There are two ways to get around Venice — by water or by walking/scooting, including over ramped bridges. Venice also provides turn-by-turn maps that detail all accessible routes and features for exploring all of Venice.
Wheelchair Accessible Water Taxis (Vaporettos)
Before I left the train station, I stopped at the tourism office to purchase wheelchair tickets for the water taxis. It is best to buy tickets for the whole day, as the ticket machines/offices are few and often very busy.
Tip: Wheelchair single-use tickets are reduced in price, and companions ride for free (as is common throughout Europe). Thus it is almost always cheaper to buy several single-use tickets than to buy the day pass.
The water taxi waiting areas were floating docks, which helped mitigate the water level changes due to the tide. However, this also means you are waiting on a floating dock, which can rock and roll with the waves of passing boats. The rocking was not dangerous, but it can be annoying if you are prone to motion sickness (made worse by heat). The rocking is more extreme in the more open areas of the canal, such as by St, Mark’s Square (where this footage was shot)–there is just more boat traffic, and thus more and bigger waves.
I decided to focus on Line 1 for the water taxis–the route map and layout of the islands can be confusing, so focusing on one or two lines helped streamline our day. Line 1 runs from outside the train station, through the Grand Canal, under Rialto Bridge, and includes a stop at St. Mark’s Square/Doge’s Palace (before going on). These were the stops I wanted to see, and I knew that St. Mark’s Square stop was wheelchair accessible and that I could explore around that area.
I walked along the ramp to the floating dock waiting area, and were greeted by the worker. She instructed us to wait off to the side until the boat arrived and everyone exited who wanted to do so. This made the boat lighter and thus higher in the water, which further meant it more closely matched the height of the floating dock. The worker than placed a slightly curved ramp down between the water taxi and the floating dock, and I was able to scoot onboard.
The curve made the angle at the bottom of the ramp more extreme, and so there was one time that I needed to get a little extra push forward when my wheelie bar engaged.
The worker instructed me to park next to the gate so I could easily get off when I needed to do so. This also gave me a great vantage for viewing the sights along the Grand Canal–just being on the boat was worth the trip. It was also a really hot day, so being by the side of the boat made for much better ventilation and air movement, which was particularly important given that the boat ride can last for 45 minutes to an hour and be very crowded.
At San Marcos, the boat assistance had everyone go off first so that the boat would be higher in the water. He then put down a ramp and I was able to easily roll off the vaporetto and onto the floating dock. There was another easy ramp from the floating dock to the land. Very smooth and easy process for moving around Venice!
Tip: Remember the mantra “first on, last off.” You want to be the first one on the boat that so the boat is lighter and thus higher in the water. You also want as many people to get off the boat before you do, also making the boat lighter and higher in the water. The lighter the boat, the more aligned it will be with the floating dock.
Wheelchair Accessible Ramps for the Bridges
Venice has received international praise for its efforts to ramp its critical bridges, with the goal of creating wheelchair accessible routes throughout the island. The ramps vary depending on the type of bridge–some have inserts that go into the stairs themselves, whereas others require a ramp laid over the stairs (to make for a longer, less inclined ramp). Photos of both types are shown further down.
I tried a ramp at Saint Mark’s Square that gives you a good vantage point to view the Bridge of Sighs. The ramps were smooth, solid, and not very steep. The small landings after each mini-ramp took some getting used to–it would have been smoother to just have one long ramp with no landings, but it was not a big concern.
The addition of these ramps will continue to increase the wheelchair accessibility of Venice.