The ACTV is Venice's public transportation system. At the airport we were able to purchase our…read morepasses from their machines. We decided to get the daily passes (48€/2 day pass) because we thought we would be using them to travel around a lot. In retrospect this was a mistake and we would have saved money just getting the ticket into town and the ticket to the train station. This was the most I paid for public transportation in any of the European cities for the least amount of time I spent in the city. To add insult to injury, the Vaporetto, or the waterbus, were crowded and at times barely admitted any new passengers on at the stop. At our stop we waited for over an hour to get onto a waterbus. It delayed our plans and set back everything for our time in Venice. On the day we left, we saw some other people who were first in line be denied getting on the boat if they have luggage. The rules are so inconsistent with no rhyme or reason. If you find yourself depending on these vaporetto during your visit, make sure to leave ample time for cushion so you don't get stranded or miss a flight or the train. Honestly you might be better off walking. Because driving is not an option -- there are no cars on the Venice islands.

We purchased a 3 day ticket on the ACTV website. Note that there are 3rd party sellers, so careful…read morewhen buying, because we saw one for 50€ that included taxi and restaurant discounts, that wasn't sold by ACTV. The pass can be used in land and on the island. Once we received the email we walked up to a Kiosk to figure out how to redeem it. The QR code that was included in the email did not work. We had to type in the confirmation code. Once the screen prompted the tickets. We selected and printed them out without issues. If you're on the island there's actual customer service kiosk you could go to and speak to someone. We were able to use the card to take the bus, and Vaporetto. We did not get a chance to use the Lido. Google Maps is super helpful, but I would strongly suggest looking at the screen, and map that is near each pickup location. We boarded one of the buses at 11:30pm, which ended up taking us 2 cities away from Venice, and was one stop away from calling it a night. They don't loop back to where they picked you up. Since the bus did not run again until 4:30am. We had to take an uber black back to Mestre. Expensive lesson learned. When you board a bus, or get ready to enter the vaporetto line. Scan the card without having your finger or hand over it. I made the mistake of doing that a few times and so it took a couple tries before it actually scanned. As for riding on the bus and/or vaporetto. It can get PACKED. Depending on the stop and time. If you're the first on the bus. You'll find a seat, but they have the AC off so it's HOT. Depending on time of the year of course. If you're one of the last to board. Expect to stand and hold on to something. It's definitely a cheaper way to get around, but if you're looking for comfort and space. Book a taxi, or water taxi to get around instead.

Amazing station, busy and well organized. Support reps help you either Trenalitalia tickets…read morepurchase and info. I pay and go in Frecci lounge to chill and coffee w snacks there.

Stazione Venezia San Lucia is the main railway station in Venice that is a main gateway connecting…read moreVenice to other visits. We took a Trentitalia train from Venice to Rome. We came to the train station early in the morning to drop off our luggage at the Left Luggage office. Prices: First 4 hours - 6€ From 5th to 12th hours - additional 1€ per hour More than 13th hours - an additional 0,50€ per hour Our train ride was under 4 hours away so we didn't have to worry about the additional charges. We left 2 carry-on suitcases and a backpack, so that we can enjoy exploring the city in the morning before our train ride in the afternoon. With Venice being congestion and having a lot of stairs, it's not comfortable dragging luggage around everywhere. It was actually really fortunate that we came early to leave our stuff here because later in the morning, some of the waterbuses declined passengers with luggage due to space limitations. When we took the waterbus back, some folks were turned down and they probably missed their train ride because of it. Also, while we were at the station, there were plenty of businesses to buy meals and snacks for our train ride. I recommend coming early to prevent missing your train and also so you can settle in and pick up snacks for your train ride.

Whether you are arriving by bus, taxi, car, tour bus, etc., you come into Piazzale Roma. It is at…read morethe end of the Ponte della Liberta and the entrance into the city of Venice. It is the city's central transportation hub. It is busy all hours of the day. This is where your adventure will begin.

