Transit in Venice

Our daughter and 14-year-old grandson spent two weeks with us in Italy in July ’09.

For our flight home from Venice, we needed to get from the San Zaccaria vaporetto stop (near Piazza San Marco) to Marco Polo Airport. We learned about the new bus number 5 from Piazzale Roma (across from the train station) that allows travelers to go directly to the airport in 30 minutes instead of having to resort to one of the VERY expensive private water taxis or going to Mistra on the mainland to catch a bus. It starts around 5 a.m. and runs every half hour throughout most of the day and evening.

Also, as we were going to catch a vaporetto, a friendly Venetian suggested we take vaporetto number 52 as a better way to reach Piazzale Roma than the usual number 1 or 2 that travels along the Grand Canal with numerous stops. Making fewer stops and going at a faster speed, vaporetto number 52 uses the Canale di Chiara around the outside of the main islands to the west, getting to Piazzale Roma in about half the time.

All, including the bus, were covered by our 3-day transportation pass, which we had ordered online at www.veniceconnected.com before we left home. The 72-hour pass costs €28 (near $40), which is a very good deal since a one-way single-trip ticket on the Grand Canal costs €8 ($11.40).

The 3-day pass allows you to travel all over as many times as you want, including to some of the outlying islands such as Murano, and also covers the number 5 bus to the airport within that 72-hour period. It was very nice to be able to jump on and off the vaporetti and save our tired feet.

The Venice Connected website also sells museum passes for the San Marco area and others, and you also can purchase from them password codes to access Wi-Fi Internet in the piazza and other designated areas.

JOHN & SANDRA HICKS
Tehachapi, CA