The Best Venice City Pass: A Complete Venice Pass Comparison Guide

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If you’ve taken a look at some interesting facts about Venice, you’ll realize this is an enchanting city with a ton of history and culture. However, the price tag for entry to museums and landmarks might sometimes seem too high. 

What if I told you there was a way to save money while spending 2 days in Venice?

A few different Venice sightseeing passes are available, but not all of them offer the same value. In this post, I will compare the top three Venice attraction passes to help you decide which one is the best Venice city pass for you and explain why I recommend it over the others.

If you’re planning a trip and looking for things to know when visiting Venice, read this article first before making any decisions. It will save you tons of time and money!

Which are the best Venice city passes available?

There are three primary Venice attraction passes you can choose from:

• Venice Museum Pass

• MUVE Friend Card

• Venice Unica Pass

Venice Museum Pass and MUVE Friend Card

Purchasing the standard Venice Museum Pass gives you one-time admission to twelve of the city’s major Civic museums over six months. In contrast, the MUVE Friend Card gives you unlimited access to the city’s twelve museums over twelve months.

Cost

The Venice Museum Pass costs €36 for adults, and the MUVE Friend Card costs €45 for adults. You can look at the current pricing for the Venice Museum Pass and the MUVE Friend Card here.

Features

• Attractions: You can visit all twelve of the city’s major museums included in both passes. Participating museums include the Doge’s Palace, Museo Correr, National Archaeological Museum, Monumental Rooms of the Biblioteca Marciana, Cà Rezzonico, Palazzo Mocenigo Museum, Carlo Goldoni’s House, Ca’ Pesaro, the Murano Glass Museum, the Burano Lace Museum, the Natural History Museum, and the Palazzo Fortuny Museum.

• Validity: The standard Venice Museum Pass is valid for 160 days, and the MUVE Friend Card is good for 365 days once you activate them for the first time.

• Suitability: These passes are excellent if you were planning to visit a few of the museums on this list already or are fascinated by some of the lesser-known museums in Venice. I highly recommend it if you live in Italy, close to Venice, and often take day trips into the city.

Pros

• You do not need to make a reservation with any museums in advance before you visit; you can just show up and activate your pass.
• You’ll have six whole months to visit all of the museums offered with the Venice Museum pass and a full year with the MUVE Friend Card, so you don’t need to cram all of this art and history into just a few days.
• It’s a straightforward, one-and-done purchase. When you buy this Venice attractions pass, you can access everything included.

Cons

• If your trip to Venice is only a few days and you don’t live close enough to the city to visit again, you might not have the opportunity to check out all of the museums included.
• You’ll need to purchase separate entry tickets if there are museums you want to visit that aren’t included in this pass.
• Other significant landmarks and attractions that you might want to see in Venice aren’t included in this pass. Also, this pass doesn’t have a Vaporetto transportation pass.

How to Purchase and Use It

You can purchase the Venice Museum Pass or the ​​MUVE Friend Card online. A .pdf of your tickets will be delivered to you digitally, and you can either print it out or keep it on your phone. When you visit a participating museum, have them scan the barcode listed on the ticket, and you’re good to go! 

Why choose the Venice Museum Pass?

The Venice Museum Pass is worth it if all you want to do is visit the Musei Civici di Venezia museums. You have twelve world-class museums to choose from and six full months in which to see them all. It’s also more straightforward than the Venice Unica Pass since it doesn’t include any additional add-ons you need to worry about expiring if a specific date was selected.

Why choose the MUVE Friend Card?

The MUVE Friend Card is perfect if you live nearby and want the option to go back to the twelve museums within the Musei Civici di Venezia system. You have one year to go back to any museums as often as you’d like. 

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Venice Unica City Pass

The Venezia Unica City Pass allows you to combine your entry to several different museums and Venetian landmarks, as well as add-ons like other museums, single and daily tickets for the Vaporetto public water taxis, access to the lagoon city’s high-speed internet, transfers to Venice Marco Polo Airport, and more.

Cost

The Venice Unica Pass price varies depending on several factors like age, access to select landmarks, and what additional offerings you choose. The least-expensive level without any add-ons starts at €21.90 for Juniors (ages 6 – 29), €33.90 for Adults (ages 30 – 64), and €21.90 for Seniors (ages 65+). You can take a look at the current pricing here.

Features

• Attractions: There are four different base-level ticket packages within every age group:
  • All four different base-level tickets are eligible for more than 20 additional add-ons and excursions and include extra benefits like discounts to participating restaurants and bars, shops, performances, bookshops, and museums.
    • The All Venice City Pass includes access to Doge’s Palace and eleven other Musei Civici di Venezia museums, fourteen chorus churches, and admission to the Querini Stampalia Foundation.
    • The All Venice City Pass + Fenice includes access to everything in the All Venice pass, with the addition of a guided audio tour of Teatro La Fenice.
    • The St. Mark’s City Pass includes access to the Doge’s Palace and the other three Musei Civici di Venezia museums within Piazza San Marco, only Santa Maria del Giglio – Sacred Art Museum, Santo Stefano, and Santa Maria Formosa chorus churches, and the Querini Stampalia Foundation.
    • The St. Mark’s City Pass + Fenice includes access to everything in the St. Mark’s pass, with the addition of a guided audio tour of Teatro La Fenice.

