shadowline

I am in Venice for a weekend in December, on holiday from London. I heard about this Venezia Unica card - a special version for "Regular Users".

We are staying at the Hilton Stucky, and will be using public transport to/from VCE and around the city including the Alilaguna, etc etc.

From my understanding the VU Regular card will cost me 50EUR, but will get me half price ticket on the Alilaguna, 1.50EUR tickets for the vaporetto as well as all the features of the standard VU card (museums, etc etc).

http://www.veneziaunica.it/en/conten...k-regular-user

Is my understanding correct?

If so, am I able to purchase or pick up one of these cards at VCE airport? Or do I need to do this in the city itself?

Thanks!

socalflying

I got one of these a couple of weeks ago. First, if you haven't visited this website already, here's a link that I found very helpful in deciding to purchase and then how to purchase...

http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/...rtavenezia.htm

To answer your specific questions..

1. I think this card is only for transportation, not for museums and other things that can be covered by the VU tourist pass. On the page you linked in your post, It states, in part, "In future the Venezia Unica City Pass may be used to access services offered by other operators: museums and places of interest, events, gyms, discounts at partner shops, and more." I think the "In future" indicates this is not something that can be done yet. I could be completely wrong about this, however, since this was not something I tried to do or asked about.

2. No, you cannot buy the card at VCE. You have to purchase it from one of the select, larger, staffed, HelloVenezia offices. As you will see in the link I gave you above, they suggest the large office at Piazzale Roma, which is where I got mine. It was somewhat crowded (I got there about 09:30), and I had to wait maybe 10 minutes before my number was called, so not bad at all.

The actual process was easy. The worker took my passport, filled out all the paperwork for me, took my picture, and, voila! I had my card. Only took about 5 minutes.

If you buy vaporetto tickets 10 at a time, they are only €1.40/each. I have not had to reload my card yet, but I was told this can be done at any staffed HelloVenezia ticket booth.

Hope that helps!

Perche

It is sort of correct. There have been a lot of changes at the airport in Venice in the last year, and I've only been through there 3 times since. So consider some things you read on the internet to be outdated, including what I know. I have had the VU card through multiple iterations, back when it was called IMOB card, then Carta Venezia, and is now Venezia Unica. It lasts for 5 years, and I think the last time I had to renew it was about 3 years ago.

Below is what I'm sure of, and I'll mention when I'm less sure. I've just been using the card for years without much thought. It's like an ATM card. You put a certain amount of money in it, and you can use it until it's used up. Every now and then I'll stop at an edicola, or newsstand, where they can tell you how much left you have on the card. When it's down to about 20 euro I put another 30-50 euros so that I never have to worry about the card being turned down, because I know I'm always going back soon. You would have to start by putting down 50 euros.

But I'll need a little more info in order to be of help.

Are you actually going to Venice just for a weekend? What does that mean? Are you arriving from London on a Friday night, and going back to London on Sunday afternoon? Or is this a stopover on a multi city trip? This is very important information.

You will not be taking the Alilaguna around the city. It is possible, but I've never heard of anyone doing it except during certain types of strikes.

Robert Fulton invented the steam engine. When you boil water it turns into vapor (steam), which expands. The expansion pushes out air. He developed a boiler that pushed the expanding air out onto a spinning wheel, in the same way that a windmill uses wind to generate power, or a waterwheel in a stream or river generates power by the water rushing past. The first powered boats in Venice were powered by steam or vapor, and so they were called vaporetti, loosely translated as little steam boats.

Just like "steamboats" in New Orleans don't run on steam anymore, the vaporetti in Venice don't either. They run mostly on diesel fuel, but are slowly being replaced by electrically powered hybrid boats to reduce pollution, but they will still be called vaporetti for the foreseeable future.

There are two agencies running vaporetti; ACTV, and Alilaguna. You will be using ACTV to get around Venice, not Alilaguna.

ACTV can be considered as the local city bus. Alilaguna is a private company, mainly serving the airport. You will be looking for ACTV stops to get around the city, not Alilaguna stops.

