Venice itineraries:
The historical centre
- Sestriere Cannaregio
- Sestriere Castello
- Sestriere Dorsoduro
- Sestriere Santa Croce
- Sestriere San Marco
- Sestriere San Polo
Venice islands
Itineraries into art
Venice in two days
Venice Festivals
Planning Your Trip
Getting in and around
Murano glass
Venice travel guides
The Euro
San Marco Square -
Photo (c) James Lawson
Venice: Getting in and around
Because Venice is on a lagoon, the water plays a crucial role in transportation. The most popular way to approach Venice is by boat or train.
Getting in By plane
The closest airport is Marco Polo (ICAO: LIPZ), on the mainland near Mestre (a more typical Italian city, without Venice's unique structure). There is another airport in Treviso, very small and 40 km (25 mi) from Venice.
Both airports have bus connections with Venice (Piazzale Roma), Mestre, Padua and other towns. Marco Polo airport runs a shuttle bus to the Alilaguna water-bus jetty where €10 gets you a leisurely 1-hour boat trip to San Marco via Murano, Lido and the Arsenale. Or take the cheaper boat (€6) to Fondamente Nuove which takes only half an hour. Alternatively you can travel in style (and much faster) by hiring one of the speedy water-taxis for about €80.
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Getting in By train
Trains from the mainland run through Mestre and to the Santa Lucia train station on the west side of Venice (make sure you don't get confused with Venezia Mestre which is the last stop on the mainland!). From here, water buses (vaporetti) or water taxis can take you to hotels or other locations on the islands.
Getting in By car
Cars can arrive in Venice, but are left on the parking at the entrance to the city (Piazzale Roma or Tronchetto - Europe's largest car park.) Car parking is expensive here and the tailbacks can be quite large, an alternative is to use the car parks on the mainland (terra ferma) and catch a vaporetto or bus into Venice. A good idea is to park near the Mestre railway station and catch a train to Venezia S.Lucia; there are many trains, it is very near (8-10 minutes) and quite cheap. Besides, Venezia S.Lucia is a good starting point to visit Venezia.
Getting in By rental car
Most of the major rental car companies have outlets at Piazzale Roma, at the edge of the city. These are on the ground floor of one of the major parking stations. When you are dropping off your car, you need to find street parking and then walk to the hire car outlet and hand in the keys. Do not park in the parking station! There is a vaporetto stop across the road from the parking station.
Getting in By bus
The Piazzale Roma bus station is well served by vaporetti and water-taxis.
Getting in By boat
Ships arrive at the Stazione Marittima which is at the west end of the main islands, it is served by vaporetti and water taxis.
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Getting around
Venice is a very walkable city, and the absence of cars makes it - mostly - a pleasant experience. The Rialtine islands - the 'main' part of Venice - are small enough to walk from one end to the other in about an hour.
If you want to get around a bit more quickly, there are numerous vaporetti (water buses) and water taxis. The vaporetti are generally the best way to get around, even if the service route map changes frequently. If you are going to be in Venice for a few days visiting, it is a lot cheaper to get the vaporetti than to get private water taxis. If you want to have a romantic ride along the canals take a gondola ride.
ACTV runs the vaporetti and other public transport services both in the lagoon and on the terra firma. 1 day, 3 day and 7 day Venice Cards are available, in two variations (Blue and Orange). The basic Blue cards provide unlimited travel on the ACTV travel services (vaporetti, motoscafi and buses) and free use of the AMAV staffed toilets. The Orange card also provides free entrance to some of the museums (those covered by the Museum Card). Note that neither card includes the Alilaguna water-bus which serves Marco Polo airport unless you pay a surcharge.
Travel cards are extremely useful since the basic fare for one vaporetto journey is typically €5.00 whereas 1 day Blue cards cost €14, 3 day costs €29 and 7 day €51 (prices correct December 2004). There are cheaper 1 and 3 day ACTV travel tickets available (€12 and €25) but these are pure travel cards and offer no discounts or other goodies (like a free map and case) which come with the Venice Cards. Discounts on many of these cards are available for the under €30 or by buying online, it pays to look around.
Otherwise, take a walk! The city is not that big, and you can walk from one end to the other in a few hours, and along the way discover the marvelous art and architecture around every corner.
Text based on work by Max, David, Andrew Haggard, Ricardo, Giacomo, P.K.Niyogi, Aaron, Colin Jensen, Ryan Holliday, Stefano Crafa, Llewelyn Pritchardf, Bernie Disantis, pa lito, Matthew, Andrew Burns, Evan Prodromou, Tom Holland, Saurabh Abhyankar, Ian Moore, Mark Jaroski, Brian and John G, Wikitravel user(s) Travelbubble, Episteme, Jpatokal, Texugo, W66LinkBot, AnyFile, Rakkar, Mnd, InterLangBot, Ilkirk, Luvdapug, Wanblee, Stavp, Fido, Hypatia, Cdaros, Vnz, PierreAbbat, Nils, Huttite, MykReeve and Fuzheado and Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel.
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