Getting to Venice
Arriving in Venice by Plane
There are two airports serving Venice: Marco Polo and Treviso Canova. Marco Polo, located on the mainland just north of Venice, handles most of the major airlines and can be reached by boat, bus, car or taxi from Venice. Treviso Canova (sometimes called Venice Treviso) handles flights from discount airlines like RyanAir, German Wings and Wizz Air. Treviso is an hour-long bus ride from Venice.
Marco Polo airport is small compared to most major city airports, so finding your way around is not much of a problem. From the airport there are three ways to reach the floating city: water taxi, land taxi or water bus.
The water bus, the cheapest of the three, runs every half hour and takes about 45 minutes to reach St. Marks Square. On the arrivals level of the air terminal you’ll find the Alilaguna kiosk selling tickets for €12. After purchasing your ticket, head out of the terminal and follow the covered walkway to the water.
You can catch a land taxi (otherwise known as a car) in front of the terminal and have them drive you to Piazzale Roma, which takes about 30 minutes and should be around €25. From there you can walk or take a vaporetto for €5 (see the section on Getting Around in Venice for more information on the vaporettos).
The easiest and most expensive ride into town in with a private water taxi. These will run you about €100 and deliver you as close as possible to your hotel. If your hotel has a dock (rare) they will deliver you right to the door, otherwise they should be able to get you within about a 100 yards of your hotel.
Arriving in Venice by Train
As odd as it may seem, there is actually a train station on the island of Venice, called Venezia Santa Lucia. From the station you can walk to a nearby hotel, or take a vaporetto down the Grand Canal towards Rialto Bridge and St. Mark’s Square (see the section on Getting Around in Venice for more information on the vaporettos).
Note that there is also a mainland station for Venice, called Venezia Mestre, which is a long way from the island. Many people make the mistake of getting off the train at Venezia Mestre. Don’t be one of them.
Arriving in Venice by Car
If you are returning a rental car in Venice, most likely you will be dropping it off at Piazzale Rome. As you cross the lagoon towards Venice on the causeway, follow signs to the city and Piazzale Roma. The rental car agencies are all located in a row next to the Piazzale Roma parking garage. The vaporetto station for Piazzale Roma is located just across the street (see the section on Getting Around in Venice for more information on the vaporettos).
If you have a car which you’ll be keeping beyond Venice, the best place to park it is at the Tronchetto parking garage, a huge, multi-level concrete behemoth built on a man-made island on Venice’s backside. Rates are about €21 per day.
As you cross the lagoon towards Venice on the causeway, look for the sharp right turn at the end of the causeway, with signs pointing to Tronchetto. In a few minutes you’ll see the entrance to the garage on the right.
Ignore the guys at the entrance and on various levels trying to direct you to a parking place. They don’t work for the garage and want to steer you towards an expensive water taxi in to town. Once inside the parking structure, drive as far from the entrance as possible before parking. This will put you closer to the boat docks for the vaporetto into town. Elevators, which sometimes actually work, will get you down to ground level with your luggage.
From there, walk through the mess of shops and towards the big brick building, following signs for the water bus or public transport into Venice. Buy a ticket at the kiosk and take vaporetto No. 2, either towards San Marco or towards Rialto. The San Marco route is the quickest way to Saint Mark’s Square, but takes you around the south side of the island along the Giudecca canal. The route to Rialto will also take you to Saint Mark’s, but travel via the Grand Canal (slower, but more scenic). See the section on Getting Around in Venice for more information on the vaporettos.