ACTV does not have boats that go to the airport. Alilaguna, on the way to the airport, has several stops to pick up passengers, but it's basically a, "drop your suitcases off here, please, and get downstairs" type of experience on the way to and from the airport. It is not how you get around the city. That would be ACTV

While in Venice I've helped people get from one place to another using Alilaguna stops when ACTV was on strike, but you don't take Alilaguna around the city. You take ACTV.

I usually use Alilaguna to get to and from the airport. It's a long ride. They used to have outside seating but not anymore on most boats, so it's kind of a drag of a ride now. I think it's about 18 euros without the Venezia Unica card, and about 9 euros with it. There is a little saving from buying a round trip ticket.

Many times I've had to take the 7AM or so BA flight to London and had a long evening the night before, and I dread waking up at 3 AM and walking out the the Alilaguna stop for the 4 AM boat that takes about an hour and 15 minutes to get to the airport. That's when I decide I'd rather sleep longer and splurge on the water taxi. If it's up to six people you can split the cost and make it as economical as that Alilaguna ride to the airport.

You can take a bus to and from the airport, but it's not advisable unless you are on an extreme budget. Even then, it won't save you money because it picks up or drops you off at Piazzale Roma, you then have to take a vaporetto to your hotel anyway, unless you are staying near there or near the train station, and that would be a monumental mistake.

Without knowing what you mean by a weekend visit, it's hard to be more explicit. I will say this. Venice has six sestiere. The Stucky is not in Venice. It is technically in Venice, but even the mainland outside of Venice is technically in Venice. Even the airport is technically in Venice. But it's not what people mean when they think of being in Venice. You will have to take the ACTV back and forth to "real" Venice, so you are going to need a way to avoid the 7.5 euro each way fare, or else it will cost you 30 euros each time the two of you go back and forth.

The Stucky advertises that it has a private boat that goes back and forth to Venice, but that is not really true. It drops you off at a place far from where you would want to be on the Zattere, and unless that has changed. I believe their last boat returns to the Stucky at around 9 PM, and restaurants don't even open until 7:30 or 8:00 PM.

I would never criticize someone staying there because they were saving by using points. Also, staying outside of Venice proper on the Giudecca is sometimes good because being outside of Venice in July or August helps you avoid the crushing crowds.

I've stayed on the Giudecca many times to avoid crowds, and for economic reasons, but not at the Stucky. A few blocks down from the Stucky is an historic church built as a "thank you" to god for ending a plague that killed over half the city. They rent rooms for about 40 euros per night, if you know how to do it. They are spotlessly clean, have free hi-speed internet, and a communal kitchen, and there is a great grocery store at the corner. It's kind of a little known secret place. Once I had major surgery and checked into it for a month as a place to recover, and I did, so I know the area very well.

I have also stayed there on the Giudecca during December and January because you can't beat 40 euros per night. After I resumed running marathons, despite my high tech running gear that let me run while I lived in Boston and New York in the snow, and Seattle during the cold, winter rainy season, and even in Alaska, running along the Giudecca in December and January was the first place I ever found to be too cold to run in, with the moist wind blowing in off of the water. I know it's cold and damp in England, but every time I stayed in the Giudecca during the winter months my memory is of running in the morning, and freezing.

So dress up for it. Hats, gloves, heavy socks, but of course with global warming, you never know.

Without knowing your itinerary, I'll just say this. When I stay in the Giudecca I go to the Stucky because it is almost impossible to find a decent martini in Venice, except that the Stucky makes a great martini.

Also, on just a weekend trip, unless you are targeting a specific museum for something specific, I don't really see the need for a museum pass. Sure, the Doge's palace and other places around Piazza San Marco are nice, but once you get from the Giudecca to Venice proper, walk around. A five minute walk from there you can to to the San Zaccaria church and see one of the most famous paintings by Bellini hanging at the alter.

