Getting Around Venice

Updated: May 2023

In Venice, no cars are allowed, so you cannot get around using one. If you are traveling by car, it is advisable to leave it on the mainland and take public transportation into the city.

If you go by land, take a bus to Piazzale Roma, which is across the Grand Canal from the train station. If by water, take the Alilaguna waterbus.

If you go by train, get off ONLY at the “Venice Santa Lucia” station. (The first two stations named “Venice” and “Venice Mestre” are still on the mainland.) You will be deposited right at the Grand Canal with a big vaporetto waiting for you.

Once in the city, going around is best done by walking – Venice is ideal for this. However, a whole city – however small – cannot be explored by foot alone. Since Venice is surrounded by waterways, long-distance transportation is carried out by water vessels.

Vaporetto

This is the main transportation for going to and from places far from the city. These are big bus boats that have regular routes along the Grand Canal from the city proper to other places (e.g., Murano, Burano, or Torcello).

A single ticket for an hour of travel time costs around 7 Euros. It is better to get a pass that covers your whole visit. Several kinds of passes are available for tourists covering both water and land transportation. Some offer discounts at various shops and attractions in the city.

The main tourist line is vaporetto #1. It travels across the whole Grand Canal, stopping at every single stop between the train station and Piazza San Marco. If you are in a rush, don’t take this vaporetto.

However, if you want to travel leisurely and enjoy the sights along the way, this vaporetto is perfect. (Validate your tickets in the machines along the planks before boarding.)

If the weather cooperates, it’s a grand way to spend an hour watching the city float by. Just don’t get in the way of people who rope up the boat at every stop.

If you want faster transport, take vaporetto #82. It’s faster because it only stops at a few points between the train station and San Marco terminals. However, this is a seasonal line that only operates during high tourist seasons. If you’re visiting off-season, there is no vaporetto #82.

Traghetto

These boats look like gondolas but aren’t. They don’t have gondoliers with striped shirts singing songs. Traghettos are short-distance transport boats used to cross the Grand Canal at various points where there are no connecting bridges.

There are traghetto stands and waiting boats along the banks of the Grand Canal. These boats transport passengers to and from either side of the canal.

Gondolas

These quaint-looking boats make up for postcard pictures of Venice. In essence, they are expensive water taxis for hire when you want to go on a leisurely romantic cruise around the city’s canals.

Despite hard times, gondola business is still going strong in Venice – which means that there are still plenty of romantics with money to burn. Of course, getting around Venice need not be done in gondolas – they can be just as romantic as you make them out to be.