Venice
Venice
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| <map lat='45.466528' lng='12.3' zoom='11' view='0' float='right'/> | |
| Information | |
Country:  |
Italy |
| Population: | 269,000 |
| Licence plate: | VE |
| Major roads: | A4 |
| Meet fellow hitchhikers on Trustroots | |
Venice is a city in Italy. The city itself is a collection of islands. You will probably arrive and leave through Mestre.
Hitching Out
Hitching out of Mestre is really hard.
West towards Verona, Bologna
Take bus 6 to the Via Petro Paleocapa in Marghera, walk to the roundabout, through the Via Cesare Begharia and through the Via de la Ponte on the right. At the very end, there's a path on the right to the AGIP petrol station. It's far from perfect but at its exit you can hitch both people from the petrol station or try to get someone over from the roundabout. Also possible to go east here if you are already in the eastern part (e.g. stayed at Camping Jolly, 500m from there).
East towards Trieste, Udine
If you are already in Marghera, see above.
Otherwise from Venice, take bus 2 to the last stop, Viale don Sturzo, go to Via Vallon and go to the end of the street where you will find a small path leading to the AGIP fuel station on the highway.
- Warning: "We tried to get to the Agip petrol station, walked for 20 minutes and didn't found anything (the village was looong). Eventually slept in field. Are you sure you can get there easily?"
(You might want to try taking bus #14 towards the highway.)
Money-saving Tips
- Do all the snack-shopping in [Mestre] before you board to go on the islands.
- If you know exactly when you are going to arrive in Venice, buy tickets in advance on Venice Connected.
- You can go inside Basilica San Marco for free - large bags and rucksacks are not allowed. [User:Lnx|Lnx], however, managed to sneak in with a small rucksack, SLR camera bag and a tripod case.
- The Snack Bar on the square by the university is not too overpriced - sitting charge is €1.50, and the portions are decent.
- If you want to experience a Gondola ride and don't want to spend €80/hour, you can cross the Grand Canal in a Gondola for €0.50 (yes, 50 eurocents). The Traghetto runs between the west side (market) and the east side (just north of Rialto bridge).
Where to Stay
Venice offers a wide range of accommodations. Most of it is highly overpriced. If you are trying to CouchSurf, it's nearly impossible in Venice itself - use the option "expand search within ... miles"
Bed and Breakfast
- Bed and Breakfast Ca' del Pozzo, S.Marco 2612, tél. +39 041 2413875. Double rooms from 69 EUR.
Camping
Camping Jolly. I wouldn't go as far as to recommend it, but you can rent beds in lockable tents there for less than 15 euros a night. Everything else there is highly overpriced but there's a supermarket nearby and maybe you can ask to use the kitchen in one of the bungalows. Takes you 10-15 minutes to walk to the bus which brings you to the Piazzale Roma in 15 minutes.
City Maps
It's very hard to find a decent map of Venice. Even harder to find a free one. The option which worked for [User:Lnx|Lnx] - in Mestre, opposite the railway station there is a Best Western hotel. Often they have a pile of maps available at the reception; if not you can *very politely* ask for one. (Please do not abuse this option).
Public Transport
You can get bus tickets for local buses for 1,10 euro (in the bus they cost 1,80 euro). The boats to get to other islands are ridiculously expensive (6,50 euro for 1 hour). You could risk going without a ticket on one stop, the fines are at 44 euros (July 20th 09). Little ticket controlling.
There are also long-term tickets that are valid on all the local boats and buses: 12 hours = €16; 24 hours = €18 etc. You can buy a lot of tickets with discount if you pre-book them at least a week in advance online at Venice Connected
A train ticket from VE Mestre to Venice Santa Lucia costs 1 euro. There at the Venice S. L. railway station you can leave your bags (left-luggage) for 4 euro per bag for 5 hours (prices checked: july 15th 2009).
