Arriving In Venice

Updated: May 2023

Venice is one of the best places anyone could ever visit. It’s a city that offers almost all the comforts of modern times while still retaining the atmosphere of the past. If you’re planning a vacation to Venice, Italy, one thing you need to pay attention to is how to get there.

Getting to Venice

Depending on your location, you can reach Venice by plane, train, or car. Once you arrive in Italy, there are many ways to get to Venice, and one of the easiest (and fastest) is by plane from Marco Polo Airport. The airport itself is an attraction due to its high-tech features and facilities. The airport system is very passenger-friendly to avoid confusion, especially for foreign visitors. It consists of two floors: the ground floor is mainly reserved for various rental agencies, water-taxi reservation desks, cruise agent booths, escort and guide areas, public transportation areas, and tourist information kiosks; while the first floor houses the departure gates and a duty-free zone that offers various Italian products for an easy and convenient shopping experience.

If you’re flying to Venice from the United States, it’s best to rely on Delta Airways as they are the only airline with direct flights. From JFK airport in New York, you can fly directly to Venice without much hassle. If you’re coming from other areas in the States, you can take connecting flights to other European cities such as London, Rome, Frankfurt, Milan, Paris, or Amsterdam before continuing on to Venice.

If you’re coming from neighboring cities such as Rome, Milan, Treviso, Florence or Padua, you can take the train to Santa Lucia railway station. Since Venice is serviced by national and regional train lines, you can reach the city quickly. However, if you prefer to travel by car, you’ll have a problem since Venice is built on water and is considered a “no car zone.” You can still drive near Venice using the Ponte della Liberta bridge from Mestre but will have to park your car at the terminal. From there, you can take the ferry from Lido and then transfer to a “vaporetto” to reach Venice.

Before arriving in Venice, it’s essential to have a plan for your stay since it can be quite complicated for first-time visitors. Major considerations include time (it’s best to know when the best time to visit Venice is so you can enjoy everything it has to offer), length of vacation (so you have everything you need), and weather and climate (so you don’t get sick while on vacation).