Venice is one of Europe’s top tourism destinations and holidays there usually start with Venice Airport transfers to your chosen accommodation – be it in the city centre or outside.
Here are some interesting facts, which may be contrary to what some first-time visitors believe.
• Venice is an island. In fact, it’s a lagoon and the city is built on a number of marshy islands and raised areas.
• You can’t get anywhere other than by boat. That’s not quite true and some parts of the greater metropolitan area can be accessed by vehicle or more commonly on foot. However, for some of the central areas (including the tourist hot-spots), water transfer is much easier and in some cases essential.
• Venice is expensive. Well, only if you eat and stay in the main tourist centres. Eat and use hotels even just a few hundred metres away and you’ll find prices are much more reasonable.
• You can use road buses for Venice Airport transfers. That’s actually true but it’s slower and, depending upon where you’re staying, you may need to change to a boat anyway. Dedicated sea bound Venice airport transfers might be more practical, and they’re certainly a great way to arrive in ‘La Serenissima’.
• The water buses are regular and cheap. Unfortunately, the water buses or ‘Vaporetti’ aren’t necessarily either. Tourists will pay a higher price than local residents, but there are special tickets and schemes available to help reduce the costs. Make some enquiries from the locals you meet. Note also that the Vaporetti can be very crowded at peak times, so expect a bit of pushing and shoving. Sometimes, it might be worth checking out the comparative cost of a water taxi.
• Gondolas are like water taxis. No, they’re not – at least not today. They are a magical tourist experience and a great way to spend a little time looking at some lovely old buildings from the water whilst dreaming of times past. However, they’re expensive and hardly a practical way of going medium to longer distances around the city. There are ordinary and more cost-effective (but admittedly less romantic) water taxis.
• You can haggle over water transport fares. This is an odd one sometimes heard. It’s odd because nobody would think about getting onto a bus or train back home and starting to try and negotiate over the fare. In fact, fares through legitimate operators are regulated and set. What you can and should do, though, is to make sure you have agreed a destination and fare with a water taxi or Gondola operator BEFORE you get aboard. Be sure there is no misunderstanding. This obviously doesn’t apply to Vaporetti.
Most visitors to the city tend to spend the bulk of their time in the central tourist areas.
When getting around, they’ll normally use their feet as it isn’t a huge city and, providing you’re tolerably fit, you’ll be able to walk around most of its major sites quickly and easily. Once Venice Airport transfers are complete, in fact some visitors don’t get into a boat again until they leave! It’s perfectly possible to do so and still see most of the city’s great attractions.
