Venice · Getting around
How the boats work
In Venice the boats are the buses, and they’re the single biggest daily adjustment. This is how the system really works, and what it costs to ride it.
The vaporetto
The water bus, run by ACTV. Line 1 is the local, stopping all the way down the Grand Canal, slow and lovely. Line 2 is the faster one. Lagoon lines run out to Murano, Burano, and the Lido, and the N line covers the night. It’s scenic and essential, but slow, and at tourist prices, dear.
What it costs
ACTV, 2026. See the links below for today’s fares:
The resident secret
Tourists pay €9.50 a ride. With a resident CartaVenezia, you pay €1.50. Over a year that’s the whole difference between the tourist city and the resident one, and almost nobody mentions it before you move.
Water taxi
The private motoscafo: fast, gorgeous, and pricey. Roughly €60–100+ for a short private hop, more to the airport. A treat or a heavy-luggage day, not daily life.
To the airport by boat
The Alilaguna water bus links Marco Polo to the historic city (about €15 one-way, and slow); a private water taxi is far faster and far dearer (~€120+).
The people mover
The little elevated tram from Piazzale Roma to Tronchetto (the car park and cruise port), about €1.50, a couple of minutes.
Acqua alta
When the tide’s high, some routes shift or pause and the pontoons get tricky. MOSE now holds back the worst floods, but in season you plan around the tide tables.
The verdict
The vaporetto’s slow and, at tourist rates, expensive, but as a resident with a CartaVenezia it’s cheap, and your own two feet do most of the work anyway. This is the rhythm you’re buying into, and most people come to love it.