The Easy and Cheap Way to Get Around Venice

Written by Philippa Burne, UK, May 2012

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Popular with Locals, Tip - Dos & Don'ts, Tip - Transport, Pier / Waterfront / Port

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Comment from Philippa Burne

The Easy and Cheap Way to Get Around Venice

The only wheeled traffic in Venice are the trolleys used to take things from barge to shop. And prams. There are no cars and very few bicycles, because of all the steps. It seems obvious to say that there are no cars but there was once a plan to fill in the canals of Venice and bring cars to the city. Thankfully that failed, but some of the wider streets you encounter in Venice are actually filled in canals from the days of this ill-conceived plan.

It was Mussolini who connected Venice to the mainland by the Ponte Littorio, a road vehicle bridge opened in 1933. When Italy rid itself of Mussolini and Fascism, this was renamed Ponte della Liberta. All cars have to park at the Piazzale Roma car park. So the ways to get around Venice are on foot or by boat. Walking is wonderful because the city is so interesting, but it is easy to get lost in Venice, very easy. And it is tiring to walk because all the streets are made of stone. So the best solution is boat. Gondolas are wonderful, but expensive. Traghetto are cheaper, communal gondolas, but run very few routes and only across the Grand Canal. Water taxis are elegant, but are also expensive. That leaves us with the Vaparetto which are cheap, efficient and reliable. The routes are very simple...

Editor’s Note: This recommendation was taken from our Venice Things to Do blog. Visit the original post to continue reading the full post and to learn more about things to do in Venice.

Photo courtesy of Clayton Tang via Wikipedia.

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