Think Venice Taxis Are Too Expensive? This Is How to Arrive in Style (Without Breaking The Bank!)

I love a little luxury when you can get it. Even better is when you have a little luxury without blowing the bank account. Well, that's exactly how we were rolling in Venice on our last trip. The last time I was in Venice was during the summer peak season in Venice and as you can image it was busy, crowded and all the vaparotto aka water buses were packed to the brim. With a little creativity and searching, I found out that you can buy vouchers for shared taxis in Venice. Yes, you can ride the Venetian taxis from the airport to your hotel(or the nearest stop to your hotel), all without spending a lot of money.

When we arrived in Venice, found our taxi counter at the airport. We got directed into the taxi that was waiting for us with another couple. This wasn't too bad as the couple got off first and we soon had the taxi all to ourselves as our journey was all the way to San Marco Square, which meant that we were able to take in the city and have ourselves a private tour without the crowds. Guess how much this cost us?!! All of £27 for two people! Yes, you read that right! A private taxi normally costs about £115 one way. We had it for £27. As you can imagine we bought the return trip back to the airport for another £27. These tickets vary from time to time and range from £13 to £30 person. I guess it helped that when we booked the tickets, we were traveling during the quiet season so they were on the lower side of the scale. The current price of £28 is still better than £115 still. It sure made the journey to and from the airport effortless with an added bonus of a city tour before we even checked into our accommodation. Not to mention having the taxi to ourselves!! This was the shared taxi we booked but above is a link to options of having a guaranteed private Venice taxi without sharing. When you book your taxi you are asked for your flight arrival time so that they know when to have the taxi available for you. We were lucky in that when our flight arrived we only had another couple with us. Either way, this is an effortless way to get into Venice without having to figure out how transport works or where to get it. In my previous with 5 tips on how to explore Venice I also mentioned how to easily get around Venice by downloading the mobile app where you can buy the daily tickets to use the water buses.

Where to stay in Venice

Don't feel you have to stay in the centre of Venice. We looked around for hotels but as this year has been filled with so much travel for work, I have found Airbnb a lot more appealing for my style of travel at the moment. I do switch between hotels and Airbnb though. Don't feel you have to stay near San Marco or Rialto Bridge to feel the essence of Venice. Venice is not so big that you have to stay so close to the hot spots. Our booking was for a place hidden deep in the alleys of Venice, it seemed that way when we walked to try and find it but after we found it and saw the view from one of our windows(image below with rooftops and the Campanile in the background) we realised just how close we still were to the sights. We were also a short walk to Libra Alta - the famous book shop. Rialto Bridge was also only about 30 minutes walk. The point is, don't feel you have to blow hundreds of Euros on an expensive hotel bill just so you can stay on the edge of the Grand Canal. Especially if you are going to spend most of your stay exploring. You can compare hotel prices in Venice on Booking.com, which also allows you to view them by map to see where they are located. You can also use Airbnb, whether rental the whole apartment or renting a room. You can save £30 via this Airbnb linkwhen you sign up.