• Validity: For visitors to Venice, the Venice Unica Pass is valid for 24 months from the date of purchase unless the product has a specific expiration date. The Venice Unica Pass is valid for five years for frequent visitors or residents of Venice.

• Suitability: This pass is perfect if you’re looking for more offerings than only museums, especially if you were planning to ride the Vaporetto a lot while in Venice or needed to purchase access to the city’s internet. 

Pros

• Unless otherwise stated for a particular add-on, you don’t need to make a reservation with any of the museums in advance before you visit; you can just show up and activate your pass.
• Since thus Venice Card for visitors is valid for 24 months, if you come back to Venice within 2 years of your purchase date, you can still use your discount card’s benefits.
• You can really mix and match different offerings to make the pass best fit your interests.
• You can purchase several tickets for the Vaporetto at a discounted rate at once.

Cons

• Although most museums don’t require a reservation and can be used at any time, any ticket you buy with a set date and time can not be changed after purchase. So if you’re schedule changes, you’re unfortunately locked into the commitment and can’t change it.
• If your trip to Venice is only a few days and you don’t live close enough to the city to visit again, you might not have the opportunity to see everything included.
• You’ll need to purchase a separate ticket if there are museums you want to visit that aren’t included in this pass.

How to Purchase and Use It

To purchase the Venice Unica Pass, you need to head to their website and follow the prompts to create a tourist travel card for each person.

Next, you’ll select which of their base-level “Best Deals” tickets you want to start with.

Then, scroll through the additional add-ons and select which card you want to add it to.

Once you’re done, you’ll check out online, save your voucher to your phone, and/or print it out, so you have it with you when you arrive in Venice.

Since each pass is different, follow the directions listed on the voucher on how to access and use the pass you’ve purchased.

Why choose the Venice Unica Pass?

If you’re looking for more flexibility than the Venice Museum Pass, then the Venice Unica Pass is what you want to go with. One of the base-level passes includes every museum included in the Venice Museum Pass and other admissions.

Or, if all twelve museums are overwhelming, you can choose a base-level pass that only consists of the four significant museums within Piazza San Marco for less, which still includes extra benefits and the option for add-ons.

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Venice Sightseeing Passes Comparion Breakdown

	Venice Museum Pass	MUVE Friend Pass	Venice Unica Pass
Price	€35	€45	Passes start at €21.90 for juniors (ages 6-29) and €33.90 for adults (ages 30-64)
Validity	One-time only visits to the participating museums within 6 months of activation	Unlimited visits to the participating museums for 12 months after activiation	24 months from the date of purchase unless the product has a specific expiration date
Does it include the Musei Civici di Venezia?	Yes	Yes	Yes
Does it include tickets for the Vaporetto?	No	No	Yes, as an add-on purchase
Does it include discounts for other museums, restaurants, and businesses around Venice?	No	No	Yes
Where can I purchase this pass?	Buy Now	Buy Now	Buy Now

Which is the best Venice city pass to buy for my trip?

Although each Venice attractions pass share some similarities, here are my recommendations on which one to buy based on this Venice pass comparison:

The Overall Best Venice City Pass: After reviewing all of the information, and after very happily using the full Venice Museum Pass myself, the Venice Unica Pass is the best Venezia city pass overall, for both visitors and frequent visitors like myself. It offers everything the Venice Museum Pass offers–and more.

However, what really sells me on the pass is that cardholders receive additional discounts from participating museums and restaurants.

The Best Venice Attractions Pass To Use Multiple Times: If you live near Venice or are planning to spend a lot of time in the city over the course of a year and want the flexibility to visit the Musei Civici di Venezia museums over and over again, then you need the MUVE Friend Card.

Since there are no restrictions on how often you can visit any of the participating museums, you can take your time working through different museums and go back to others that you want to explore further. Or, if family and friends are coming to visit and you know they’ll want to head into these museums, then the MUVE Friend Card makes the most sense.

The Case For A Venice Museum Pass: However, as I said, I’m a very happy Venice Museum Pass user! When I first moved to the Veneto region, we didn’t know that there were different options for passes–we only saw the Venice Museum Pass available when we purchased individual tickets to visit Palazzo Ducale.

If you’re only going to be in Venice for a short time, so you don’t need the flexibility of multiple admission but want as many options as possible, this is the pass for you.

What are some Venice bucket list expereinces and landmarks not included on any of these passes?

• None of these Venice city passes include a classic Gondola ride. Book a Grand Canal by Gondola with Commentary tour to try this wonderful boat trip.

• Although admission is included for four of the major museums in Piazza San Marco, entry into the Torre dell’Orologio and to climb up the San Marco Campanile are not included in any of these passes.

• If you want to explore the Doge’s Palace further with a Secret Itineraries tour, you’re going to need to purchase the experience separately from your ticket to Palazzo Ducale.

Which Venice attractions pass is right for you?

Lyndsay

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