Getting around Venice
From the plane to the first gondola on the canal in three steps: bus, Piazzale Roma, then water or your feet — cars can't go any further.
- Getting in
- Marco Polo airport (VCE)
- From the airport
- ACTV Aerobus (line 5) to Piazzale Roma
- In town
- Vaporetto, €9.50 per ride
You enter Venice through Marco Polo airport (VCE), about 25 min to Piazzale Roma, the last point cars and buses reach at all. From there, there's no road traffic — only the vaporetto and walking across bridges, to any address in the city.
1. Marco Polo airport: by bus to Piazzale Roma
Marco Polo (VCE) is Venice's main airport, just 8 kilometres from the city as the crow flies. The ACTV Aerobus (line 5) to Piazzale Roma runs straight to Piazzale Roma for €10, about 25 min. It's the cheaper option compared with a water taxi, which goes straight to a hotel but costs several times more.
Where cars stop
Piazzale Roma is the last address in Venice that buses and cars reach — the car parks here are also the last place to park in the city. From there on it's a city of islands, bridges and canals, and every onward trip goes by water or on foot.
Public transport on the water
The vaporetto is the only public transport in the city, €9.50 per ride, valid for 75 minutes. Anyone riding three times a day or more breaks even on the day pass (€25) right away. Line 1 runs the length of the Grand Canal and doubles as transport and sightseeing.
On foot or by vaporetto
Inside the city itself there's no transport besides the water and your own feet. The sestieri are linked by bridges, and it rarely takes more than half an hour to walk between two points. Wheeled luggage struggles over the cobbles and stepped bridges — worth weighing when choosing where to stay.
If you land in Treviso (TSF)
Treviso is the low-cost airport, 26 kilometres from the city, used mainly by budget carriers. It isn't the main gateway to Venice, and the transfer takes longer and often more changes than from Marco Polo — worth choosing only if a flight there genuinely saves on the fare.
Before you go
Short answers to what people ask most before setting out.
How do you get from the airport to Venice?
The ACTV Aerobus (line 5) to Piazzale Roma, €10, about 25 min to Piazzale Roma, the last point cars can reach.
Do you need a car in Venice?
No, and you can't have one — there's no car traffic in the city itself. All transport is by vaporetto or on foot.
Which airport is better, Marco Polo or Treviso?
Marco Polo (VCE), 8 km from the city and the main gateway. Treviso (TSF) is 26 km out, low-cost, with a longer, slower transfer.
Ready for Venice?
Where to next
Mistakes everyone makes in Venice
→Five mistakes that cost time or money in Venice, and what to do instead.
Verona · 104 km
→An amphitheatre that still stages opera in summer, a courtyard tied to Shakespeare's tragedy and a fortress over the river — all inside a loop you can walk in a day, with a second day opening up Lake Garda.
How well does Venice suit you?
→Six questions: a score for this place and others like it.
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