Italy from the Inside

How much is your time worth? The Venice water taxi

As you can learn from our eBook Italy from the Inside there are many possibilities to reach Venice from the airport: you can either take the bus to Piazzale Venezia, or to Mestre train station and then take a 10 minute train ride to Venice train station. These two options are definitely the cheapest ones, but they surely don’t make you save in terms of time.

So, you may prefer to spend €15 per person and catch the public boat from the airport to the city, which, in my opinion, offers a more interesting experience for tourists. However, there’s one more option that sometimes is not taken into consideration, I think mainly for its cost, and that’s the water taxi.

The privately ran water taxi company charges €100 for a ride, which may sounds like a lot of money if you consider yourself a budget traveler. However, this price is for rides for up to 5 people which, by doing some math, translates into €20 per person. Not too bad if you consider that you don’t have to share the ride with anyone else and that you are going to be dropped to your destination (or to the closest vicinity). Besides, isn’t it better to add a great memory to your life rather than to have 50 more bucks in the bank? Well, at least this is my new philosophy…

The cost of forgetting to validate your train ticket


I already mentioned in a previous post the requirement for all train passengers to punch their tickets before they get on board. The reason why I’m reposting this important detail is that TreniItalia, the organization that runs all trains in Italy, just raised their fines if you forget to validate your ticket.

The increase is significant, from €25 to €200 (which translates in $300 these days). If you pay the fine within 15 days then the amount is going to be reduced to €100, if you pay on the spot or at the final destination it is reduced to €50.

Should you forget to punch your ticket, a best practice is to inform the ticket conductor right away. While there is no guarantee that you’ll avoid the fine (multa), it might help demonstrate your overall good faith.

N.B. First time in Italy? Check out our eBook with hundreds of time and money saving tips collected for you by real Italians.

Strikes in Italy

When you plan internal transfers from various Italian locations, it’s always a good idea to budget some buffer time for unforeseen circumstances. Strikes (scioperi) and delays (ritardi) are normal everyday events.
In my last trip home, the Venice airport personnel announced a couple of hours strike on the spot because some union negotiations weren’t going as they hoped. After traveling for 14 hours from Seattle, that wasn’t necessary the best ‘Welcome home’ news I was expecting. I was lucky to see my luggage showing up on the belt right at the announcement, but I bet the next load of passengers weren’t that happy.
Sometimes friends ask me to review their itineraries. When I see their Italian vacation scheduled by the hour and packed with various transportation from city to city, I warn them that is a recipe for frustration. Trains have gotten better in recent years, but strikes are very common. Be flexible and prepared to cope with some delays and you’ll enjoy your trip even more.