Before you arrive
The access fee
The Contributo di Accesso is paid by visitors who come into the historic centre for the day and do not stay overnight.
- Price
- €5 if booked four days ahead or more, €10 the day before or on the day
- Hours
- 08:30 to 16:00, on selected days in high season
- Fine
- €25 to €300, plus the unpaid fee itself
- Exemption
- Staying overnight in Venice or in Mestre
The fee does not apply all year but on a published calendar of chargeable days — as a rule the spring holidays and weekends from April through July. The city publishes the calendar in advance, usually over the winter.
An exemption through your hotel is not automatic. You need the esenzione QR code from the city system: a printed hotel booking is not accepted at a check.
The 2026 season has ended — the paid days ran from 3 April to 26 July, and the fee is not being charged at present. The 2027 dates will be announced closer to spring. The fee falls only on day-trippers on those days, between 08:30 and 16:00; overnight guests and anyone visiting only the islands and the Lido are exempt. The whole story is in our piece on the access fee.
What we do. We check your dates and obtain the codes in advance, exemptions included.
The code of conduct
Venice has a code of conduct, and breaching it carries a fine that can extend to being ordered out of the city.
- Steps of bridges and churches
- Sitting is prohibited; it blocks the flow
- Eating on the ground or on monuments
- Prohibited; there are benches for that
- Walking the calli
- Keep right, and step to the wall to take a photograph
- Suitcases
- Plastic wheels are loud on the paving; carry them over the bridges
The rules read as petty until you see Venice in August. The city operates at a density that European capitals do not know, and the whole code is really about the carrying capacity of a street a metre and a half wide.
What to download
Four applications that genuinely earn their place.
- CheBateo
- Vaporetto times, more reliable than the map apps
- Hi!Tide Venice
- Tide forecast
- Il Meteo
- The Italian weather forecast
- WhatsApp
- The default messenger in Italy, restaurants included
Getting from the airport into the city
Marco Polo (VCE) sits on the mainland. Venice begins at Piazzale Roma and Santa Lucia station — from there it’s water or on foot only.
| Way in | Price | Time |
|---|
| Bus (ACTV/ATVO Aerobus) | €10 one way | 20–25 min to Piazzale Roma |
|---|
| Alilaguna (water bus) | €18 one way | 60–90 min, +€3 per extra bag |
|---|
| Shared water taxi | from ~€39 per person | leaves when full |
|---|
| Private water taxi | €150–300 per boat | straight to your hotel’s landing |
|---|
- Meet & greet in arrivals (on request)
- a separate service: an assistant meets you in arrivals with a name board, helps with the luggage and walks you to the dock
The bus is cheap and quick, but from Piazzale Roma it’s still a vaporetto and bridges with your luggage. A private boat costs more but delivers you to the door and skips the bridge steps.
What we do. We arrange a private boat from the airport to your hotel’s landing; on request, a meet-and-greet assistant in arrivals.
Where you actually arrive
Venice has no cars. All mainland transport ends at two points — beyond them it’s on foot or by water.
- Santa Lucia
- The railway station, trains
- Piazzale Roma
- Buses, the airport Aerobus, car parks
- People Mover
- Elevated shuttle, Piazzale Roma to the Tronchetto car park, included in the ACTV ticket
Both points are on the Canal Grande, with vaporetto stops beside them. There is no driving into the city: cars are left at Tronchetto or Piazzale Roma.
On the ground
Getting around
There are no roads here, only canals, and navigation apps get it wrong on a regular basis.
| How | Price | Detail |
|---|
| Vaporetto | €9.50 | valid 75 minutes, €60 fine without a ticket |
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| Water taxi | from ~€120 per boat | around the city and the lagoon, priced per boat |
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| Gondola | €90 day / €110 evening | 30 and 35 minutes, per boat for up to five |
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| Traghetto | about €2 | crossing the Canal Grande on a working gondola |
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ACTV travel passes
| Ticket | Price |
|---|
| Single ticket | €9.50, valid 75 minutes |
|---|
| Day pass (24 hours) | €25 |
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| 48 hours | €35 |
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| 72 hours | €45 |
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| 7 days | €65 |
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A vaporetto ticket is validated before you step onto the floating stop, not on board. Take your rucksack off your back: the gangways are narrow.