This is a BUSY bus station.. Because people move so fast here, it can be a bit hectic, but if you…read morego at the slowest times of day, you can find attendants who are more patient to help you with your questions. Some even speak English.

From Santa Maria del Giglio, the tour heads towards the Accademia Bridge, to see Palazzo Barbaro…read morethen making a u-turn on the Canal Grande to pass by Palazzo Ca' Corner and d'Annunzio red "casetta". Entering the Rio di Santa Maria del Giglio to Piscina Fenice, where the theatre of the same name is located, the ride passes Rio di Verona and Rio dei Barcaroli past Mozart's home. Continuing along rio di San Moisè again to the Grand Canal in front of the Chiesa della Salute, the tour returns to its origin at Santa Maria del Giglio. Approximate 35 minutes We booked a gondola ride with serenade but as it was three gondolas going out together, the couple on one gondola got the accordion player and the singer. The singer sang about 3 to four songs in Italian. Very good singing. Our gondola rider looked angry the entire time and was either talking to the other gondoliers, on the phone, or smoking. He did smile once when the boat was a bit rocky and my travel buddy and I almost came off our seats. He found these gold bits in the river (must have fallen off the gondola) and picked one up and momentarily sang to it. The gondola ride was not as chilly as I expected and I'm grateful that it had stopped raining. The gondola experience was really nice. Thoroughly enjoyed it though I wish the singer had sung a song from phantom of the opera as the gondola ride reminded me of this scene from phantom of the opera where this gondola is rowed across the stage on a starlit night.

The stuff was not attentive at all. The sloth at the front desk took 40m to inform initial…read morecustomers in front of us that their baggage was not found. After that the buggage (attendant) said our luggage might be in the lost and found room and he went to check for another 30min. Overall the GH Venezia service was horrible and i would give a 0 star if there was an option. Absolutely disgusting

Signs were nice and easy to follow, when we needed to find the water taxi. The desk staff were…read morehelpful as well (and spoke English) when we had more questions. There were also a good availability of clean bathrooms (as soon as you get off the plane, and around the airport as well), which is always a plus! I also liked that there were gelato shops at the airport hehe... I recommend Venchi!

One of the reasons Venice is so magical is the fact that it's surrounded by water…read more In a city with canals in place of roads, it only makes sense that public transportation consists of watercraft. This vaporetto means "little steamer," after the city's original system of steam-powered motorboats, and takes visitors along the main canals, to the outer islands, and around the lagoon. Although often crowded, it's by far the least expensive way to get around (other than walking). Tickets are one price, regardless of the length of the journey. Last Sunday, my partner, our friends, family members, and I used this transport to take us to the island of Murano. The travel agency has given 2-day tickets for us. However, the rudeness of the staff, especially on Murano, who think that the Venetian dialect is the world language, and the difficulty in understanding which line to take to go where one wants. Utterly overcrowded to the point of being dangerous. We managed to get where we wanted, but the maps were very difficult to interpret. Too bad there is no alternative.

The main means of public transport in Venice is the vaporetto. There are numerous lines in all…read moredirections, so first remember which line your hotel is close to and whether you are going to or back from your hotel. The operators are mostly helpful so ask before getting on the boat. Don't worry if you get on the wrong one! There are a lot of stops and they tend to arrive every 10 minutes or so. It is way more economical and practical to buy multi day passes if you are staying more than a day. You will be jumping on and off them multiple tines per day. On board, you can only buy a day pass. For multi day pass go to a ticket office. A single trip ticket is 9.5 euros, day pass 25 euros, 2 day pass 35 euros and 3 day pass is 45 euros. For the airport, you need Alilaguna which requires a different kind of ticket, 18 euros per person. Water taxies and gondolas are pretty expensive, more than 100 euros.

