Buses Venice

Venice is situated in the north-eastern part of Italy. The city owes its specific look to the fact that it is situated on a group of 118 small islands which are separated from each other by canals and linked by bridges.

Venice is famous for its beauty and specific looks as well as for its architecture and artwork. They are the reasons why the city in its entirety was listed as a World Heritage Site. It was also the birthplace of numerous artistic movements, especially during the Renaissance period. In addition, it hosts one of the world’s most famous carnivals, which is the reason why it got the nickname “City of masks”.

Public transport in Venice

Because of the specific position and look of the city, the public transport is divided in different areas and in different means of transport which are adjusted to the particular area. The public transport in Venice is provided by the public company Azienda del Consorzio Trasporti Veneziano (ACTV).

Water bus: in the Lagoon area the main public transport means are motorised water buses called vaporetti. They provide regular departures between the city’s islands and the Grand Canal. There are also the traghetti which are gondolas and there are also water taxis. Check the water bus services online.

The Lido and Pellestrina islands form a barrier between the Adriatic Sea and the southern Venetian Lagoon. On these islands road traffic is allowed so you can find buses and waterbuses which connect those two islands with other islands and with the peninsula of Cavallino – Treporti.

Bus: ACTV and ATVO buses leave from Piazzale Roma for the Mainland, Mestre and its city centre, the Venice Marco Polo airport, and the Treviso Canova airport. For bus times: line 15, line 45 and line 5 – aerobus. ACTV has two night-time lines for Mestre. Details of times and lines N1 and N2

Train: There are regional and national trains in Venice which they connect the city to other big cities in the country like Rome (3, 5 hours), Milan (2, 5 hours), Florence (2 hours), Verona (1 hour 15 mins) or Padova (15 mins). In Venice you can find two train stations: one is very close to the Piazzale Roma and the other one is in Mestre, on the mainland. Both of the train stations are operated by the company Grandi Stazioni.

NOTE: Venice Santa Lucia Railway Station has local, regional and long distance train services. Nearly all trains out of Santa Lucia Station including the high speed trains to Milan, Florence and Rome stop at Mestre too, a 5-10 minute journey across the causeway from Venice.

Tickets for public transport

You can purchase the tickets for public transport in Venice at the ticket machines which the ACTV – the main transport company – has installed at the most stops. Those are multilingual ticket machines so it should not be a problem to get the ticket you need. Since the tickets in Venice are quite expensive, it is cheaper for people who plan to stay longer to buy one of the discount passes. Below you can see some of them:

• Tourist travel Card: time based passes which are usable from the moment you have validated them, for the period you have picked. You have to validate them at one of the iMob machines at the beginning of every journey. This card includes the transport of one piece of luggage up to 150 cm.
• VeneziaUnica public transport ticket: you can purchase it online on the website of VeneziaUnica using a credit card. However, you have to purchase the tickets at least 4 days in advance.
• Rolling Venice Card: this card is only for tourists between 6 and 29 years. You can purchase it at the HelloVenezia ticket office and the Tourist Information offices. This ticket also allows reduced ticket prices for most museums.
• Alilaguna Time tickets: available in two versions, one for 24 hours and one for 72 hours. With these tickets you can use the Alilaguna lines, including the ones from and to the airport.

National bus transport in Venice

There are two major bus companies in Italy which are actually an alliance of smaller bus companies. If you travel within Italy, you will easily find buses which run between cities/villages within a particular region. Furthermore, buses that run between regions are more difficult to find because there is a limited number of bus companies that run between cities in different regions, that is, long distance bus lines. Travelling from one place to another, in certain cases requires a combination of a bus and a train.

Bus travelling also works best for connecting smaller villages which are difficult to reach by train.

International bus transport in Venice

Italy is by buses connected with all countries in West and Central Europe. However, there are not so many connections with Eastern Europe. There are several major bus companies which run between Italy and Portugal, France, Spain, Germany, Austria, Luxemburg, Belgium, Slovenia, Croatia. Below you can see which bus connections from Venice to Slovenia are available on GetByBus.

• Venice Mestre to Ljubljana
• Venice Mestre to Koper

There are also quite a few connections from Venice to Croatia; below you can see the ones available on GetByBus.

• Venice – Pula
• Venice Mestre to Pula
• Venice Mestre to Umag
• Venice Mestre to Rovinj
• Venice Mestre to Rijeka
• Venice Mestre to Zagreb
• Venice Mestre to Split
• Venice Mestre to Dubrovnik

On GetByBus you can also find connections between Venice and Bosnia and Herzegovina, like the connection between Venice Mestre and Medjugorje.

Bus station in Venice

As you have maybe already noticed from the above mentioned routes, there are two bus stations in Venice: the People Mover in the historic centre of Venice, and Venice Mestre, on the mainland in the biggest of the five boroughs – Mestre.

NOTE: When you travel from Venice, please keep in mind to check from which of the two bus stations your bus departs, so you don’t wait at the wrong place.

Private transfer from Venice to nearby cities

If you want to explore at your own pace, you can always book a private transfer in advance. The driver will be waiting for you and you will arrive at your desired location in no time. You can easily book it online and choose the type of vehicle that suits you best. Additionally, below you will find the most frequent destinations from Venice and their prices.

Venice to Venice Airport from €8 p.p.

Venice to Trieste from €53 p.p.

Venice to Treviso Airport from €12 p.p.

• NOTE: The prices displayed in the table above are per person (Minibus for up to 8 Passengers) and NOT per vehicle.

Airport bus Venice

The airport in Venice is called the Marco Polo International Airport and it is located on the mainland of Venice where it was rebuilt away from the coast. You can easily reach the airport using public transport services. There are also connections with public transport from the airport. From the airport, you can easily reach the following destinations:

• Venice Piazzale Roma with the ATVO buses (Number 52 and 53).
• Venice Lido and Murano with motor boats (run by a private company)
• Mestre mainland and Venice Mestre railway station (with ACTV 15, 45 and 53)

Our Guide for a Day Trip to Venice