From your third ride in a day, the day pass already beats single tickets. Airport routes (Alilaguna and the Aerobus) are not included — the bus needs a +€7 one-way supplement. Under-30s can get the Rolling Venice card (€6), which drops the 72-hour pass to €27.
Only four bridges cross the Canal Grande, which is why Venetians use the traghetto and cross standing up. Gondola fares are set by the city; there is nothing to negotiate, and music is charged separately.
What we do. We arrange a launch at any point in your visit, including the meeting at the airport.
Money and the bill
An Italian bill carries lines that do not exist in your country, and all of them are lawful.
- Coperto
- €2 to €5 a head for the cover and bread. Not a tip
- Servizio
- Sometimes included, 10 to 12 per cent
- Music charge
- Always added on Piazza San Marco
- Tipping
- €5 to €10 for a good dinner, the change in a bar, a couple of euros for a porter
- ATMs
- Withdraw from bank ATMs (Intesa, UniCredit); the blue Euronet machines give poor rates
- “Charge in your currency?”
- Always decline — pay in euros, the bank rate is better (this is DCC)
There is no twenty-per-cent rule in Italy. If servizio is already on the bill, nothing further is expected.
Cards are taken everywhere, kiosks included, but keep €50 in small notes: terminals fail, and gondoliers and taxis prefer cash.
Eating and how to order
The vocabulary that separates a guest from a tourist.
- Ombra
- A glass of wine, about 100 ml, €1.50 to €2.50
- Cicchetti
- One-bite dishes on the counter of a bacaro, eaten standing
- Baccalà mantecato
- Whipped salt cod on bread. Start here
- Sarde in saor
- Sardines with onion, vinegar and raisins
Ombra means shade. Wine sellers on Piazza San Marco moved their stalls to follow the shadow of the campanile so the wine would not warm, and "let us go into the shade" came to mean "let us go for a drink".
Spritz Select is a ruby bitter from Castello, first made in 1920. Drier than Aperol and served with an olive. Order it because you like it, not to pass for a local.
What we do. We take you to bacari that have no menu, and get tables where the book is closed for months.
Water, lavatories, small things
The basics cost less than you would expect.
- Drinking water
- 120 public fountains across the city, free
- Public lavatory
- €1.50
- Coffee at the bar
- About €1.20
Bring a refillable bottle: the fountain water is cold and clean, while a bottle in a shop costs €3. You may use a bar’s lavatory as a customer, and a coffee standing at the counter costs less than the public one.
Left luggage
You can drop your bags and explore hands-free.
- Santa Lucia station
- Left luggage (KiPoint), roughly from €6 for a few hours
- Piazzale Roma
- Paid deposits by the bus terminal
There is almost nowhere to leave luggage inside the historic centre — the deposits sit at the arrival points. Check hours and the exact price on site.
Internet and connectivity
Mobile data in Italy is cheap; city Wi-Fi is weak.
- Operators
- TIM, Vodafone, WindTre, Iliad; tourist SIMs at the airport and in town
- eSIM
- Airalo, Holafly and others — set up before you fly
- City Wi-Fi
- Exists but patchy; rely on mobile data
Easiest is to set up an eSIM in advance: Venice is easy to get lost in, and offline navigation apps routinely fail in the maze of calli.
Churches: entry and dress code
Venice’s churches are working places of worship, and entry is policed.
- Shoulders and knees
- Must be covered, or you will not be let in
- Large bags and backpacks
- Not allowed inside St Mark’s Basilica; there is a free deposit nearby (Ateneo San Basso)
- Hats
- Removed inside
Bring a light scarf — it covers your shoulders both against the heat and at the basilica door.
How addresses work
A Venetian address is not a street plus house number — it’s a sestiere and a number within it. That is why maps and taxi apps so often miss.
