Category Archives: Venice Instructions

Oh, Toto, I don’t think we’re even in Italy anymore.

Buongiorno, VeneziaUnica (addio, VeniceConnected)

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VeneziaUnica is the new portal the offers advance purchase for all passes and services you’ll use while you’re visiting the city. The online portal was activated October 7, 2013, replacing and eventually expanding on other online venues like VeniceConnected, Venicecard, with more likely to shift there in the future.

FOR TRAVELERS

VeneziaUnica Composer

Just passing through? Use the composer to select, then purchase passes and services for each individual in your travel party, including

• ACTV passes
• museum & church passes (VeniceCard, San Marco Museums, etc.)
• land and water transfers (Aerobus/Alilaguna)
• toilets, wi-fi

with more to be added over time.

Where you retrieve your pass/tickets depends on the service you purchase, it has not changed. What seems to have changed is that services are no longer date specific, which is probably a good thing.

What is misleading from the English description is that they talk about it being a city pass. There is no single card for all services for the traveler; there is a single portal with a “composer” that you can use to purchase a number of services in advance, that you retrieve individually according the services; instructions will be included as they always have.

VeneziaUnica city pass will also replace imob/CartaVenezia (though your imob will act like a VeneziaUnica city pass until it expires): the card is free, the paid services for residents and frequent visitors that may be activated via the city pass are public transport, bike sharing, car sharing (Italian driver’s license required), car parks, wi-fi, etc.

FOR RESIDENTS and FREQUENT VISITORS

Residents and frequent visitors will be issued free VeneziaUnica cards, then use them to activate paid services such as ACTV services, car park, car sharing,

Your current imob card will act like a VeneziaUnica card until it expires, when it will be replaced with a VeneziaUnica card.

 

Hop-on, Hop-off Vaporetto dell’Arte eliminated.

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Vaporetto dell'Arte Venice City Tour water bus

The vaporetto dell’Arte service has been eliminated as of fall 2013.

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The Vaporetto dell’Arte debuts June 1, and with any luck will allow curious ticket holders to travel more comfortably,  and more informed.

A local will only lament the arrival of yet another vaporetto water bus traversing the Grand Canal, and after the failed attempt at the resident-only line two years ago, you can understand their skepticism. But this new hop-on, hop-off city tour might just help distribute the tourist vap traffic a bit more appropriately, freeing  sightseers from the more cumbersome arrival and departure traffic—we can only hope.

The Vaporetto dell’Arte resembles hop-on, hop-off buses in other cities like London or Rome, with some notable differences. Each of the 80 seats on this colorful vaporetto is equipped with its own monitor; you can select your language and use the earphones to listen to the presentation between stops. There is more ample outside seating compared to a normal vaporetto, and with your purchase, along with the earphones, there’s a kit with a map, a booklet with instructions and route, and offers from associated organizations (Venice city museums, Biennale, Fenice , Guggenheim, Cini and Prada Foundations, and more) for Vaporetto dell’Arte ticket holders.

The Vaporetto dell’Arte stops have be selected to make them convenient for sightseeing and for criss-crossing the city more efficiently; though that will likely depend on exactly what it is you intend to visit (the Ghetto, Ca’ Rezzonico, Bevilacqua, Querini Stampalia and Palazzo Grimani don’t seem terribly convenient to any of the included stops, which are San Stae, Ca’ d’Oro, San Samuele, Accademia, Salute, San Giorgio, and San Marco, of course; Arsenale and Giardini when the Biennale’s on). Forza, corraggio.

Some particulars:

  • the pass is good for 24 hours, so you’re covered for two full days of sightseeing.
  • the cost is €24, or €15 for seniors or kids 12 and under; you can also combine this pass with any regular  pass for €10.

• purchase the Vaporetto dell’Arte and other travel passes from veniceconnected.com,

Note, too, that

  • the starting point is the Ferrovia train station, not Piazzale Roma; the line ends at San Giorgio Maggiore (or Arsenale or Giardini).
  • the vaporetto departs every 30 minutes from any stop; when you arrive, check the next departure times.

For complete information, see the official web site, vaporettoarte.com

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By the  way, the VAP MAP has been updated to reflect the new line, and the new Alilaguna and ACTV stops.

Take a Number: Venice Vaporetti regroup

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Lines Stay the Same, Only the Numbers Change (but not all of them).

As of November 2, 2011, ACTV Spa and the City of Venice will implement a new numbering system for vaporetto public transport lines. The changes also include a new landing system that uses numbers, colors and letters which could, should help newcomers find the landing they’re looking for more quickly. Speriamo bene.

The new system does not affect routes and frequencies, just the numbering and organization.

Line changes include:

• Line DM direct to Murano becomes Line 3
• Lines 41/42 51/52 become 4.1/4.2 and 5.1/5.2 (n.1 runs counterclockwise, n.2 clockwise)
• Lines 61/62 become Line 6
• Line 5 from San Zaccaria to Murano becomes Line 7
• Line T serving Burano-Torcello becomes Line 9
• CLODIA Raphael which travels between Chioggia and Venice will be the new LINE 19

Other significant changes relate to the LN (Laguna Nord) which, while keeping the route and frequencies, will be split into 4 sections:

• Line 10 is the direct Lido – S.Marco Giardinetti shuttle (navetta)
• Line 12 serves F.Nove – Burano – Treporti – Punta Sabbioni
• Line 14 connects S.Zaccaria Pietà – Lido – Punta Sabbioni, while
• 14L (limited) serves Punta Sabbioni-Lido

Finally, there is a new Line 22 which serves Punta Sabbioni – F.te Nove – Tre Archi which has been a special line will now become a regualar one.

