Venice Card

Venice is a compact city, and you can easily explore most of it on foot. However, there are times when it's convenient to use public transportation:

• To reach the city from the airport.

• For getting to your hotel, if it isn't within walking distance of your arrival point.

• For the obligatory ride up or down the Grand Canal. (Tip: The vaporetti are least crowded when you're headed toward San Marco in the late evening.)

• To visit the Lido and its beaches.

• To reach islands such as Giudecca (site of the Venice Youth Hostel), Murano, Burano, and Torcello.

Venice has an excellent public transportation system, but tourist fares are ridiculously high. If you plan to use public transportation often, you can buy a 12- to 72-day tourist ticket at any ACTV vaporetto ticket booth.

For a longer stay, or for more perks (such as unlimited use of public toilets), you may want to consider the Venice Card, although it's more expensive than an ACTV tourist ticket.

The Venice Card comes in two colors, each available for 1, 2, or 7 days:

Venice Card Blu

This card offers unlimited transportation on waterbuses and autobuses. It also provides perks such as:

• Free use of AMAV public toilets.

• Free admission to the Casiṇ di Venezia.

• Discounts at various attractions, shops, and restaurants, and bars.

• Insurance covering medical and legal assistance.

• Special rates at the Tronchetto parking garage and several other garages at the Piazzale Roma and on the mainland.

If you're between the ages of 14 and 29, you'll also receive the discounts that come with the Rolling Venice Card (which is less convenient to buy since it requires a trip to an office in the district of Santa Croce).

Venice Card Orange

The more expensive orange card includes all of the above plus:

• Free admission to the Venice municipal museums.

• Free admission to the historic churches that offer the Chorus Pass, the Querini Stampalia Foundation, and the Jewish Museum.

Optional airport transportation

For an extra fee, you can buy your card with roundtrip airport transportation on the Alilaguna water bus. (You won't save any money by doing so, however.)

How to buy the Venice Card

Venice Card is sold in two versions: Senior (for adults over 30) and Junior (for visitors from 5 through 29).

You'll need to reserve your card at least 48 hours before arriving in Venice. The easiest and cheapest way buy the Venice Card is to order it online. You then print out your receipt/voucher and use it to claim your card when you arrive in Venice.

Tips and warnings:

• If you want only local transportation on the ACTV, you can save money by purchasing a 12- to 72-hour tourist ticket from any ACTV ticket office or vaporetto ticket booth. For current prices, see my Venice Vaporetto and Bus Fares article.

• Like many e-commerce sites, the Venice Card Web site can be frustrating to use. For example, if you enter arrival and departure dates two weeks apart, the site will try to sell you two 7-day Venice cards--even if you want a card for only a few days. (Workaround: Enter a fictitious departure date 1, 2, or 7 days after your arrival.)

• One reader reported that he was unable to pick up his Venice Card after showing his receipt at three different VELA ticket offices (which are official collection points for Venice Card). Caveat emptor.

For more information, or to order the Venice Card, see the official Venice Card Web site. (The site can be slow to load, so please be patient!)

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