Buses in Venice, how to travel to and from Venice (2024)

Venice is situated in the north-eastern part of Italy, the city owes the 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. The city, which is also the capital of the Veneto region, is located in the Venetian Lagoon which stretches along the shoreline, between the mouths of the rivers Po and Piave. Venice is known for its beauty and specific looks but also for its architecture and artwork which is also the reason why the city in its entirety was listed as a World Heritage Site. In its rich history the city was a major maritime power and an important centre of commerce, which made it a very wealthy city at that time. Talking about Venice one must of course as well mention the artistic movements, especially during the Renaissance period. The city with about 264,579 inhabitants is also known for one of the world’s most famous carnivals and the beautiful masks which are part of it, which is also a reason why it got the nickname “City of masks”.

Public transport:

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 which are called vaporetti and which 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 and on this 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 line5 – aerobus.ACTV has two night-time lines for Mestre. Details of times and lines N1andN2

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, the other one can be found 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:

The tickets for public transport in Venice can be purchased 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 which are offered; 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. They have to be validated 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: this ticket can be purchased online on the website of VeneziaUnica using a credit card but the tickets have to be purchased at least 4 days in advance.

• Rolling Venice Card: this card is only for tourists between 6 and 29 years. It can be purchased at the HelloVenezia ticket office and the Tourist Information offices for 6 Euro. This ticket also allows reduced ticket prices for most museums.

• Alilaguna Time tickets: available in two versions, one for 24 hours (30 Euro) and one for 72 hours (65 Euro). With these tickets one is allowed to use the Alilaguna lines, including the ones from and to the airport.

National bus transport:

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. Buses which run between regions are more difficult to find because there is a limited number of bus companies which 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:

Italy is by buses connected with all countries in West and Central Europe; 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 as well find connections between Venice and Bosnia and Herzegovina, like the connection between Venice Mestre and Medjugorje.

Bus station:

As you have maybe already noticed from the above mentioned routes, there are two bus stations in Venice. One is situated in the historic centre of Venice and it is called the People Mover. The other bus station, Venice Mestre, is located 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.

Airport transport:

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. The airport which honours with its name the famous citizen of Venice can be easily reached using public transport services. There are also connections with public transport from the airport. From the airport the following places can be reached:

• 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)