Vaporetto line 1: the Grand Canal, stop by stop

The route in one sentence

Vaporetto line 1 starts at Piazzale Roma, picks up at the railway station, runs the whole length of the Grand Canal under the Rialto and Accademia bridges, leaves the canal at San Marco and carries on along the waterfront past Arsenale and the Giardini to Lido S.M.E. on the Lido. It stops at every landing on the way, 21 in all, and in the daytime the full run takes 65 minutes.

That is why visitors use it as a sightseeing boat. Between the station and San Marco you pass the Ca' d'Oro, the Rialto market, the palaces of the bend at Ca' Foscari and the dome of the Salute at walking pace, for the price of an ordinary ride. The same stopping pattern makes it the slow way to get somewhere: if you only want to reach San Marco from the station, line 2 is quicker.

Line 1 Grand Canal stops and pontoons

Most stops on the Grand Canal have one landing per direction, and the big ones have several. The letter on the pontoon tells you which one you need. The table lists every stop in order, the minutes from Piazzale Roma on a daytime boat, and the pontoon letter for each direction where the stop has more than one.

First and last boats

Line 1 runs from before five in the morning until after midnight, every day. The first boat from Piazzale Roma leaves at 05:01, the last at 23:41. In the other direction the first boat leaves Lido at 04:36 and the last at 23:06, which reaches Piazzale Roma at 00:04.

After the last line 1 boat the night line N takes over between Piazzale Roma, Ferrovia, Rialto, San Zaccaria and Lido. The night pattern and the other lines are on the vaporetto timetable page.

How often line 1 runs

In the daytime a line 1 boat leaves Piazzale Roma every 12 minutes, from 06:21 to 20:45. Early in the morning and in the evening the interval stretches to 20 minutes. Towards Piazzale Roma the 12-minute pattern runs from Lido between 06:08 and 20:56.

• 05:01 to 06:01: every 20 minutes from Piazzale Roma.
• 06:21 to 20:45: every 12 minutes from Piazzale Roma.
• 21:05 to 23:41: every 20 minutes from Piazzale Roma.

In the autumn timetable there is also one extra boat on school days, from Lido at 07:27 as far as Sant'Angelo. For the boat you are about to catch, check the departure board at the stop: it shows the next boats with their destination.

Boarding at the busy stops

At Ferrovia, line 1 boards at pontoon E for most of the day, in front of Santa Lucia station. Line 2 and the circular lines leave from their own pontoons a few steps along the quay, so check the letter before you join a queue. Riva de Biasio and San Marcuola, the next two stops down the canal, are the alternatives within walking distance of the station.

At Rialto the line uses separate pontoons for each direction, B towards San Marco and A towards the station in the daytime. At San Marco you have two choices: Vallaresso, at the western end of the piazza, and San Zaccaria, east of the Doge's Palace. Boats towards Lido call at both. The stops and their pontoons for every line are on the vaporetto stations page.

Line 1 or line 2

Both lines run between the station and the Rialto bridge. Line 2 skips most of the small Grand Canal stops and reaches San Marco Giardinetti from Ferrovia in 29 minutes. Line 1 needs 41 minutes from Ferrovia to San Marco Vallaresso. Line 2 only runs beyond Rialto towards Accademia and San Marco between about 09:30 and 20:15; early and late it turns at Rialto. The full comparison is on line 2 express.

Which ticket covers the ride

Line 1 is part of the ACTV urban network, so every standard ticket covers it: the 75-minute single at €9.50, and the 24-hour, 48-hour, 72-hour and seven-day tickets. A full run from Piazzale Roma to Lido takes 65 minutes, inside the 75 minutes of a single ticket. Validate on the reader at the pontoon before every ride, also when you change boats.

If you plan more than two rides in a day, the 24-hour ticket is the cheaper buy; for a longer stay the 72-hour ticket takes over. All durations side by side are on vaporetto tickets and passes, and every line in the network is on the vaporetto lines page.