Water taxi in Venice: official fares, market prices and when it pays off

What a water taxi costs

Two price systems apply to the same boat, and the gap between them explains most of what you read online. The city sets the official tariff: the Comune di Venezia fixed it in two council resolutions of 2011 and has not rewritten it since. The consortia that hold the licences quote their own fixed prices above it, and those are the figures you meet when you book ahead.

On the routes that carry a fixed fare the meter stays off and the price is set in advance. Residents and disabled passengers pay 20 percent less on the official tariff.

What the operators ask in 2026 is higher. Consorzio Motoscafi Venezia, the largest consortium with more than a hundred boats and a round-the-clock service, charges €160 from the airport to a hotel, to the railway station, to Piazzale Roma or to the Lido, €170 to Tronchetto and €200 out to Burano. Inside the city it asks €80 from the station or Piazzale Roma to a hotel and €90 from Tronchetto. Venezia Taxi, the other large group of licensed operators, works the same way.

The surcharges are where a cheap ride turns expensive. Consorzio Motoscafi Venezia adds €15 between 22:00 and 07:00, Venezia Taxi €10 over the same hours, and both charge €10 for every person from the fifth and €5 for every bag from the fifth. Both cap a boat at 10 people and 12 bags, and both take 5 percent off an airport return booked online.

How long the ride takes

From Marco Polo Airport to the historic centre the Comune counts 20 to 30 minutes, and a private transfer booked ahead is quoted at 30 to 40. Nothing else on the water is faster: the Alilaguna Blu line needs 85 minutes to San Marco and 114 to the railway station, which is the price of calling at every landing on the way. The comparison of every route from the airport sets the taxi against the bus and the boat line for line.

The one caveat is the tide. At an unfavourable water level some hotels cannot be reached at their own door, and the consortium notes that the last few minutes are then on foot, about five. That is worth a question at booking if you are travelling with heavy cases or at night.

Where the licensed boats wait

Licensed taxis work from the city ranks, the stazi. The Comune lists them at Piazzale Roma including Tronchetto, at the Ferrovia, at Rialto by the Cerva, at San Zaccaria Monumento, which covers the San Marco Molo, the Danieli and Ca' di Dio, and on the islands at Lido S.M.E., Murano Vetrai, Ospedale and Burano. The radio taxi number for the city is 199 48 49 50.

At Marco Polo the boats leave from the water dock. From the terminal you follow the blue signs for water transport along the moving walkway; the signs claim four minutes and the sources that have walked it report anything from four to thirteen, so allow more than the sign says. The operators keep staff at a desk in the hall and at the pier itself. If you have booked the shared water taxi, its voucher is exchanged at desk 71 in the arrivals hall, not at the pier.

Luggage and how many fit

The official fixed fares are written for four people and four bags. From the fifth person the tariff adds €10, one bag included, and from the fifth bag €5, or €3 if the meter is running. The operators repeat those two surcharges in their own price lists and cap the boat at 10 people and 12 bags; a private transfer booked through the module above is sold for up to six people and eight pieces of luggage. Nothing is weighed and nothing is charged by size, which is the main practical difference from the boats and buses: on the shared taxi you are down to one suitcase and one carry-on per person, and on the vaporetto to three pieces of up to 150 cm in combined dimensions.

Booking and cancellation

The private boat is booked for a date and a time and can be cancelled free of charge up to 24 hours before departure. You do not need to report a late flight: the consortium watches arrival times and holds the boat. Between midnight and 07:00 it may bring you into the city by road to Piazzale Roma and put you on the water there, which is worth knowing before you stand at the pier wondering.

The shared boat is also date-bound and also cancellable up to 24 hours ahead. It leaves when it is full, so plan for a wait of 20 to 45 minutes at desk 71, and it sets passengers down at a list of landings rather than at any address. Two people with luggage usually still come out ahead with it; four rarely do.

When it pays off

• Four people with luggage. The fixed fare is per boat, not per head, so at four people a boat of your own costs about what four seats on the shared one cost, and you go straight to the hotel landing.
• A late arrival. The last Alilaguna Blu leaves the airport at 00:20 and the last Arancio at 23:05. After that the taxi is the only boat, with the night surcharge on the fare.
• A hotel with its own landing. On the Grand Canal or a side canal with a water door, the taxi ends the journey; every other option ends with a walk and a bridge or two.
• Not for one or two people on a budget. The Alilaguna airport boat costs €18 one way and €32 return, the ATVO express bus €10 one way and €18 return with 20 minutes to Piazzale Roma and no limit on luggage.
• Not for getting about the city. A taxi from the station to a hotel is €80 at the consortium and €50 to Rialto on the city tariff. The vaporetto covers the same water for €9.50 in 75 minutes or €25 for a full day; the fare overview lists every duration.

Two traps to know about

The tariff, surcharges and ranks on this page follow the official water taxi tariff of the Comune di Venezia, together with the published fares of the other operators on the same routes: ACTV and AVM, Alilaguna and ATVO.