Local Knowledge
Telephone
Dialing Codes
Country code for Italy: +39 Area code for Venice: 041 (don't drop the zero when calling from
abroad)
Emergency Numbers
Police: 113 Ambulance: 118 Fire: 115
Tipping
In restaurants, tip 10% on top of any cover charge. Tipping in bars is not
expected.
VAT & Taxes
Posted prices in stores include the standard 20% VAT (or IVA). Non-EU members can
apply for a VAT refund by contacting the Italian Tax Refund S.R.L.
Getting Around
Water taxi
Water taxis (taxi acquei) are comfortable speedboats, and particularly handy when you have luggage. Your hotel
porter will be able to take you to a pier to catch a water taxi or call you one.
Vaporetto
Venice's water buses, known as vaporetti, are the city's main
mode of transportation, and cheaper than taxis. The accelerato stops at every point. The diretto is the
equivalent of an express.
Traghetto
The city's traghetti are commuter gondolas that cross the Grand Canal
from strategic points along its length. You can hop on a traghetto at the end of
passages signposted “calle del traghetto.”
Gondolas
Once the main transportation mode in Venice, gondolas are now mainly for
tourists. They are expensive but certainly more romantic than the crowded
vaporetti.
Public Holidays
New Year's Day
January 1
Epiphany
January 6
Easter Monday
March-April
Liberation Day
April 25
May Day
May 1
Republic's Day
June 2
All Saints' Day
November 1
Immaculate Conception
December 8
Christmas Day
December 25
St. Stephen's Day
December 26
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