Take a walk to Madonna dell'Orto in Cannaregio and see some of the most famous works by Tintoretto hanging on the walls. Go into Cheese Santa Maria dei Miracoli, and be stunned by the painted murals on the walls that are considered some of the finest in the world. Go to another church, and you'll likely run into masterpieces by Tiziano, known in english as Titian. Everywhere you turn in Venice, there is stunning art and architecture. If only going for a weekend I wouldn't concentrate it around spending hours in specific museums, when the city itself is a work of art.

You need to move, walk around, stop in bars and have coffee, cicchetti, pastry, a glass of wine. With only a weekend, whatever that means, you don't need to spend hours in a museum. Venice itself is a work of art except on the stomach upsetting main streets leading from Piazza San Marco to the Rialto Bridge.

Although you won't have lines in December there is much to see by just walking around, and if you want to see art, pretty much stop anywhere. Go to San Francesco della Vigna, look at the famous Palladium facade, go inside, put a euro into the box to turn on the lights, and see some of the most famous paintings by Negroponte, Veronese, Bellini, and other beautiful paintings known around the world.

I can pretty much guarantee that these places will not have another person in them in December, unless you take out a camera with a flash, and someone will come running out of hiding yelling, "No photo!" Walk around Castello into the church of San Francesco di Paolo and see the world famous painting by Tiepolo. Go into San Giovanni in Bragora, a gothic church and see the world famous mural by Conigliano, and look around the walls and see the Vivarini's, and other famous works. Vivaldi was born and grew up in the neighborhood. Go inside, and ask to take a look at his birth certificate. I often rent an apartment right around the corner.

It is impossible to see Venice in a weekend, but I certainly wouldn't buy a museum pass when you will be walking in a museum, as long as you don't do the inevitable gravitational dance to Piazza San Marco and following the crowds to the Rialto Bridge, which should only be done very early, or late at night.

If you are going to be in Venice for just a weekend, you'll see more by walking around, than by planning museum stops around San Marco, which is mainly what the tourist VU card offers. On a longer trip, sure. But a weekend in Venice is best spent exploring. Even if you spend a month, you will have just started scratching the surface of the city.

Now, since you will not be staying in one of the six sestiere of Venice proper, and will need to take a boat back and forth, you need to find a way to avoid the 7.5 euro each way boat trip, because you are probably going to want to do it twice a day. At some point, people need to get back to their hotel, drop things off, adjust their clothing for the weather, and for two people, at 30 euros per round trip, that quickly wipes away any cost savings of using points, although you can avoid some of that by taking the Stucky boat, if it coincides with when you want to go to and from Venice, and you want to get back to Venice early, shortly after the restaurants start serving (I mean the non-touristy ones).

My suggestion, although I don't think it's going to save that much money in the end, is to explore just getting a 48 hour vaporetto pass. You don't need a card with discounts to museums, gymnasiums, etc. You are not going to be in Venice for enough time to see even one tiny fraction of it. You just need a way to get back and forth from the Hilton Stucky to historic Venice.

Depending on your actual day of travel, a 48 hour Venice vaporetto pass might be all that is necessary. You can buy that online. They will send you a ticket with a PNR and a bar tag. At the airport there will be a Venezia Unica machine, and also a booth. You can just go to the automated machine, swipe the bar code, it will ask you to put in the PNR, and it will print out a two day ticket for unlimited use of the vaporetti back and forth to the Stucky.

You'll have to do the math on whether or not that works better for you. Going to the Venezia Unica place in Piazzale Roma is a real pain. You won't have long lines in December, but you need all sorts of documentation, including your passport, or they'll take a passport photo of you, and it will cost 50E. Go back online to the link you sent and check to see if just a two day vaporetto pass makes more sense. It will save you the headache of going to Piazzale Roma, which is the worst part of Venice, or one of the other places scattered around the city, and can be picked up at the airport.

If you are going to take Alilaguna back to the airport for the roughly 7AM flight to London, that's a pretty brutal hour and a half ride at 4AM, and it might be a good time to splurge 115E on a water taxi and get there in 25 minutes. I never buy the round ticket even though with my card it's only 9E, because I usually opt for sleep over getting up at 3 AM for a 4AM boat that takes an hour and a half to get to the airport for my flight to LHR for my onward connection back to the USA. The extra sleep becomes worth it. Without knowing what a weekend in Venice is in terms of your time, it's hard to get more specific than that.

shadowline

Perche, thanks for your help. Your post is far more detailed than I could have ever imagined!

