Matino

VeniceConnected.com allows you to avoid both lines and higher prices for Venice’s most popular services and venues; more will be added over time. You must book at least 15 days in advance, but they guarantee you’ll always pay less by booking online. Sounds like a deal.

At the moment, you can reserve parking, purchase public transit passes (from 12 hours to 7 days, good for ACTV vaporetto & land buses), Alilaguna airport transfers, museum passes, and paid toilet service by the day or the week. Wi-fi access (starting with San Marco and expanding city-wide before the year is out!) and Casinò entrance is included with any purchase. More services and booking options will be added as time goes on.

Once you complete your purchase, you’ll be issued a unique PNR, much like the airlines provide for their flights. Keep this code and present either directly, for parking or the museums, or at a Venice Connected Point at the city entrances: the airport, train station, Piazzale Roma, and Tronchetto.
Using the VeniceConnnected Site

Site usage is fairly straightforward:

* Create an account.
* Click “Buy Online” to choose your arrival date. Low, medium, and high visitation periods are colorfully indicated with green, blue, and red on the calendar so you can determine when your savings will be greatest, or see what discounts will be in force on your arrival date.
* veniceconnected-cartUse the tabs to select the various service groups: transit, parking, museums, etc. The full and discounted prices are displayed for each offereing. If you have multiple people in your party and need multiple versions of the same pass or services, click the “add to basket” button multiple times to add more occurences to your cart.
* Wi-fi and Casinò entrances are free with purchase of any other service) and add them to your cart.
* Make your payment, and receive your PNR, just as if you were booking an airline flight. Then,
* Have the PNR handy when you arrive in Venice: for transit and toilet services, head first for the Venice Connected Point; for parking and museums, show your PNR on-site.

Keep in mind that “reduced” is for those under 30 and over 65. Also, “return” really means round-trip when referring to the Alilaguna airport transport.

Posted as of 2009, here are the current, standard prices for a gondola ride for one to six people, 40 minutes. The most pleasant rides will be from stations beyond the San Marco area (San Tomà, for example), as there will be fewer gondole jamming the narrow canals.

Gondola prices should also be posted (see the note clipped to the front of the gondola in the photo).
2009 OFFICIAL GONDOLA FARES

Prices are per gondola, from one to six people:

40 minutes, 8 am – 7 pm: €80;
each additional 20 mins: €40

40 minutes, 7 pm – 8 am: €100;
each additional 20 mins: €50

A variety of travel agencies offer group fares; you can inquire about groups or other special requests at any gondola station (San Tomà, San Sofia, etc.) as well. See the official Ente Gondola site for a complete list along with standard prices and other information.

If you didn’t pre-book discounted transit passes via VeniceConnected.com (purchase them 7 or more days in advance) or need to retrieve a VeniceCard, you can avoid long lines waiting to buy vaporetto tickets and passes by taking advantage of the Automatic Ticket Points located at the major vaporetto stops (Piazzale Roma and the train station as of this writing, with more locations to come).

They may not be obvious, but they are big, and it will likely take some studying to understand precisely what to do to get what you want. But they are in the shade, speak English, and even with whatever amount of orientation they might require, in high season you’ll still likely get your tickets quicker than standing in the long (and they can be long), sometimes too-sunny lines leading to the ticket booths.

Some additional notes:

* You’ll be guided through the steps of how to choose and pay for your ticket(s) by a touch-screen in the language of your choice;
* You can pay with a debit or credit card, or cash;
* You can buy a single fare, but if that’s all you intend to purchase, best to buy it directly on the vaporetto (tell the attendent as soon as you board, though). There is no advantage to purchasing in advance;
* If you have an Imob CartaVenezia, you can top it off there as well, although you cannot buy a month’s pass from the machine at this time;
* If you pay with cash, note that the maximum change available is €9.95.

For any question on this and any transport-related services, contact HELLOVENEZIA: on there website or by calling +39 041 2424 from 8a – 8p daily.