- Format
- Cannaregio 535 — the district and a number, not a street and a house
- Numbering
- Runs continuously within the sestiere (up to ~6,000 numbers), not by street
- Landmark
- Look for the nearest church, campo or landing, not the number
Locals give directions by bridges and squares, not streets. The street name (nizioleto) is painted on the wall — searching for it on a map rarely helps.
Accessibility and reduced mobility
Venice is bridges and steps, but getting around is realistic if you know how.
- Vaporetto
- Accessible: ramped pontoons, level entry, space for a wheelchair
- EU Disability Card
- €1.50 per journey, a companion travels free
- Bridges
- Not all have ramps; there is often a level way round along the water
- Prams
- Hard over narrow calli and steep bridges; a sling is easier
There is no fully step-free route across the whole city, but the long distances are covered by water, and a guide steers you around the steepest bridges.
What we do. We plan a route with the fewest steps and bring the boat to the entrance.
When the city is quieter
The daytime crowds arrive and leave on a schedule.
- Before 10am and after 6pm
- The day-trippers have not arrived yet, or have already left
- Lunch, 1–3pm
- The worst crush at St Mark’s and Rialto
- Quiet corners
- Castello, Cannaregio and Dorsoduro away from the main axes
The same view at Rialto at 8am and at 2pm is two different cities. An early start is the best free hack in Venice.
If something goes wrong
Acqua alta
The image of a flooded Venice is considerably overstated: since 2020 the city has been protected by the MOSE barriers.
- Barriers raised
- On a forecast above 110 cm
- Peak duration
- Two to three hours
- Where water still appears
- San Marco, five to ten centimetres
- Season
- Chiefly autumn
San Marco is the lowest point in the city, and even with the barriers closed water seeps up through the drains. Catastrophic flooding no longer happens.
It is the best moment a photographer gets: the square turns into a mirror. Your feet get wet and nothing else occurs.
Transport strikes
Strikes in Italy are announced in advance and on a register. Cancelling a day because of one is almost never necessary.
- Most often affected
- ACTV vaporetti, the airport, the railways
- Notice
- Usually ten days or more
- What to do
- Shift the timing by a couple of hours; that is generally enough
We keep a live register of strikes affecting Venice and Rome, updated twice a day.
See current strikes
What we do. When you are with us this is our concern. If a strike falls on your day, the route is rebuilt in advance.
Emergency numbers
One number works across Italy, from any phone.
- 112
- Single emergency line — police, ambulance, fire; works on a foreign SIM too
- Pharmacy (farmacia)
- Green cross; the night duty one is the farmacia di turno, listed on every pharmacy’s door
- Lost documents
- Report to the police (Questura) for a certificate, then your consulate
In Italy the pharmacy handles a lot without a doctor — from minor ailments to advice. It is the first stop for small health problems.
Safety
Venice is one of the safest cities in Italy. The main threat here is pickpockets, not crime.
- Where to watch
- St Mark’s, Rialto, crowded vaporetti, the station
- How
- Bag in front, phone out of your back pocket, backpack off in the vaporetto
- At night
- Walk freely — the city is quiet and patrolled
The real “scam” in Venice is not street crime but tourist mark-ups and set-ups. We cover those separately: how tourists get ripped off.
The language of the city
- Ca’
- Short for casa. It is what palazzi are called: Ca’ d’Oro, Ca’ Foscari.
- Nizioleti
- A street name painted straight onto the wall. Literally, a little sheet.
- Sestiere
- One of the six districts. House numbers run within the sestiere, not along a street.
- Altana
- A timber terrace on a roof. Originally where hair was dried and bleached.
- Traghetto
- The crossing of the Canal Grande on a working gondola. Venetians cross standing.
- Bricola
- A bundle of piles in the lagoon marking the navigable channel.
- Fero da prò
- The steel comb on the bow of a gondola. Six teeth for the six sestieri.
- Forcola
- The walnut oarlock, cut to a particular oarsman. One of the rarest trades in the city.