Easy as A-B-C

At larger piers like Piazzale Roma, the railway station, Rialto area, Fondamente Nove, San Zaccaria, and more, you’ll notice that the landings will also be identified with a capital letter placed on the entrance of the pier. This letter will also appear on the maps along the ACTV quais, and will associate the vaporetto lines with the landings that  serve them. The letters will also appear on the LED signage indicating departures and times.

 

With any luck and a little patience, this new system should benefit both locals and travelers, who normally have little time to get up to speed on vaporetto usage.

For more information, see the ACTV site (in Italian).

(By the way: the Vap Map has already been updated with the new lines and routes. Be sure to get yours before your arrival in Venice!)

Orsoni is firm: Santa Margherita Shuts Down with the Midnight Marangona

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This sprawling campo with numerous late-night locales creates an ideal environment for students and other can meet and hang out. The only problem is — given that stone and water surfaces carry and amplify even the most subdued conversation — anyone within earshot can’t get a lick of sleep.

What’s a mayor to do? Guest contributor and journalist Gioia Tiozzo of 100x100venezia.it reports.

Venice, August 10 – It’s decided, at least for now. In Campo Santa Margherita and San Pantalon, bars, restaurants, pizzerias and gelaterie will lower their saracinesche [rolling metal storefront gates] and send everyone a casa. It’s a bold — if risky — new move to find a solution to managing the nightlight in the only campo In Venice where masses of youth congregate every evening [especially in summer]. The order will remain in force for the next two months, then reevaluated. Mayor Orsoni has left for the holidays, and the merchants, who certainly will not stand silent and watch, are left holding the bag. 

The issues at stake are not insignificant. 29 enterprises — as many types of activities are affected by the order — will be left to deal with a substantial loss of revenue and possible redundancy. If kitchens have to close at 11pm, some cooks and servers could also be left at home.

Certainly the mayor had to do something. According to the findings of ARPAV, the noise level in Campo Santa Margherita at that hour is equal to that of an industrial area. It’s easy to understand the [ongoing] irritation of [the campo’s] residents, who need to sleep at a reasonable hour. Hence the drastic decision.

“That’s the way you kill a town” say business owners, who yesterday morning gathered at Ca ‘Farsetti to get the May0r’s attention. They want more dialogue and a discussion board to seek an alternative solution together.

The problem, in fact, according to operators, it is not up to the opening night of the premises, rather the lack of control over activity such as shouting, bongo playing, etc. They would have never come up with such a drastic solution; a better one would be to wet the floor at night (as is done in other Italian cities), thus discouraging groups from sitting on the wet ground chattering away into the wee hours.

Joy Tiozzo

Read Italian? See the original post here.

Venice Transit News: Aerobus & Rialto Landing

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Venice ACTV revises fares, revitalizes buses and adds a convenient combo land-boat entrance fare to the city. 

The ACTV Venice city bus °5 has always traveled between the airport and Piazzale Roma. Although recent changes mean this route is no longer included in the Venice Travel Pass, additional service improvements still make the Aerobus a convenient transfer option. They’ve upgraded the buses, increased their size (it’s a double) and also augmented the number of trips the Aerobuses make daily.

If you have baggage, the standard fare for the #5 Aerobus transfer between Piazzale Roma and the airport is now €5, compared to the normal bus fare of 2,50. More conveniently, you can now buy one €10 ticket that includes the Aerobus and the vaporetto ticket — the only requirement is that you have Marco Polo Airport as departure or arrival point. So:

• €5: one-way Aerobus Venice Marco Polo <-> P.Roma.
• €9: round-trip
• €10 bus+boat: includes land bus transfer and one 90 min. vaporetto ticket (normally 6,50). Tickets are good to or from the airport.
• If you buy the a Travel Card pass, you can add the Aerobus ticket to it for €3.
• If you don’t have baggage you ride for the normal fare.

Remember that Aerobus °5 is no longer included in Venice Travel Card passes (unless you have no luggage); tickets must now be purchased separately, at machines or ticket counters. You may purchase the discount travel card with a one-way or round trip Aerobus ticket in advance purchase at VeniceConnected.com.

You do not need a CartaVenezia iMob pass for this fare. According to the press release, holders can purchase an Aerobus ticket for €3, although the ACTV and ticketing machines specify the €1,20 fare.

Rialto Line 2 boarding separates subscription and non-subscription iMob card holders.

In an attempt to better control the heavy flow of passengers at the Line 2 Rialto vaporetto stop, the ACTV has just announced they will separate boarding for CartaVenezia and non-CartaVenezia ticket holders, in effect daily from 4pm – 8:30 pm during the summer season for boats heading in either direction.

There will be one line for those with a CartaVenezia subscription, and another for those with magnetic paper travel cards. The first line will also accomodate those with mobility issues, wheelchairs, etc.

At other times of the day and the end of the summer season there will be a single boarding area only.