We are going to Venice for the weekend - we are flying from London on the Friday morning, flying back late on the Sunday. To and from LGW.

My mentioning of the Alilaguna was in the hope that I would be able to take advantage of the discount to and from the airport, as not being able to pick up the VU card at VCE means that it will cost an extra 30EUR (between my partner and I) compared to being able to pick it up from VCE. I imagine this is by design by the administrators of the VU card!!

I have been to Venice before and the Alilaguna experience wasn't too bad, although it is definitely more of a functional experience rather than a luxurious one!

Flying in early and flying out late means we will probably use the Alilaguna boats to and from the airport in the end.

In terms of the hotel and it's location, a location slightly outside 'main' Venice isn't too much of an issue for us, although we were hoping to rely on the hotel's boat to get back and forth. From your advice it may be that we will be using the ACTV more than I expected.

Thanks for the notes on the weather - we visited Venice a few years ago in the winter (it really takes on a magical quality in the cold winter). Will make sure to pack warm! And thank you for your pointers on what to do and where to see. Last time we wandered around aimlessly, this time we hope to focus on doing a few more things and seeing a few more attractions. Your list seems comprehensive and is very useful.

Thank you very much for your help - a shame that the I can't buy at VCE as the 15EUR discount (7.50EUR e/w) on the Alilaguna tips the scales in terms of whether this card is worth a purchase for this trip. I guess it's now a question of whether my partner and I will be returning to Venice in the future.

Perche

You can buy the Alilaguna ticket at the airport for discount without the Venezia Unica card. You purchase a voucher online, and they email it to you. You print it and take it with you to one of the three Alilaguna offices at Marco Polo airport, and exchange the voucher for a ticket. It's 25 euros round trip,

Michael El

Just back from a stay at the Venice Hilton Molino Stucky. The only boats that stop at the Hilton dock, other than water taxis, are the Hilton's boat and the Alilaguna Line. Actv services Palanca and Sacca Fisola islands meaning a 15-20 minute walk to/from the Hilton. The Hilton boat departed to Zattere and Zaccaria every 20 minutes and it’s free. The boats ran based on a posted schedule so we were never rushing or waiting too long on either end. However, the schedule changes seasonally. I bought the Actv tourist pass and it was a complete waste of money.

Round-trip from the airport on the Alilaguna boat is 27E per person if purchased at a ticket machine and 25E online. It’s 15E one-way if you buy at a ticket machine or 16E on the boat. I think it’s 8E each way if you have the UNICA card. As Perche stated, it’s a 90 minute ride each way so plan accordingly.

We flew BA to LGW and security at VCE was a piece of cake due to my airline elite status, but the line at immigration control took about 15 minutes. If you have access to an airline lounge, they’re upstairs before immigration control.

Have fun!

Michael El

Found a photo I took of the Hilton boat schedule while there in October. They likely change it based on the season, but you get the idea of how often it runs.

Perche

I have doubts. I think they only run the boat if they know there is a person waiting. You often have to call them. They don't just keep going back and forth empty, across the Giudecca Canal. Those are just the hours they are willing to do it. It is also quite telling that for most of the day the only place the Hilton Molino Stuckey is willing to take someone is to Piazza San Marco, the tourist area shopping district, where the coffee can cost 15 euros, 30 euros per cup if you also listen to music and sit down. Why only take me to your worst place?

I love the Giudecca, lived there, and the Hilton Molino Stuckey is one of the only places in Venice where you can get a decent martini (after all, it is an American Hotel), but when visiting Venice, with rare exceptions, I believe it's better to stay in Venice. Venice has six neighborhoods; San Polo, San Marco, Cannaregio, Castello, Santa Croce, and Dorsoduro. If you didn't stay in one of the six Venetian districts, then you didn't stay in the city of Venice. You commuted back and forth to Venice, which is not to everyone's taste.