ACTV, Venice's public vaporetto network, put to the test

Who runs the boats and buses: ACTV within the AVM group

ACTV is the company behind Venice’s vaporetti (waterbuses), the buses of Mestre, Marghera and the Lido, and the two tram lines. It sits inside the AVM group, a holding wholly owned by the City of Venice. The same group includes Vela, which sells tickets and runs the Venezia Unica portal, and PMV, the People Mover company.

The history goes back a long way. Public transport on the water began in 1881 with the first steam-driven vaporetti; the city took it over in 1903. Today’s ACTV was formed in 1978 by merging three companies. The group is headquartered on Isola Nova del Tronchetto.

The declared figures give a sense of scale: about 160 vessels, about 150 floating stops, about 620 buses and more than 190 million passengers a year.

The lines you will actually use

ACTV doesn’t publish a single line count: there are around twenty daytime lines plus the night services. For a visitor, only a handful matter.

• Line 1: the slow Grand Canal line. Piazzale Roma, Ferrovia, Rialto, San Marco, then on to the Lido, stopping everywhere. According to the official timetable, it takes about 20 minutes from Piazzale Roma to Rialto and 40–45 to San Marco; the full run to the Lido takes from 50 minutes to over an hour.
• Line 2: semi-fast, from Tronchetto along the Giudecca canal to San Marco, and along the Grand Canal.
• Lines 4.1 and 4.2: circular routes calling at Murano, one in each direction.
• Lines 5.1 and 5.2: circular routes via the Lido.
• Line 12: Fondamente Nove, Murano, Mazzorbo, Burano, Torcello.
• Line 14: San Zaccaria, Lido, Punta Sabbioni, for anyone staying in Cavallino-Treporti.

The People Mover links Tronchetto, Marittima and Piazzale Roma in 3–4 minutes. It costs €1.50, and any ticket valid on the urban network is valid on it too.

Watch out for the exclusions. Lines 16 and 19 and the Casinò line are not covered by ordinary tickets or tourist passes. Neither are Alilaguna lines. Conversely, some ACTV lines (13, 20, 22 and a stretch of 5.1/5.2) are run with Alilaguna boats: there, the ACTV ticket is valid.

Tickets and passes: which one pays off

Prices published by ACTV at the time of checking:

The rule of thumb: three rides in 24 hours cost €28.50, more than the day pass. If you expect at least three vaporetto trips a day, the pass is worth it. The 72-hour pass pays for itself after five rides; the 7-day pass after seven.

If you are staying in Mestre, note that the €25 day pass is also valid on Trenitalia regional trains, as long as the journey stays within the municipality. Children under 6 need no ticket. Between 6 and 29, the €27 three-day Rolling Venice pass costs less than three single tickets.

Residents pay far less with a Venezia Unica card enabled as a Carta Venezia. Non-residents of the Veneto can get one too: enabling it for water transport costs €100 in total, the card lasts 5 years and a 75-minute ride then costs €1.50. It only makes sense if you come back often.

Vaporetto or water taxi: the per-person maths

At the city fare, a water taxi costs €60 per boat between the historic centre and Murano, for up to 4 people; from the fifth passenger it’s €10 extra each. Compared with the €9.50 ticket:

With six people the taxi costs only €23 more in total, goes pier to pier and doesn’t stop. For the more distant islands the numbers change: the Murano and Burano guide works them out leg by leg.

Luggage on board

Under current AVM/ACTV conditions, each passenger carries up to 3 bags free, each with a combined length, width and height of no more than 150 cm. Beyond that, you need an ordinary ticket for every 3 extra items. Anything over 150 cm is not allowed.

On line 1 at rush hour, though, even a regulation-size suitcase is a practical problem: the stop is narrow and the boat full. If you arrive with big bags, avoid 10:00–12:00 and 16:00–19:00 between Ferrovia and San Marco. Or consider a water taxi from the station.

From the airport: no vaporetto

People often search for a “vaporetto from Venice airport”. There isn’t one. From Marco Polo airport, ACTV only runs the Aerobus by road to Piazzale Roma: €10 one way, €18 return. There is also a combined Aerobus plus 90 minutes on the whole network for €18.

On the Rick Steves forum, travellers point out that on the Aerobus your suitcases stay with you in the aisle; on the ATVO bus they go in the hold. The scheduled service by water from the airport is Alilaguna, which does not accept ACTV tickets.

Where to buy

The official channel is Venezia Unica, the portal Vela runs on behalf of the group, with ticket offices at Piazzale Roma, Tronchetto, the Lido, Rialto, Burano and elsewhere. It’s covered in our Venezia Unica review.

Booking platforms resell the same tickets. At the time of checking: on GetYourGuide the vaporetto and bus pass starts at €9.50, rated 4.4 from more than 25,000 reviews. On Tiqets it starts at €12, rated 4.4 from 3,254 reviews, and is non-refundable. The Tiqets listing explicitly excludes airport services, lines 16, 19, 21 and Casinò, and Alilaguna lines.

A warning: on Tripadvisor several travellers describe vouchers bought through Venice Link whose QR code was rejected by ACTV machines. Whatever channel you use, validate your ticket before every boarding and at every change. Travelling without a valid or validated ticket means the fine set by the regional public-transport law, plus the ordinary fare.

What travellers report

In travel guides and reviews the most-cited problem is crowding, concentrated on line 1 between Ferrovia and San Marco, roughly 10:00–12:00 and 16:00–19:00. On Tripadvisor, chaotic boarding and long waits at the stops come up again and again, offset by praise for the view along the Grand Canal.

The second theme is price: the €9.50 single ride is very often called expensive. For tourists it went up a few years ago from €7.50 to €9.50, while holders of an enabled Venezia Unica card pay €1.50.

The third is strikes. According to the local press, on one recent strike day more than half of vaporetto runs were cancelled, despite the guaranteed minimum-service windows. If a strike day coincides with a flight, a water taxi or the road bus becomes plan B.

Who it suits, and who it doesn’t

Alternatives to compare

For arriving from the airport, compare ATVO, Alilaguna and the shared water taxi. For getting around the city with luggage or as a group, the full price ladder shows when a water taxi beats the vaporetto. If you want the Grand Canal as a sightseeing ride, see the Grand Canal tour guide.