How to Get to Venice

Although Venice is a small island, it is very well connected to the mainland and the rest of the world thanks to its important tourism industry. These are the easiest ways of getting to Venice:

By Plane

Venice’s main international airport Marco Polo is one of the busiest in Italy. It's also possible to get to the “Queen of the Adriatic” from Treviso Airport, which is situated to the north of Venice, approximately an hour away.

Travelling from the U.S.

There are several airlines that fly directly to Venice’s Marco Polo Airport from the United States, but most of these just fly during the high season (spring, summer and autumn) like Delta Airlines and US Airways:

• Delta Airlines: non-stop flights from JFK Airport in New York.
• US Airways: non-stop flights from Philadelphia.
• Alitalia: offers connecting flights from New York, Boston and Miami.

Travelling from Canada

Air Canada offers non-stop flights between Toronto and Venice (Marco Polo Airport) and other airlines like Lufthansa connect several cities in Canada with Venice. The most popular flights are from Montreal (usually 2 stops – 14 hours), Toronto and Vancouver (usually 2 stops – 17 hours).

Travelling from Australia

No airlines fly directly from Australia to Venice or Italy. Nevertheless, there are several companies that offer flights with just one stop:

• Adelaide: Emirates and Etihad Airways offer flights with 1 or 2 stops (the journey lasts approximately 24 hours)
• Brisbane: Emirates and Etihad Airways offer flights with 1 to 3 stops (the journey lasts about 30 hours)
• Melbourne: Qatar Airways, Emirates and KLM offer flights with 2 or 3 stops (takes about 30 hours)
• Perth: Emirates, Qatar Airways, Air France and KLM offer flights with 1 or 2 stops (takes approximately 25 hours).  
• Sydney: Alitalia, Emirates, KLM and Air France offer flights with 1 to 3 stops (approximately 30 hours).

Travelling from Europe

If you live in the United Kingdom or Ireland, there are several airlines that fly directly to Venice from several cities in the country. The flight takes approximately 2 hours from London, and around 2.5 hours from Dublin.

The main low-cost airlines flying to Venice are:

• Ryanair: offers direct flights from Bristol, East Midlands, Leeds Bradford and London Stansted, as well as Cork and Dublin in Ireland.
• EasyJet: offers direct flights from Bristol, Edinburgh, London Gatwick, London Luton, and Manchester.
• British Airways:connects London Heathrow, London Gatwick, London City with Venice Marco Polo Airport.

Once you have booked your flight and know which airport you land in, find out how to get to the city centre from Marco Polo Airport or Treviso Airport.

By Train

Another way of getting to the “Serenissima” is by train. Venice’s central train station, Venezia Santa Lucia railway station, connects the city with numerous countries and other Italian towns. It is an interesting option since you can take a low-cost flight to Milan and from there, take the train to Venice. 

The train is also the easiest and most comfortable way of getting to Rome or Florence, and thus a great option for travelers exploring the country.

By Car

Venice is not the best place to get to by car because, as the island is largely pedestrianised and there are no roads to drive on, it's not much use. Sometimes this is unavoidable, as you may be travelling around Italy and the only solution is to leave your car in one of Venice's car parks.

There is another cheaper option which is the one Italians resort to. There are several cheaper car parks before crossing the Liberty Bridge (in the industrial area on the right-hand side), the price of these is less than € 10 (US$ 10.52) per day. In the car park, you can buy a bus ticket to get to Venice. These buses stop at Piazzale Roma.