We took the Alilaguna from the airport to Guglie stop. I Knocked off a star because there is no…read morelift so keep that in mind when booking. Although if you are mobile enough to stay here the receptionist was willing to help carry our bags up to our 1st floor room. The room was clean and nicely appointed with robes, slippers, nice towels, shampoo, shower gel, safe, small fridge, a hot water kettle etc. The room is on the smaller side and had a small balcony. I can't speak to the AC as we don't need it this first week in May. There's a small tv which we will never use and a small desk and chair if you are working here. Not the most comfortable bed but was alright for us. No complaints so far. Will update accordingly.

The hotel was located near the Guglie waterbus stop. Guglie is also a stop for Alilaguna boats…read more(Airport service), which made for arrival convenient. The hotel is also a 5 minute walk to the train station. It is located near an excellent cichetteria (Da Luca e Fred) and cafe bar (Torrefazione Marchi). Early check in was possible, as rooms were available. Staff was helpful. Amenities were standard. Everything worked fine. We did not stay for breakfasts, opting for bars in the area, but it was full of guests when we walked by. Loud air conditioning unit, which caused some interruption in sleep. Daunting set of stairs after a full day of exploring Venice on foot.

The good: Right next to the train station…read more Quiet street. Cheapish The bad: No wifi despite claims of wifi. No elevator. The standard: Ok breakfast-coffee,juice, croissants,bun with jam and cereal. ok staff Decent, clean room. Maybe hotels don't have to compete in Venice? No matter how good or bad you are there are too many tourists to give you business? WiFi really annoyed me. I asked about it at the front desk when I couldn't get on and an older woman told me the problem was that too many people were looking at pictures and not just text. Strange as no one told me to limit my use when we checked in, how would they know? Wifi system is totally inadequate, it's overwhelmed. She said it was a peak time and to try later. Ok I NEEDED internet for business so I set my alarm for 6 am and tried again. No luck. Part of the problem is the system is open so the whole neighborhood is using it. Put a password on the damn thing. I went to a restaurant with wifi, was given the password and Bang! It worked super fast including videos. The whole 3 days I was there it never worked in any part of the hotel. People book tickets, confirm flights,do research not to mention business travelers or casual use. Ok this is paragraph number 4 on WIFI and it is a standard. I won't stay in a hotel without it. Even worse don't advertise it knowing it doesn't work. No elevator ok fine but how about a hand up to the room with the bags? Try carrying your bags up 5 flights after a 14 hour flight from Canada. My wife is pregnant so I made three trips. We had our own bathroom, not everyone did. I will not stay here again and I don't reccomended that anyone else does either

We booked the Cicchetti of Venice Tour and it was one of the highlights of our trip to Europe! Out…read moreof all the organized tours we took on our trip, this is the only one that 100% delivered what it promised (and then some)! Our guide, Cecilia, was phenomenal! It was like we had an old friend showing us her hometown. It was great to have Cecilia with us because she took us walking along the back streets of Venice where we stopped in and sampled food and wine in several local bars. These were places we would never have found on our own. We didn't have to worry about anything, Cecilia got us a table and handled all of the ordering. We never had to pay another cent out of pocket for any food, wine or transport, making this tour an exceptional value. We sampled many different local wines and lots of cicchetti (vegetables, cheese, meat, fish and more). All were delicious and exciting and the entire tour was a very intimate, educational experience. We even got to try our hand at crossing a canal in a local traghetto (though I wasn't brave enough to stand up during the crossing). We had 5 other couples on our tour and it was wonderful to get to mingle and explore a foreign city with other excited foodies. If you love food and like to experience and learn about different cultures, book this tour; you will not be disappointed! I cannot recommend it highly enough!

We did a good and wine tour with Eisa (Elizabetta) last night and it was amazing…read more A true wealth of knowledge and extremely helpful. This is a must do on your first night, she gives you tips and tricks for navigating. The city and avoiding the true tourist traps (of which there are many). Urban Adventures prides themselves on responsible tourism supporting the local shops and restaurants. She even showed us a local spot that we could get 1.5 liters of amazing wine for only 3.50 Euros. Literally cheaper than water that you can pay up to 4 Euros for at most places. We are now trying to book similar tours on other legs of our stop, great way to get a feel for the really local culture!