TOURIST-CLOGGED Venice is an impossibly expensive city to visit, right? Seriously wrong.

Yes you can splash the cash, but in the last of my three recent articles on Italy, I’m here to show if you’re savvy, Venice can be affordable without sacrificing the Serene Republic’s joy.

Kicking off with getting around, the hike in tourist fares on the Vaporetto ferries is astonishing at almost €10 a trip.

If you’re here for a couple of days then make sure to snare a 48-hours ACTV pass, which starts making savings after your third journey. For those aged six to 29, the Rolling Venice card is slightly cheaper still and offers further savings across the islands too. It also gives a whopping saving on the airport ferry.

When you have the ACTV transport pass (available from the kiosks throughout Venice) there is no need to buy a tourist boat trip or shell out on a gondola ride, as you have your very own “water taxi” with unlimited trips. Checking the route map a bit before you arrive is worthwhile.

For example, I wanted to visit an outer island from Giudecca and found I could grab the 4.1, which sweeps over to San Marco before pushing around to Murano, a scenic ride through the isles to the island of the glass blowers.

If you’ve got your heart set on getting on a gondola you can do that too for a fraction of the price of hiring your own gondolier to snake you around. The seven traghetti that cross the Grand Canal are basically public gondolas to help locals pop across when there is not a bridge nearby. It only costs you €2. If you don’t want to be sneered at for being a pesky tourist, follow the locals and stand if you can for the short traverse. It’s a lot of fun for much less than a gondola ride.

Let’s face it – eating out in Venice can be an expensive business and you are not even guaranteed quality even if you shell out a small fortune.

I recommend budget-friendly Pizzeria Ai Bari, which has better pasta than pizza – look out for its homemade pasta of the day, which you’ll enjoy next to tables of locals. On the same street, Pizzeria all’Anfora has better Neapolitan-style, huge pies laden with toppings, best enjoyed in their wee garden oasis out the back. I’ve taken more than 30 people here over the years and none has yet been disappointed.

READ MORE: Brian Cox urges pensioners to apply for pension credit

Even right in the heart of touristy Venice, you can save cash. I snared a takeaway portion of tagliatelle in a rich and sweet tomato sauce from Pasta & Pasta for less than €6.

Note, it infuriates the locals if you block busy canal bridges enjoying your nosh, but as always in Venice, you can find a quieter canal just a few minutes away to enjoy your pasta.

You can quaff gelato – less fatty than ice cream and for me tastier – all over Venice these days, but some of the prices are just ridiculous. Old-timer Gelateria Nico is my tip. They fashion their own classic range of gelato here by the water at Zattere. Enjoy it and proper coffee peering over the water towards Giudecca on their floating terrace.

They don’t even charge a cover and bring a bottle of tap water without you even having to ask for it.

You could spend a fortune visiting all the galleries and churches adorned with Tintorettos, and that would be money well spent. But also remember that many churches are free to enter.

You can dip your toes in the metaphorical Venetian lagoon for free often without having to trouble your bank manager diving in with your wallet or purse. And there are some free surprises.

Pop your head for example inside the famous San Marco Basilica to appreciate its grandeur, scale and beauty, without shelling out to explore the rest of it.

I was with my daughters on this budget trip and they were threatening to derail my attempts at saving cash by insisting on shopping.

After asking around locally I was tipped off about the Mercatino di San Martino. I pitched it to them as a “vintage boutique”, though it’s more of a second-hand clothes warren run by a church in Arsenale.

They were delighted, with Emma picking up some trainers and Tara a leather handbag for less than one coffee with the cover charge at Caffè Florian.

On our last evening we celebrated our budget-conscious trip at Caffè Florian though, the city’s oldest café.

Yes. they charge a whopping €6 cover, but they didn’t charge my teens. And that covers the live classical music you savour right in front of you in a square Napoleon hailed as Europe’s most elegant drawing room.

Yes, it is almost €20 for a coffee, but a decent bottle of Valpolicella costs a little more than €50 and they throw in peanuts, olives and water for all. In Venice, it’s not about spending no money, just finding ways to affordably enjoy the city without sacrificing on the joyful experiences that help make it such a remarkable city to visit.

EasyJet (www.easyjet.com) fly out to Venice from Edinburgh