Venice vaporetto: ACTV tickets, passes and main lines

The vaporetto is Venice’s public transport: scheduled waterbuses run by ACTV that link the historic centre, the Grand Canal, the lagoon islands and the Lido. The official ticket costs €9.50 for 75 minutes, a figure that surprises most visitors, which is exactly why the 1, 2, 3 and 7-day passes are often the better choice. All prices here are ACTV’s official fares at the time of checking and may change.

In this guide you will find the fares, the maths for choosing between single tickets and a pass, the lines that matter to a visitor, how to buy through the app or at Venezia Unica offices, the Rolling Venice youth discount and the luggage rules.

ACTV tickets and passes: every fare

ACTV has one fare for visitors and a much lower one for residents. As a visitor you pay the first, and the only real decision is between single tickets and a timed pass.

There is also a €16 return ticket aimed at Lido beachgoers. And note: according to ACTV, the 24-hour pass, the Venezia Daily Pass, also covers Trenitalia regional trains within the municipality, handy if you are staying in Mestre.

On Tiqets the “Vaporetto Pass” starts from €12, against €9.50 for the official single ticket, and comes in 75-minute, 1, 2, 3 and 7-day versions, plus a one-day option with Trenitalia. It is rated 4.4 from more than 3,200 reviews and is non-refundable. Before comparing, check which duration you are looking at: the only real advantage over the official app is buying in advance, in English, with your card already saved on the platform. Once you are in Venice, the AVM Venezia app or a ticket machine costs the same or less.

When a pass pays off (and when it doesn’t)

The maths is simple: divide the pass price by €9.50.

Three real examples.

One day only, arriving by train. You walk from the station to San Marco via Rialto and ride back along the Grand Canal: one ride, €9.50. You don’t need a pass.

A day on the islands. Fondamente Nove to Murano, Murano to Burano, Burano to Torcello and back, plus one Grand Canal ride: at least five validations. On single tickets you would spend €47.50 (a little less in practice, using changes within 75 minutes); with a pass, €25. Here the pass always wins.

Three days in the historic centre. Arrival and departure with luggage (two rides), an afternoon on Murano and Burano (three or four rides), an evening on the Grand Canal (one ride): six or seven rides, or €57–66 in singles against €45 for the 72-hour pass. It pays, but only just: if you walk a lot and skip the islands, single tickets are enough.

The rule of thumb: a pass pays off if your stay includes at least one day on the islands, or if your hotel is far from San Marco and the station and you will ride every day. Validity runs from first validation, not from purchase: if you arrive in the afternoon, a 72-hour pass covers you until the same time three days later.

The main lines

The network is dense, but only a few lines matter to a visitor. Timetables change with the seasons, so the frequencies below are a guide: check the line PDFs on the ACTV website.

Two details that prevent mistakes. The larger stops (Ferrovia, Piazzale Roma, San Zaccaria, Fondamente Nove, Rialto) have several pontoons marked with letters, A, B, C and so on: check the board to see which one your line uses. And circular lines 4.1/4.2 and 5.1/5.2 run the same loop in opposite directions: boarding 4.2 instead of 4.1 can turn ten minutes into an hour. For Torcello, remember that line 12 stops there only early in the morning and in the evening, and only on request: by day use the line 9 shuttle from Burano.

Line 1: the Grand Canal for the price of a ticket

Line 1 is the cheapest way to see the palaces of the Grand Canal: for €9.50 you cross the whole city, stopping at every landing, from Riva de Biasio to San Stae, Ca’ d’Oro, Rialto, San Tomà, Ca’ Rezzonico, Accademia, Santa Maria del Giglio and Salute, all the way to San Marco. Ferrovia to Rialto takes about 20 minutes, to San Marco Vallaresso about 35–40.

For an outdoor seat at the bow or stern, board at the terminus at Piazzale Roma or Ferrovia: from intermediate stops the boat is nearly always full. The best light is early in the morning or in the hour before sunset, when the crowds thin too. Every palace and bridge you will pass is described on our page about Rialto and the Grand Canal.

A day with the 24-hour pass

Here is how to make a daily pass really work, with the right lines in the right order.

