There are only three bridges
along the Canal Grande - at
the train station, Rialto and
Accademia - so the
traghetti
(gondola ferries) that cross
it can be useful time-savers.
Costing just L700, they are
also the only cheap way of
getting a ride on a gondola,
albeit a stripped-down
version, with none of the
trimmings and no padded seats
- it's
de rigueur to
stand in the traghetto
gondolas. The gondola
traghetti across the Canal
Grande are as follows, in
summer: San Marco-Salute
(daily 9am-noon & 2-6pm);
Santa Maria del Giglio-Salute
(Mon-Sat 9am-7pm); Ca'
Rezzonico-San Samuele (Mon-Sat
7.40am-1.20pm); San Tomą-Santo
Stefano (Mon-Sat 7am-8.50pm;
Sun 8am-7.50pm); Riva del
Carbon-Riva del Vin (near
Rialto; Mon-Sat 8am-2pm);
Santa Sofia-Rialto (Mon-Sat
7am-8.50pm; Sun 8am-7.50pm);
San Marcuola-Fondaco dei
Turchi (Mon-Sat
7.30am-1.30pm); train
station-San Simeone (Mon-Sat
7.45am-1.30pm). In the winter
months it's common for
traghetti to cease operating
earlier than the times
indicated above, or even to be
suspended altogether.
In addition to these, some
vaporetti and motoscafi
operate as traghetti across
the Canal Grande and over to
the nearer islands: for
example, if you want to go
from San Zaccaria over to San
Giorgio Maggiore, you need
only pay the lower traghetto
fare of L3000. If your journey
is a short single-stop trip
across a body of water, a
traghetto fare almost
certainly applies, even if
it's not shown on the tariff
list on the ticket booth.
