by | March 12th, 2008
Venice ain’t cheap. It’s also a city with no off-season - it’s a year-round tourist destination. This means that anything you can do to save a bit of money is worth looking into. There are several passes and cards which you can buy which will cover both transportation and sights in Venice. Here’s a bit of information about each of the tourist discount cards for Venice:
Rolling VeniceCard - This card is specifically for younger visitors to Venice, as you can only buy it if you’re between the ages of 14 and 29. Membership costs a mere €4, and then you get big discounts on public transportation passes. For instance, a 72-hour pass which is good on all water and road public transportation goes from being €25.00 to being only €18.00. The Rolling VeniceCard also grants its holder some of the same discounts as the Junior Orange and Blu VeniceCards listed above. This card can’t be purchased in advance online, however, it must be purchased in Venice. Also, when you’re using your Rolling VeniceCard you’ve got to produce another piece of ID as well, so that people know you’re actually within the age you’re supposed to be to get all the discounts entitled to the cardholder. Learn more here.- Transportation-Only Passes - There are tourist-only travel cards which you can purchase for riding Venice’s public transportation; they include for unlimited travel on nearly all transportation services, both on land and in the water. The Alilaguna vaporetto that runs between Marco Polo Airport and the Venice center isn’t included, along with a couple other things, but for most tourists these passes are a great value. They come in 12, 24, 36 48 or 72-hour increments and they include one piece of luggage per person (this is important when you’re using the vaporetto to get to and from the train station!). You can buy these at vaporetto ticket kiosks bearing the “helloVenezia” logo (which is nearly all of them), and they range in price from €16 for a 12-hour card to €33 for a 72-hour card. There are also youth cards which are good for 72 hours and cost €18. Learn more about the vaporetto passes here.
- Museum Card - This card covers the main sights most visitors to Venice are going to see, namely the Doge’s Palace and Correr Museum (and a couple more museums you get to from within the Correr). Buying your Museum Card at the Correr saves you waiting in the longer Doge’s Palace line. The card is roughly €17 for a full-priced ticket, and it’s known as the Museum Card for the St. Mark’s Square Museums - or the “Museum Card per i Musei di Piazza San Marco” in Italian.
- Museum Pass - In addition to the Doge’s Palace and Correr, this pass also gets you into Ca’ Rezzonico, Mocenigo Palace, and the museums for glass-making and lace-making on the islands of Murano and Burano respectively. The card is roughly €23 for a full-priced ticket, and bears the misleading name of the “Venice Pass - All Museums,” because there are certainly plenty of museums that aren’t included on this (or any) museum pass. Like the Museum Card, it’s quicker to buy the Museum Pass at a lesser sight to avoid waiting in long lines.
VeniceCard Orange - This card gives you (among other things) access to all public transport, two public bathroom visits per day (they cost per use otherwise), admission to Venice’s Civic Museum, discounts at many attractions, discounts at some restaurants and shops, and (on the longer durations) admission to several more churches and museums. Some of the cards also include transport to and from Venice’s Marco Polo Airport on Alilaguna, the vaporetto that runs from the airport to Venice’s center. Prices range from €22.90 for a Junior 12-hour pass to €104.90 for a Senior week-long pass. There are discounts on some of the cards if you purchase online before your arrival. Learn more here.
VeniceCard Blu - This card gives you some of the same benefits as the VeniceCard Orange, although it is a step down so you don’t get as much. You will get access to public transport, two public bathroom visits per day, and discounts in some of the city’s museums, churches, bars, restaurants and shops. Some of these cards also include transport to and from Marco Polo Airport on Alilaguna. Prices range from €16.50 for a Junior 12-hour pass to €78.90 for a Senior week-long pass. There are discounts on some of the cards if you purchase online before your arrival. Learn more here.
>> Note that as of February 1, 2009 there’s a new website where you can book your Venice transportation cards in advance at a pretty good discount. It’s called Venice Connected, and you can read all about it here.
{ 1 comment }
I certainly agree about the “goodness” of these cards. Before I went to Venice last fall I purchased on line a Venice Orange card. My only problem was that I did not have time in the 5 1/2 days I was there to use it all.
It was great to hop on and off the vaporetto. This card also included all the Chorus churches, those managed by a group that charges entrance to help the upkeep of these valuable works of art. I made it to almost all of them by using the vaporetto when my feet and time gave out.
I also used it at museums including the Doge’s Palace and the Corrier Museum which I had never visited in my other eight or so trips to the magical city. And, indeed, I used it in the public restroom when I was wandering over by the Rialto Bridge.
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