ABOVE: QuickVenice has a "mobile first" responsive layout that adapts to computer monitors, tablets, and smartphones for optimum display and quick page loading.

By Durant Imboden

Ever since 1997, Venice for Visitors has been what PC Magazine calls "the premier visitors' site for Venice, Italy." The site has provided in-depth information about Venice to millions of travelers over the years.

Recently, though, we realized--after 17 years--that some travelers don't want in-depth information:

• Maybe they're staying in Venice for only a day or two and just want to know the basics.
• Maybe they're browsing the Web with smartphones and need a phone-friendly experience.
• Or maybe they simply aren't as enthusiastic about reading and researching trips as we are.

With those thoughts in mind, Cheryl and I came up with an idea for a new site: "Quick Venice," using the theme "All the basics for shorter trips."

The site is now live, and it offers 75 pages of practical, useful, personally-researched information under the headings of:

• Introducing Venice
• Deciding where to stay
• Arriving and getting around
• Sightseeing and excursions
• Venice for cruise passengers
• Practical advice and warnings

Each page has a small photo, just enough text to convey the required facts or advice, and links to in-depth Venice for Visitors articles or other resources when needed.

The site is built around a "mobile first" responsive layout that adapts to displays on desktop computers, laptops, large or small tablets, and smartphones.

It's designed for quick loading, and for even faster display times, the pages are cached and served from 23 regional data centers around the world.

We hope you'll take a look at the new site. Even if you prefer the in-depth approach of Venice for Visitors, you may find that QuickVenice is perfect for use when you're browsing the Web on a smartphone or with a sluggish hotel Wi-Fi connection.

You'll find QuickVenice at:

quickvenice.com

ABOVE: Passengers wait for a People Mover tram at the Piazzale Roma station.

Venice's People Mover has wildly successful since it entered service in 2010, and with good reason: The elevated tramway whisks passengers between Piazzale Roma (the gateway to Venice's historic center), Marittima (the main cruise port), and Tronchetto (the city's artificial parking island) in less than three minutes.

Until recently, the fare was only one euro, making a trip by People Mover one-seventh the cost of a local vaporetto ride. The fare has just risen up to €1,30, but that's still less than the cost of using Venice's public toilets. It's now exactly the same as the fare on a four-wheeled land bus in Venice's ACTV transportation network. And that's good news, for a simple reason:

• Thanks to the People Mover's new integration with ACTV transit, you no longer have to stand in line at a ticket machine on days when crowds of cruise passengers and Tronchetto parking patrons are using the People Mover. Instead, you can buy an ordinary ACTV bus ticket from an ACTV booth, a Hellovenezia office, a tobacconist, or a newsstand and use it to pay for your ride.

For more information about the People Mover, see these two articles at Venice for Visitors:

Venice People Mover (article with photos and video)

People Mover to Marittima cruise port (illustrated step-by-step directions with satellite map)