Venice Tourist Travel Cards

ABOVE: The front and back of an ACTV Tourist Travel Card.

If you've read our Venice Vaporetto and Bus Fares article, you know that single waterbus fares are outrageous. (In early 2010, when his article was written, the standard tourist boat fare was €6,50--nearly six times the rate paid by local residents and long-term sojourners with Cartavenezia cards.)

Fortunately, the ACTV--Venice's local transit authority--offers Tourist Travel Cards that can reduce the financial pain of riding the city's vaporetti and motoscafi. These electronic cards allow unlimited travel on ACTV water and land buses for ½, 1, 2, 3, or 7 days, depending on which version you buy.

(Also, a 3-day "Young Person's Travel Card" for tourists between the ages of 14 and 29 is available in combination with the Rolling Venice Card. It's a good value, especially if you're staying at the Venice Hostel on Giudecca.)

Here's our advice on using ACTV's Tourist Travel Cards:

• Don't buy more time than you need. Venice is compact and pedestrian-friendly, so you shouldn't need to ride the vaporetto very often unless you're visiting outlying islands (such as the Lido, Murano, Burano, and Torcello) or have limited mobility.

• Consolidate your excursions. For example, if you're planning to visit Murano's glass factories and take a ride up the Grand Canal, buy a 12-hour Tourist Travel Card and make both trips in the same day.

• Follow the card's instructions. When you're riding a water bus, hold the card close to the iMob electronic cardreader at the entrance to the vaporetto platform until you hear a beep. On land buses, the iMob device is usually inside the bus. (The Tourist Travel Card's period of validity begins when you first scan the card. You can check how much time is left on your card by holding it up to the iMob reader and pressing the "?" button.)

• Be aware of the card's limitations. ACTV Tourist Travel Cards are not valid on ATVO airport buses or Alilaguna airport boats.

For current ACTV Tourist Travel Card prices, see our Venice Water and Bus Fare Tables.

Other tips:

• The imob or CartaVenezia fare discount card can be a great bargain if you're staying in Venice for a while or plan to visit the city again in the next several years. (It used to be for residents only but is now available to visitors.)

• The city of Venice offers a product called "Venice Connected" (formerly the Venice Card) that combines unlimited public transportation with an a la carte menu of options such as public toilets and museum admissions. See our Venice Connected article for details.