Top 7 things you can save money on when visiting Venice

Top 7 things you can save money on when visiting Venice

Venice Gondoliere relaxing

Venice is one of the world’s most unique places and this is pretty much undisputed. A UNESCO World Heritage, birthplace and playground of Italian and European royalties Venice is a place everyone must see. Of course, with this uniqueness comes a price which can get sky high if one is not paying attention. Luckily, as mentioned in my previous post the world is changing. Today’s visitors do need budget places and the restaurants where one needed to pay a 100 EUR for a dinner for 2 are receiving less guests and realize that it’s time to adapt to more accepted prices. In Venice you can spend money on just about anything and everything and if you are not careful, you can spend a fortune. So, here I am to tell you some ways how you can make this trip happen even with a lower budget. Trust me, it can be done. I’ve been doing it for many years now.

Venice Accommodation

Venice is beautiful but it’s really tiny. The lack of space is an ongoing problem in there and therefore most hotels do not offer much of any extra amenities or services for the guests who stay there, except for a brilliant view. Only one or two hotels have a garden worth mentioning and those are VERY expensive places. So, all in all, it’s not really worth paying over 100 EUR per night just to stay in Venice. Mestre, which is about 10 minutes from bus and represents the ground part of Venice is way cheaper to stay at. You can even choose how to get to Venice from there. There are buses, air conditioned trams going to Venice every 10-15 minutes from Mestre. The average hotel price there is around 50 EUR per room but let’s get even better than that: there are some great campsites which offer air conditioned bungalows, big gardens, swimming pools often for only a fragment of the price you would pay at a hotel. I will do a more detailed post on Venice accommodation in the upcoming days, so keep watching out for it to learn how to stay cheap and still be cosy in Venice.

Important: 

Most hotels and campings offer their own bus transfer to Venice for their own price ranging between EUR 4-5 for one or for a return trip. If possible avoid this. Public transportation is quick and easy when you are in the Mestre/ Marghera area and as an extra, many of these buses cannot even stop on the main island but have to go to a parking island from where it's an additional 1 EUR to take the monorail just to get to the Piazzale Roma where there is the standard bus station.

Water supply:

There are several open air and free wells all around Venice. So if you are thirsty and doesn't want to spend 1-2 EUR on a 1/2 l water use these freely. 

Public transportation in and around Venice

As of now one ticket ( bus and tram) costs 1,5 EUR per person. Please NEVER buy ticket directly from a bus driver or you will pay around double the original price. There are automats everywhere and all kiosks and journal and tabacco stores sell tickets too. A return ticket costs 3 EUR. There is absolutely no control on any of the buses or trams so it’s left on your conscience to validate your tickets. You can also buy daily tourist tickets which are around EUR 20 per person per day, but I would only suggest you to buy these, if you want to use vaporetto, the price of which is really sky high for around 6-7 EUR for one ticket. I would suggest everyone to leave the vaporetto out totally. It’s slow, it stops every 5 meters and it’s dead expensive. I will go in more details when I m talking about excursions.  

Means of Travel in Venice

In Venice there are the following ways to go from A to B: on foot, by vaporetto, by gondola, by watertaxi. I would suggest you all to forget about any of these. If you are more people with luggage who will stay inside Venice, take a watertaxi, with arranging the price before you get in: it’s way cheaper and cosier than the vaporetto with its EUR 6-7/Person price. Only take a gondola if you are on a honeymoon and ready to pay the EUR 30-40 per trip. Always pre-arrange these prices or they will rob you blind.  I will tell you more on boats when I get to the excursion column.

Eating-out in Venice

Although it doesn’t look like and they can be harder to find, there are plenty of smaller supermercatos which are grocery stores with Coop and Simply being the number one choices in general. Some of these are located on the main roads, some are a bit trickier to find but all in all these are the cheaper to go to if you would like a soft drink, water or just a sandwitch. The price of soft drinks in the small stores ( not supermarkets) can go up to EUR 3 per bottle for the likes of Coca Cola, Fanta, Sprite etc. And they can also ask up to EUR 2 for a small bottle of water. The biggest Coop is about 10 minutes on food from the bus/train station if you are heading towards St. Marco square. You will see it as it’s right where you get down from the 3rd or 4th bridge you have to cross. If you shop these things smart you can save up lots of money.

Excursions around Venice

If you would like to visit the neighbouring islands, with Lido, Murano and Burano being the Nr.1 choices I suggest you not to take the vaporetto but take the bigger sea-boats. While the price of vaporetto was EUR 18 for a return ticket per person for a longer trip for us, the price of the big boat is only EUR 15 for a return trip. Look for line 14 and above. The big boats use a different port from the vaporettos, which means you need to turn left from the St. Marco Square and go through 2 bridges before getting there. These boats are also cosier. They go every 30 minutes to Burano, Lido, Punta Sabbioni etc.  They are also better for those prone to be sick on boats. One more thing: if you get off at the wrong place, do not get out from the port area but stay there wait for the next boat. If you do, you will need to buy another ticket.

Venice Attractions

Venice is an attraction in itself, which is great news for all those who don’t want to visit museums or galleries. But if you are interested in arts most churches are open and don’t ask for an entrance fee for you to check them out. Also, several churches also work as art galleries, housing a nice number of exhibitions ( we saw the one on the inventions of Michelangelo). Venice is one central hub for modern arts and housing the world famous Biennale that means dozens of smaller galleries and art museums are open for visitors all around town to be visited.  Some of it already have artworks in their gardens or courtyard which can be seen free of charge. This is a cheaper way of getting closer to the works of arts. If you want to learn more on what’s on this summer click here and here.

Venice Shopping

In Venice you can find the stores of every single highstreet brand from Chanel to Gucci with their stores located right behind the St. Marco Square. For those looking for more economical solutions the shops of Benetton, Sisley and H&M offer great chances for shopping ( especially because the sales start from mid July). For those wanting to buy souvenirs there are basically two types of stores in Venice today: the more expensive stores owned by local Italians mostly selling glass, crystal works and Venetian masks and the cheaper Indian/Pakistani nick nack stores which sell everything from T-shirts to cups or fridge magnets. Out of the two, you can haggle in the latter ones. Some of these also sell masks which are not awesome quality but they look cool. You can haggle down the price for Eur 5-8 for one of these masks and can get a fridge magnet or a cup for around EUR 1.5 if you are smart and only use the exact sum of coins to show the guy which you are ready to pay.