta Sabbioni.
3. Vaporetto stops are easy to spot - just look for the yellow-and-white floating docks with stop names clearly labelled.
4. There are a number of different kinds of vaporetto boats used depending on the routes served. These boats have capacities for 160 to 1,200 passengers each, with the largest serving popular "commuter" routes such as S. Zaccaria Pieta to the Lido. There is also a car ferry from the Tronchetto parking island, on the edge of Venice, to the Lido - the only island in the lagoon with roads for cars.

1. Take a cheap tour of the Grand Canal. Hop on the 1 or 2 vaporetto and see the entire length of the Grand Canal - for much cheaper than a gondola ride! The 1 is the City Center "local" line which stops at twenty stations along both sides of the Grand Canal. It then continues on to the beach resort island of the Lido. The 2 is the City Center "express" line which only seasonally goes to the Lido.
2. Tour the perimeter of Venice. Take a long, grand tour all around the perimeter of Venice on the 4.1 or 4.2 lines. These run clockwise and counter clockwise and also stop on Giudecca, Lido, Murano and San Michele (the cemetery island)
3. Explore the Northern lagoon. The 13 will take you from Venice to Murano, Vignole, Sant'Erasmo and even all the way to Treporti, if you wish. It also stops on Lazzaretto Nuove on request. The 12 from Fondamente Nove is your fast trip to Mazzorbo and Burano, from where you can catch the 9 to Torcello and back.
4. Explore the Southern lagoon. The islands of San Servolo and San Lazzaro degli Armeni are available on the route 20 vaporetto.

Torcello – The First Venice

One of my absolute favorite places to visit while in Venice, Italy is the quiet, rural island of Torcello. Many tourists bypass Torcello or perhaps only spend an hour or so there, instead focusing on nearby Murano and Burano in the northern Venetian lagoon…

Isola del Lazzaretto Nuovo: Quarantine Island of the Venetian Lagoon

Are you a traveler who likes to explore unusual and offtrack places while on vacation? Planning a trip to Venice in the future? Then one place I recommend visiting while staying in Venice is the island of Lazzaretto Nuovo…

As of 2018, the base fare for a one-way, 75 minute valid ticket is 7,50 Euro (for visitors; residents do receive reduced pricing). Yes, that's pretty high, and that's why it may be to your benefit to buy one of the multi-day travel cards currently available. Their prices (again as of 2018) breakdown as follows:

24 hours: 20 Euros

48 hours: 30 Euros

72 hours: 40 Euros

7 days: 60 Euros

See a complete listing of current vaporetto fares.

What's your best option? That depends on your plans and the length of your stay, obviously. If you are only in Venice for a few days or it's your first trip there, and you plan on staying primarily on the main island itself, you may do best only purchasing single-ride tickets as and if you need them. However if you plan on exploring other islands in the lagoon, or maybe you're staying in a hotel located farther away from the main attractions you want to see, you could easily benefit from one of the multi-day passes.

I'll give an example: On my most recent trip to Venice, we were staying there for 8 day. Three of those days would be busy with a group event where the organizers would be providing travel arrangements to and fro, so I knew we wouldn't need to use the vaporetto then. So we bought 3-day passes for the first few days of the trip and made good use of them, traveling to San Lazzaro degli Armeni one day which we had never visited, heading back to our apartment in Dorsoduro several times at night when we'd been exploring in Cannaregio, and a couple quick hops along the Grand Canal on the 1 line. All in all I found that we would have spent 105 Euros traveling by single passes versus the 80 Euros we spent buying two three day passes, so that worked out well. We also bought 24-hour passes for our last "day", to visit Torcello and Burano, and then to take the water bus to the train station the next morning before our passes expired. Again, three rides that would have cost us 45 Euros individually instead cost 40...a small savings but a savings nevertheless!

Like much of the public and mass transportation in Italy, the vaporetto water buses operate on an "honor" system. When you buy a ticket, you "activate" it before your first boarding on one of the card reading machines at every vaporetto stop. (These machines will also tell you how much time you have left on a previously activated ticket.) Tickets are not collected or checked upon boarding, although some high traffic vaporetto stops now have gates which will only open if you "tap" an active card for entry.

However, tickets are subject to random inspection and checking on board the vaporettos. If a ticket inspector asks for your ticket and you don't have one, or your ticket is expired, you could be subject to a hefty fine - think around 50 Euros. If you board a boat and are without a valid ticket, you can still ride IF you inform one of the Actv agents on board and buy a ticket from them right away. Do not wait until you see them walking around checking for tickets, nor just try to game the system by riding without a ticket. While they might rarely check them on very busy routes, you just never know. And you also can't count on running into a lenient on board agent who will buy your "dumb tourist" act and be willing to let you buy a travelcard instead of paying a fine...

1. All vaporetto stops will typically have a schedule posted, showing when and how late various boat lines run. Do consult these timetables if traveling to "distant" points before you begin wandering - so you know how late the boats will run and how frequently!
2. Vaporetto docks typically have an entry point indicated for boarding and for disembarking. Please be courteous and follow these directions, and allow passengers to disembark the boat before jumping on.
3. Some popular routes can be very busy and crowded. If you must make a certain connection, be sure to stand right at the front of the boarding dock while you wait for the vaporetto boat - Italians don't tend to pay much attention to queuing and will just push ahead of you to get on board if need be. The bus conductors will stop allowing on passengers when a boat is full. Additionally, be courteous and file through to the back of the boat on crowded routes. Give everyone plenty of room to board and get off as needed.
4. Be sure you're waiting at the proper dock. Some of the most popular stops, such as San Marco and Fondamente Nove, have multiple docks for the different lines (and directions). Be sure to check you are in the right spot to get on the boat you want - they won't wait for you while you go running for your connection!
5. Don't confuse vaporetto boats (with the Actv logo) with Alilaguna ferry boats. The Alilaguna line has its own separate ticketing and is primarily for transportation to and from the airport. The vaporetto will take you to Piazzale Roma, but from there you need to take a connecting bus service to Marco Polo Airport.
6. For lines that go in multiple directions (clockwise/counterclockwise), check the signs posted on the boat or the digital displays to confirm the boat is going in the direction you want.
7. In the evenings, some vaporetto lines may only stop at major stations or end their route early. Be sure to check on-boat displays or ask before you board. The "N" line offers overnight service to major vaporetto stops, but on a limited schedule - be sure to check it before waiting for a boat!

• Actv
  The official website for Actv, which operates the vaporetto lines in Venice. Look up schedules between different departure points, get notices on any service disruptions or delays, and find out what else you need to know about the vaporetto services.
• Map of vaporetto stops
  Excellent large map showing all of the vaporetto stops around Venice and the lagoon, in scale.
• Vaporetto route map
  Standard route map provided by Actv.it. Illustrates which buses stop where. Not in scale.
• Vaporetto Water Buses
  Detailed articles from Europe for Visitors.