Private water taxi: the whole boat, the cost per head

What you’re buying when you book the whole boat

With a private water taxi you hire the motorboat and its driver, not a seat. The boat leaves when you arrive, takes the shortest route and doesn’t stop at other hotels. No strangers on board, no waiting for the boat to fill.

The price is the same for one person or four. That’s the point that matters: a private taxi is expensive if you’re travelling alone, and surprisingly good value for a family or a group of friends.

How many people fit? It depends on each boat’s certificate. The two main consortia state a maximum of 10 passengers. The private transfer sold on GetYourGuide, according to the product listing, is for 1–6 people with up to 8 suitcases per boat. The base price, however, usually covers 4 passengers and 4 suitcases: from the fifth, surcharges apply.

• City tariff: from the fifth passenger, €5 or €10 per person, luggage included (the sheet shows €5 under the heading “meter and route” and €10 under “route”, without saying which takes precedence); €3 for every suitcase beyond the fourth and beyond the number of passengers.
• Consorzio Motoscafi Venezia: base price for 4 people and 4 suitcases, then €10 per person and €5 per suitcase; up to 12 suitcases.
• Venezia Taxi: €10 per person and €5 per suitcase from the fifth.

On the GetYourGuide product, according to the listing, up to 8 suitcases per boat are included; airport porterage covers one item per person, and extra items are charged separately, as is the night surcharge. If you’re travelling with skis, instruments or more than one suitcase each, say so in your booking.

City fare vs market price: why they don’t match

In Venice, water taxis count as a non-scheduled public service, and their prices are set by the city council through the Comune di Venezia tariff (council resolutions no. 227/2011 and no. 516/2011). The fare sheet is posted at every official city taxi rank. For the airport ↔ historic centre route, the official figure is €110 per boat.

Hardly anyone actually pays €110, though. Transfers sold in advance are commercial, door-to-door prices, with a boat and time slot assigned. On the same day of checking, for the same trip from the airport, we found:

The gap is real and worth stating. Booking through a platform costs more, but you get free cancellation up to 24 hours before, a single voucher and thousands of verified reviews to read. Booking direct saves money, but you have to read the terms yourself: Venezia Taxi, for example, only opens online booking from October to March; the rest of the year you book by phone or email.

Within the city you pay by time: it starts at €15, you add €2 for every minute and, when the pick-up is away from a taxi rank, another €5. Have the boat come to a hotel’s landing for a 15-minute trip and the bill is €15 + €30 + €5 = €50. The full comparison of every fare is on our water-taxi prices and fares page.

The cost per head: sums for 2, 4 and 6 people

The right way to read a private taxi price is to divide it. Below is the GetYourGuide price of €215 per boat, set against a seat on the shared water taxi at about €39.

Three worked examples, with the other two price bases:

The conclusions are simple:

• With two of you, the private boat costs from about one and a half to almost three times the shared taxi per head. You choose it for time and comfort, not to save money.
• With four of you, booking direct with a consortium, the private boat costs almost the same as the shared one, and takes you to your door without detours.
• With six of you, the private boat is cheaper than the shared one on any price basis, even counting the surcharges from the fifth passenger.

If you’re travelling as a couple or alone, our shared water taxi page explains how seats sold individually work and how much longer the trip takes.

The most-requested private routes

For Murano and the Lido, journey times depend on the landing and on lagoon traffic: ask the operator for an estimate when you book. For Burano and Torcello the city fare from the airport is €140; from the historic centre, €115. If you’re planning a day on the islands, the sums are on our water taxi to Murano and Burano page. For the return trip, with the timings to work out before your flight, see the guide from Venice to the airport.

From Santa Lucia station: four prices for the same trip

Stepping off the train, you’ll find water taxis at the two official city ranks at the Ferrovia, opposite the Scalzi church and next to the ACTV pier. Under the city tariff, from here you pay €50 to Rialto, €60 to San Marco and €70 to Lido S. M. Elisabetta.

Book in advance and prices climb, steeply:

• Consorzio Motoscafi, online: €80 from the station to a hotel in the city.
• Tiqets, private transfer: €150 per boat, about 25 minutes, 4.3★ but only 6 reviews.
• GetYourGuide, private transfer: €292 per boat, about 30 minutes, 4.8★ from 143 reviews.

