Vaporetto on the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy
When you visit 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.
One of the best ways to keep your Venice travel costs down is to make use of public transportion rather than private water taxi rides. The Venetian form of public transit is called a vaporetto, or water bus.
It’s important to understand the difference between water bus (vaporetto) and water taxi. The water bus is inexpensive public transportation costing just a couple of euros a ride; whereas the water taxi is an expensive private-hire form of transportation. It typically costs 100 euros or more to hire a water taxi.
You can save even more money on the vaporetto by purchasing a multiday pass. It’s a great deal that many tourists aren’t aware of or aren’t confident enough to use. Buying a pass allows you to get on and off whenever and wherever you want, without having to purchase another ticket. That saves you money and time, and also offers you a lot of freedom.
The traditional gondola, with fancy decoration.
Here’s another money saving tip for Venice. If you want to experience riding in a traditional Venetian gondola, but you don’t want to pay the 100+ euros that a private gondola ride costs, try a traghetto ride. A traghetto is a public transport gondola that takes you in a straight line from one side of the Grand Canal to the other side.
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. A traghetto ride will cost you less than a dollar, which you hand to an oarsman as you get on. It’s the best transportation bargain (and the cheapest gondola ride) in Venice.
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. Passengers generally stand for the short trip, although you can sit down as well.
Be sure to get your terminology correct: don’t confuse traghetto with vaporetto. 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 spots. Oh, and be aware that most of the traghetti only operate until about lunchtime each day.
So there you have it: save money in Venice by using the water bus instead of the water taxi, and take a traghetto ride instead of a private gondola ride.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
hey, thanks for this. I’m going to try this to save money in Venice by using the water bus instead of the water taxi. I might even go for the traghetto although I think my girlfriend really wants to do the gondola ride.
Does the water bus go on the “side streets” of Venice (I guess I should say “side canals”.) Or do you have to take the gondola?
Hi Gilly,
The waterbus just goes down the Grand Canal, around the main island of Venice, over to the Lido and out to the surrounding islands like Murano and Burano. If you want to travel by water on the side canals you would indeed need to hire a gondola or some other form of private transport. But you don’t need to do that – there are sidewalks so you can just walk beside the canals. Hope this helps!