1. Early morning, Fondamente Nove → Burano on line 12: about 41 minutes, calling at Murano Faro and Mazzorbo. Arriving before 10:00 means seeing the coloured houses before the groups.
2. Burano → Torcello on the line 9 shuttle, a five-minute crossing every quarter of an hour. Here you will find the basilica of Santa Maria Assunta, with its mosaic Last Judgement, and the bell tower.
3. Torcello → Burano → Murano Faro, again on lines 9 and 12, for lunch and an afternoon among the glass furnaces and the Glass Museum. Island guides: Murano, Burano and Torcello and San Giorgio.
4. Murano → Ferrovia on line 3, direct, about a quarter of an hour.
5. Sunset on the Grand Canal on line 1 from Ferrovia to San Marco.

That is at least seven validations: on single tickets you would spend well over the €25 of the pass. The same plan works with the Lido in place of the northern islands: line 1 or 5.1 to Lido S.M.E., a walk down the Gran Viale to the sea, and back on line 14 to San Zaccaria.

Where and how to buy: app, Venezia Unica, machines

You can buy official tickets in four ways:

• The AVM Venezia app, the official app of the group that runs ACTV: register, buy and use your ticket on your phone.
• veneziaunica.it, the City’s official portal for transport, museums and services: buy online, then collect or use your code as instructed.
• Venezia Unica ticket offices, including Piazzale Roma, Tronchetto, Rialto, Lido S.M.E., Burano and Mestre, plus points at the station and the airport. Opening hours vary.
• Ticket machines at the main stops, and authorised retailers.

Tickets come on an electronic card that you validate by touching it on the reader on the pontoon before boarding, every time you board and every time you change line, even with a pass. To an inspector, an unvalidated pass is the same as no pass.

For help, complaints or timetable information, the 041 041 call centre covers all AVM group services.

Rolling Venice: the discount for ages 6–29

Rolling Venice is the youth card for ages 6 to 29. Its most practical use is transport: cardholders pay €27 for the 72-hour pass instead of €45, and the card plus pass package costs €33 on Venezia Unica. In effect the card costs €6 and saves you €12 on the very first pass. The Aerobus is not included.

The same card gives you the reduced ticket at the Civic Museums: the Doge’s Palace, the Correr Museum, Ca’ Rezzonico and the Murano Glass Museum. You need ID showing your age at museum entrances and ticket checks.

Luggage, bikes, pushchairs

On an ordinary ticket each passenger may carry up to three pieces of luggage free, each with total dimensions (length + width + height) within 150 cm. A cabin case fits with room to spare; a large checked suitcase can exceed the limit, so measure it before you travel. Beyond three pieces you pay one ordinary ticket for every three extra, and items over 150 cm are refused.

On board, keep suitcases out of the gangways. At rush hour on lines 1 and 2, travelling with luggage is miserable: if you can, move your hotel arrival to mid-morning or early afternoon. Bicycles pay €1.50 and are allowed only on certain lines and boats, while folding bikes travel free. You cannot cycle in the historic centre anyway.

What an ACTV ticket does not cover

• Alilaguna, the airport boat: a private company with separate tickets (€18 to the centre).
• Lines 16 and 19 and the Casinò line, excluded from tourist passes.
• The Aerobus to Marco Polo if you only hold a single ticket: with a pass you pay the €7 supplement.
• The traghetto and the gondola, which are gondoliers’ services: €2 per person for the first, an official per-boat fare for the second.
• Water taxis, which are private, on the official tariff or by quote.

The full picture of every option, including airports and the station, is on our Venice transport page.

Practical tips on board

• Avoid rush hour out of Ferrovia and Piazzale Roma, towards San Marco in the morning and the other way in the late afternoon: line 1 and line 2 boats fill to the last seat.
• Leave for the islands from Fondamente Nove, not San Marco: line 12 to Burano departs from there every 20 minutes by day, and 4.1/4.2 reach Murano in a few minutes.
• Read the direction on the board, not just the number: the same stop serves lines heading in opposite directions.
• During acqua alta some lines change route or skip stops, and some stretches under low bridges can be suspended. Check ACTV notices on days of high tide.
• Night service is reduced: if you are heading back late, check the last departure of your line on the timetable PDF before going out.
• A pass doesn’t let you skip the queue: on busy days you wait like everyone else. Its value is not having to think about the cost of each ride.

If your stay also includes museums and attractions, our passes and combos page covers the combined tickets that include transport, and when they beat buying separately.