The most expensive product also has the best and most solid rating. Even so, €292 for a trip whose official fare is €50–60 is something to choose with your eyes open. According to the listing, the GetYourGuide product carries up to 6 people with 6 suitcases (one large case and one hand bag each); station porterage, if you ask for it, is extra, at €10 per item. The listing also states that it isn’t suitable for wheelchair users. All the options from the station, shared ones included, are on our water taxi from Santa Lucia station page.

Car plus boat: the €130 formula

The cheapest private product on GetYourGuide isn’t a pure water taxi. A driver meets you in arrivals with a name sign, drives you to the edge of the lagoon and hands you over to a private water taxi that takes you on to your hotel. The seller states that the private boat is now always included.

It costs €130 per booking, takes about 45 minutes and has 4.2★ from 37 reviews. Part of the route is by road, so you don’t cross the lagoon from the airport pier. Where you switch from car to boat, the maximum number of passengers and the luggage included are shown on the product listing before you pay: check them there.

It suits anyone who wants to be met in arrivals and doesn’t fancy hunting for the pier. If you love the idea of arriving by water from the start, you lose the lagoon crossing. Other car-and-boat combinations, including from Treviso airport, are on our road taxis, Mestre and Treviso page.

If your hotel has no water door

“Door to door” only holds if your hotel has a water entrance or a landing. Many hotels on the Grand Canal do; many on the inner canals don’t. In that case the taxi drops you at the nearest reachable landing, usually about five minutes’ walk away, and the driver passes your suitcases up onto the quay.

The tide causes problems for opposite reasons. At high water, the bridges over the smaller canals may be too low to pass under. At low tide, the canal may be too shallow, or the hotel’s steps end up so low that getting off isn’t safe. Consorzio Motoscafi flags six hotels that sometimes can’t be reached at low tide.

Three things to do before you book:

1. Get your hotel to confirm in writing that it has a water door and that it can be used at any tide.
2. If the hotel is on an inner canal, check for extra costs: Venezia Taxi charges €25 extra, paid to the driver, when the route goes through the inner canals.
3. Away from the Grand Canal, almost every address means crossing at least one bridge on foot: plan for it.

Details on suitcases, pushchairs and accessibility are in our guide to luggage and water taxis.

How to spot a licensed taxi

Water-taxi licences in Venice are capped: 250 in all, 25 of them for boats with a wheelchair lift. A licensed taxi is easy to recognise:

• A yellow stripe with the licence number on the side, and a flag at the bow reading TAXI in black on yellow.
• Green stripes on the windows and a green bow flag mean a hire boat with driver (NCC) instead: it has to be booked in advance and can’t wait at the taxi ranks.
• Red stripes mean the larger Gran Turismo boats.

You catch taxis at the official city ranks (Ferrovia, Piazzale Roma, Tronchetto, Rialto, San Marco, San Marcuola, Lido) or by phoning a consortium directly. The Comune also lists 199 48 49 50 for the taxi service, without saying who answers: it’s the single number of Radiotaxi Veneto (TaxiVeneto, Mestre). Before you board, agree the price and make clear whether it’s per boat or per person. If something goes wrong, photograph the fare sheet on display and note the licence number: you’ll need both to complain to the Comune, which takes reports through its DIME online service desk and on 041 041.

Who’s behind the best-known names, and how they compare, is explained on our operators and platforms page and in our profiles of Consorzio Motoscafi Venezia and Venezia Taxi.

Payment, tipping and delayed flights

Payment. Online you pay by card. On board it depends on the individual licence holder: many prefer or ask for cash. If you don’t have any, say so before you board.

Tipping. It isn’t expected. If the driver helped with heavy suitcases, a tip is up to you, not owed.

Delayed flights. Consorzio Motoscafi says it tracks flights with no need to let it know. If the delay pushes you to between midnight and 7:00, it may arrange a first leg by road taxi to Piazzale Roma, where you board the boat. On platform products, the instructions on your voucher apply.

Night surcharge. The city tariff sets €10 between 22:00 and 6:00. The consortia have different rules, each its own: in the 22:00–7:00 window Consorzio Motoscafi charges €15, Venezia Taxi €10. Every case is on our night water taxi page.

Booking a private taxi online

Prices and ratings are as they stood at the time of checking and may change. The flagship product, the private airport transfer on GetYourGuide, has 4.5★ from over 4,000 reviews: the most-reviewed product in the whole private category. For the step-by-step procedure, with the details to give when you book, see how to book a water taxi.