Why get a cheap flight to Marco Polo airport when direct rail services to Venezia Santa Lucia station from Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia and Switzerland?
When most travellers decide to go to Venice, they fly in to the city’s Marco Polo airport. This is hardly surprising – there are plenty of cheap flights that fly direct there from all over Europe. But surely a more romantic way to get to the city of canals is to go by train?
The Italian rail network is pretty extensive, and travel times between cities are not as long as some visitors may think. The cost of train tickets is often very reasonable too (at least by Italian standards, anyway). Venezia Santa Lucia station is fairly conveniently situated too – it’s much closer to the main attractions, hotels and restaurants. The station is just on the other side of the Grand Canal from Santa Croce and San Polo, with a walk to St Mark’s Square taking less than half an hour.
As an illustration of how quickly it is possible to get to Venezia Santa Lucia station from other cities in Italy, here is a sample of train travel times. The time quoted is the quickest direct service – often indirect ones can be slightly quicker.
Milan, Italy to Venice, Italy: Travel time 2h20
Padua, Italy to Venice, Italy: Travel time 0h28
Rome, Italy to Venice, Italy: Travel time 4h30
Turin, Italy to Venice, Italy: Travel time 4h54
Trieste, Italy to Venice, Italy: Travel time 2h03
Bologna, Italy to Venice, Italy: Travel time 1h42
Verona, Italy to Venice, Italy: Travel time 1h14
Vicenza, Italy to Venice, Italy: Travel time 0h46
Treviso, Italy to Venice, Italy: Travel time 0h34
Ferrara, Italy to Venice, Italy: Travel time 1h14
Florence, Italy to Venice, Italy: Travel time 2h45
Rimini, Italy to Venice, Italy: Travel time 3h15
Udine, Italy to Venice, Italy: Travel time 1h25
It’s not just within Italy that going by train to Venice may be a better option than booking with a budget airline on the internet. Here are some other train times from international destinations. Again, the time for the quickest direct service is quoted.
Ljubljana, Slovenia to Venice, Italy: Travel time 3h53
Zagreb, Croatia to Venice, Italy: Travel time 7h36
Vienna, Austria to Venice, Italy: Travel time 8h23
Munich, Germany to Venice, Italy: Travel time 7h01
Zurich, Switzerland to Venice, Italy: Travel time 8h00
Geneva, Switzerland to Venice, Italy: Travel time 6h40