What Venice costs
In Venice the saving isn't on sights but on the bed and the vaporetto — that's where most of the daily bill goes.
- Hostel
- €35–61 per person, a dorm bed
- Vaporetto
- €9.50 per ride, €25 day pass
- Cicchetti
- cicchetti (2–3 pcs): €4–6
Venice has no cheap city transport — the vaporetto is the only option and a single ticket runs €9.50, so the day pass (€25) pays off after just three rides. A hostel bed is €35–61, and the priciest ticket in the city is the Doge's Palace, €30–35. The table below lists the rest, item by item.
Prices line by line
Everything per person, in euros.
The bill climbs most in two places. First, transport: the vaporetto has no cheaper alternative, and anyone riding more than two or three times a day breaks even on the day pass (€25) straight away. Second, tickets for the big sights — the Doge's Palace alone is €30–35, while the basilica's nave is free and only the extras (the Pala d'Oro, the museum with the horses) cost separately. Walking through Cannaregio, Castello and Dorsoduro, and the Rialto market itself, cost nothing.
Where it's easiest to save
On food: cicchetti at a bacaro run cicchetti (2–3 pcs): €4–6 for two or three pieces, while a restaurant main course, €13–20, makes sense as one meal of the day, not all three. On sightseeing: a day with Cannaregio, Castello and the Rialto market adds no ticket at all, only the vaporetto to and from the station.
The airport fare
The ACTV Aerobus (line 5) runs from Marco Polo airport to Piazzale Roma for €10, about 25 min. It's the cheapest option; a water taxi is faster but several times the price.
The same comparison for 143 places: hostel, hotel, getting into town and a day pass. Travel costs →
Before you go
Short answers to what people ask most before setting out.
How much does a day in Venice cost?
The biggest items are the bed (€35–61 for a hostel) and the vaporetto (€9.50 per ride or €25 for a day pass). Sights add little apart from the Doge's Palace (€30–35).
Is the vaporetto expensive?
It is, because it's also the only transport. The day pass (€25) pays off after the second or third ride.
What can you see for free in Venice?
The nave of St Mark's Basilica, the Rialto market, and walking through Cannaregio, Castello and Dorsoduro.
Ready for Venice?
Where to next
A spiral stair and a flooding bookshop: Venice behind the Rialto
→A spiral staircase in a courtyard, a bookshop that floods and an island of fifty people — the Venice beyond…
Verona · 104 km
→An amphitheatre that still stages opera in summer, a courtyard tied to Shakespeare's tragedy and a fortress over the river — all inside a loop you can walk in a day, with a second day opening up Lake Garda.
How well does Venice suit you?
→Six questions: a score for this place and others like it.
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