What is a Traghetto?
Traghetto in Italian means a ‘Ferry’; and that is exactly what they are meant for… ferry or transport passengers from one side of the Grand Canal to the other… that’s it. Traghetti is the plural of Traghetto, just like Vaporetti for Vaporetto.
While the traditional gondolas are meant for tourists taking private romantic rides through the maze of canals in Venice and appreciating the architecture of the buildings and bridges, the Traghetti are only used for crossing the Grand Canal both ways. There are designated Traghettti docks on both sides of the Grand Canal. While a traditional gondola can carry up to 5 persons, the Traghetti can carry up to 12 persons.
The Traghetti look like large gondolas. While both are painted black, unlike the traditional gondolas, they are not ornated with brass trimmings, brocaded chairs, lacquered bodies or lustrous finish. A Traghetto has a simple yet rugged look, and instead of chairs, there is a flat space to stand on and usually two wooden strips.
There are two oarsmen who row a traghetto, one stands behind the passengers and one in front near the bow. These Traghetti are being operated by the same families through generations.
Why use a Traghetto?
There are only 4 bridges across the entire length of the Grand Canal that stretches across a 3.5 km distance. If you happen to be at a point on the bank of Grand Canal where there is no footbridge nearby, then what are your options?
- You will either need to walk down to the nearest bridge (which might be a long way off) and then cross over the Grand Canal.
- Or walk down to the nearest Vaporetti dock and wait for the Line-1 which zig-zags the Grand Canal touching several docks on both sides as it moves forward. But this option makes sense if you have an ACTV Travel Pass which gives you unlimited rides during its validity period. Otherwise, a ticket for the small ride may burn a large hole in your pocket.
- Take a Traghetto.
Traghetti are very useful to easily cross over the Grand Canal in a few minutes where there are no bridges nearby. In fact, most Traghetto docks are created at such places where there is no other easy way to cross over the Grand Canal thus filling up this gap for both locals and tourists.
But, the Traghetti can also serve another great purpose for tourists who are on a budget. If you do not want to shell out 80 euros for a 30-minute ride on a traditional gondola, then a traghetto can fill up that gap quite aptly. It is after all a large gondola and you can appreciate Venice from the water and take beautiful pictures as you cross over the Grand Canal from one side to the other. You may need to stand (when the traghetto is full) instead of sitting on a richly decorative chair as in a traditional gondola. But these Traghetti rides are far cheaper (see the ‘Traghetto Fare’ below for fare details).
However, do not expect the oarsmen rowing a traghetto to sing as they do on a traditional private gondola to create the perfect romantic moment.
Traghetto Price
Unlike the traditional gondola ride where you need to pay for the whole boat, the Traghetto ride works on a per-person fare. Like in most public transport in Venice, there is a differential pricing on Traghetto rides for tourists and residents.
- Tourist fare for a one-way traghetto ride is 2 euros.
- Resident fare for a one-way traghetto ride is 0.7 euro.
You should try to make the payment in exact change. If you do not have an exact change, use coins instead of notes. You should pay the fare to the oarsman while boarding.
Traghetto Routes
Earlier, there were some 30 traghetti routes across the Grand Canal, but most have now closed down, only a handful of routes are now operational, and a few of them are quite irregular.
Traghetti were originally meant for the Venetian workers, and therefore some of them do not operate on the weekends.
Below is the list of docks/routes where you can cross the Grand Canal using a Traghetto. There are presently 7 routes (or pairs of traghetto docks) along the Grand Canal between the St. Lucia Railway Station and St. Mark’s basin. The routes below are shown in order of distance from the railway station.
- Fondamente S. Lucia Rail Station – Fondamenta San Simeón Piccolo
- San Marcuola – Fóndaco dei Turchi
- San Samuele – Cà Rezzónico
- Campo Santa Maria del Giglio – Salute *
- San Tomà – Santo Stefano *
- Rialto Market – Cà D’Oro *
- Riva del Carbòn – Fondamente del Vin
* These are the most popular routes for tourists.
Traghetto Timings
- Weekdays: 7.30am – 8.00pm
- Weekends: 8.30am – 7.30pm
Note that Traghetti do not operate on the 25th and 26th of December, 1st January, and 15th of August. On the 24th and 31st December, the traghetto service stops at 1pm.
However, note that apart from the popular routes as indicated in the earlier section, other routes may become irregular at times. The oarsmen also take a break for lunch during which time traghetti may not be available.
If you have arrived at a dock and find no traghetto in sight even after waiting for a while, it is better to start walking to the nearest bridge to cross over the Grand Canal – this is what most Venetians do.
How to find a Traghetto dock/route?
While in the neighbourhoods near Grand Canal, look for the traghetto signages which are usually marked on the front facades of the buildings. However, in several cases, the board might have been torn apart or made discoloured over time beyond recognition by the weather elements.
There might be also a small board in front of the buildings displaying the dock name and the direction. Follow the signages and walk along, you will get to a wooden traghetto pier with a board showing the name of the dock.
You will also see traghetto routes clearly marked on most of the Venice street maps that you can get from any tourist information centre or a bookshop… they are usually shown as straight lines across the Grand Canal.
How to ride a Traghetto?
Once you reach the dock, you may find others waiting in a queue. You should stand in the queue and wait. If a traghetto is not yet available, you may need to wait for a few minutes for it to arrive. When in operation, the boats continuously shuttle across the Grand Canal. Once it arrives, the oarsmen first allow the passenger to deboard.
Now the persons waiting in the queue will board in turn. If the traghetto gets full before your turn comes, you will need to wait for the next traghetto. It might be a matter of minutes before another one comes (there might be one already behind the one which is already docked waiting for its turn to get to the pier once the present one leaves).
The oarsman usually helps in steadying the boat and may lend a hand to help you board if you so wish. According to true Venetian practice, you are not supposed to sit, unless you are one of the first ones to board and go right at the end where you can sit on the boat’s edge. Otherwise, it is expected that you stand upright holding your balance as the other Venetians do. It is actually not difficult to balance yourself if you take a broad posture and stand. The boat is usually quite steady when it moves.
However, one thing you should note is that you need to stand facing the direction of the boat’s movement and not backward. So, once you board, you will need to turn around because the boat too will turn when it leaves the pier.
A travel addict. Still celebrating the day when he quit his high-profile corporate job to pursue his passion for travel writing.