Need To Know

Venice is the capital of its region, Veneto, and it consists of over 100 islands that are located in the Adriatic sea. With its canals, art and historic buildings this city will definitely captivate you. The "City of masks" is magic and beautiful during every season of the year. You'll find a connection to the past in almost every building and corner, so keep your eyes open!

Venice, as well as the rest of Northern Italy, is much safer than the south of Italy. However, as in all touristic places, beware of pickpockets because they take advantage of visitors.

Also, not concerning safety but money, you have to take into account this: when you enter a restaurant, always check for the cover price (in Italian coperto) and the percentage of tip (in Italian servizio) that will be added to the account at the end of the meal. I'm warning you now so you don't get ugly surprises! The cover usually costs between one and three euros and taxes vary between 10% and 15%. You will find restaurants where the prices already include these concepts.

Most of the stores in Venice are usually open Monday through Sunday from 8:30 am to 12:30 pm and from 3:30 pm to 7:30 pm.

On Monday mornings, many stores and museums are closed.

As for the time for lunch and dinner: in Italy lunch is usually from 12 to 14 and dinner from 19 to 20.30, but Venice is a very touristic city so you will definitely find restaurants that remain open later than that and people eating in them.

Walking

The distances in Venice are not far and almost every corner is beautiful, so I would suggest walking as much as you can, and leave the boats or buses for long distances only.

Gondolas

One of the most romantic things to do in Venice is the Gondola ride. The price is standard: € 80. And it is per gondola, which means you can find someone who wants to share it and you could split the price.

Vaporettos:

The most common lines are: 1 (from Piazzale Roma to Lido), 3 (Piazzale Roma to Murano), 7 (Piazza San Marco to Murano), 10 (from San Marcos to Lido), all with intermediate stops.

As for the tickets, the ACTV (the transport company) offers 24hrs cards for € 20. If you're staying for a few days I would suggest arranging your itinerary in such a way that you can use the 1 day ticket. If you want, you can buy 2 days for € 30. 

If you only intend to move to the next stop or cross the Grand Canal using line 1, you can buy a ticket for 4 euros but, to do the latter, it is more advisable to use a traghetto.

Schedule: Vaporetto service usually operates from 4:30 to 00:30 hours on most lines.

Traghettos:

The traghettos are gondolas that are used to cross the Grand Canal in some places where there is no bridge. They are an economical alternative that Venetians use to cross when there are no bridges.

Schedules: It must be taken into account that it is a service for Venetian workers, so they only work for a few hours a day.

Italian, but if you're lucky you'll listen to locals speaking in their dialect.

They are used to tourists, so most of them know English.

Venice is known for inspiring lots of writers, artists, filmmakers... Here's a list of some of the best books and movies:

- The three Musketeers

- The tourist

- El Greco

- Casino Royale

- Casanova (all)

- The merchant of Venice

- Lunedi mattina

- Bread and tulips

- Othelo

- Indiana Jones and the last crusade

- Death in Venice 

There are several options to get to the city center from Marco Polo airport:

- Water bus: they are operated by Alilunga company and you can get a one-way ticket from the airport to the islands – or vice versa – for €14 and a roundtrip for €25. There are 3 different lines so you should check which one is better for you depending on where you are staying in the city. It takes over 1 hour.

- Bus: Bus Nº 5 runs between the airport and Piazzale Roma. The journey is about 25 minutes and the cost of a ticket is €8 one way (€15 if you’ll be making the round-trip). You can buy tickets at the self-service machines. The Venezia Unica travel pass can also include this bus.

- "Venice Express" from ATVO company. The journey is about 20-30 minutes one-way and the cost of a ticket is €8 one way (€15 if you’ll be making the round-trip). It goes straight from the airport to Piazzale Roma.

You can create a personalised City Pass for yourself and your travelling companions. Venezia Unica City Pass is personal and may be used up to two years after purchase. Based on your needs, you can choose to purchase public transportation tickets, admission to the major city attractions and many other services. I would suggest making numbers and checking if it's really worth it in each individual case.

You can visit their website and check the details in this link.