How to Get from Marco Polo Airport to Venice

Choose your Marco Polo Airport transfer

To get from Marco Polo Airport to Venice, take an airport bus to Piazzale Roma, an Alilaguna boat to a stop near your accommodation, or a private water taxi to an agreed landing. A road taxi also reaches Piazzale Roma. The best choice depends on your hotel’s nearest usable stop, your luggage and your arrival time: the quickest journey to Venice’s road entrance is not always the quickest journey to your room.

Marco Polo (VCE) is on the mainland, about 13 km from Venice. Beyond the road terminals, the historic centre is reached on foot or by boat. There is no direct airport train: going by rail means first travelling to Mestre station. This guide covers arrival decisions; our airport-transfer comparison gives another overview of the options.

Transfer options at a glance

Fares and operator information checked on 5 November 2026. Prices below are for standard adult travel unless stated otherwise. Timings start at the vehicle or boat, exclude baggage collection, queues and the walk to your hotel, and vary with traffic and your stop.

Tip: Ask your accommodation for the stop name, the walking route from it and the number of stepped bridges. A landmark name alone is not a boarding or arrival instruction.

Bus: the straightforward route to Piazzale Roma

ATVO Airport Bus Express and ACTV route 5 Aerobus connect the airport with Piazzale Roma. ATVO is the express-coach option; ACTV is the urban bus service with intermediate stops. Choose a Venice/Piazzale Roma departure, rather than a Mestre service, if you are staying in the historic centre.

1. Buy the ticket for your chosen operator at its airport ticket desk, machine or online. ATVO and ACTV tickets are separate products.
2. Follow the arrivals signs to the land-transport stops. ATVO currently directs Venice passengers to Exit D, second lane on the left, stop 3; its Mestre departure is stop 4. Check the signs on the day.
3. Validate or activate your ticket as required before travel. ACTV paper tickets need validation when boarding; ACTV app bus tickets must be activated three minutes before boarding. Follow the instructions for your particular digital ticket.
4. At Piazzale Roma, continue on foot or take the appropriate ACTV vaporetto. Include that final journey when comparing bus and boat costs.

ACTV’s €10 Aerobus ticket lasts 75 minutes from first validation on the relevant mainland road/tram network; it does not include a vaporetto. The €18 airport-bus-plus-boat ticket lasts 90 minutes and includes eligible ACTV waterborne services. Standard tourist passes exclude the airport journey unless the airport supplement is purchased; they also exclude Alilaguna. See our ACTV pass guide and the official ACTV fares and validity rules.

For current departures, prices and booking, use ATVO’s airport service page. ATVO lists luggage carriage without an additional charge on its Airport Bus Express and free onboard Wi-Fi. Allow extra time during busy arrivals and events; do not assume either operator runs around the clock. Our Piazzale Roma airport-transfer guide covers this gateway in more detail.

Alilaguna: arrive by water near your hotel

Alilaguna is a separate airport-boat operator, not the ACTV city vaporetto network. It can save a change of transport if your hotel is near one of its stops, but a long loop around the lagoon can take much longer than a bus to Piazzale Roma. Follow the terminal’s water-transport signs to the airport dock via the covered moving-walkway route, allowing roughly 7–10 minutes to reach the waterfront, plus time for tickets and boarding.

• Blue Line: serves Murano Colonna, Fondamente Nove, Lido and the San Zaccaria/San Marco waterfront, continuing towards Zattere, Giudecca Stucky, Tronchetto and Santa Lucia railway station. Check that your chosen sailing reaches your stop; the complete loop is much longer than the journey to northern Venice.
• Orange Line: serves the Grand Canal side, including Guglie, San Stae, Rialto, Sant’Angelo, Ca’ Rezzonico and Santa Maria del Giglio. It is not an airport-to-Piazzale Roma boat. The timetable effective 28 October 2026 shows approximately 42 minutes from the airport to Guglie and 57 minutes to Rialto on the listed daytime departures.
• Red Line: is seasonal and serves Murano, Lido and San Marco-area stops. Confirm its operating dates and actual departures for your trip; it is not a year-round Giudecca service.

The standard airport–Venice fare is €18 one way or €32 return; the airport–Murano fare is €10 one way or €18 return. One heavy bag and one hand bag are included, with €4 charged for each additional item. Buy the correct destination ticket, follow its boarding instructions and keep it for inspection. Buying online is useful, but do not assume that it reserves a seat on a specific departure.

Use our Alilaguna airport-boat guide for detailed ticket and boarding advice. Confirm your stop and last departure in Alilaguna’s official lines and timetables, including any current service notices. For a late flight, allow for baggage delays and the walk to the dock before deciding whether a boat is feasible.

Private water taxi: confirm the landing before booking

A private water taxi goes from the airport dock to an agreed landing in Venice. It can reduce walking and changes, particularly with a family or several bags. A hotel with a usable canal entrance may be reachable directly; otherwise the boat uses a suitable nearby landing. Door-to-door access is not guaranteed, and tides or canal access can affect the final approach.

Request a written quote stating the destination, passenger and luggage counts, arrival time, night supplements, waiting policy and what happens if your flight is delayed. A private water taxi is a higher-cost option: compare the whole-boat quote and cost per person with scheduled transport. Splitting a private-boat quote can reduce each traveller’s share; compare that with any shared-service fare and its extra stops. A shared water taxi is a different service: it may wait for other passengers and make several stops, so check its meeting point and drop-off terms.

Arrange the transfer with an authorised operator, the airport’s taxi arrangements or your hotel. If you need help coordinating arrival and accommodation, the VeniceXplorer concierge service is another planning option. Tell the provider about mobility needs before booking: a private boat still involves boarding from a moving landing and is not automatically step-free.

Road taxi: private transport to the edge of Venice

A land taxi from the airport forecourt reaches Piazzale Roma, not a canal-side hotel inside the pedestrian centre. Cooperativa Artigiana Radiotaxi lists a €40 fixed fare between Marco Polo Airport and Piazzale Roma, including luggage, for the specified taxi-rank service. Its published conditions exclude ordinary telephone bookings from those fixed fares and require the shortest route without requested stops or detours. Confirm the fare, vehicle capacity and luggage space before setting off.

A road taxi can be useful after the last convenient bus, but the onward walk or boat still needs planning. Do not confuse Mestre on the mainland with the historic centre: if you are staying there or continuing by rail, follow our Marco Polo Airport to Mestre station guide.

Choose the final stop, not just “Venice”

For St Mark’s Square, St Mark’s Basilica, St Mark’s Campanile and Doge’s Palace, compare an Alilaguna arrival on the San Marco/San Zaccaria waterfront with a bus and onward vaporetto. The San Marco district extends beyond the square; ask for the precise hotel approach. For stays near San Zaccaria Church, Santa Maria Formosa or San Moisè, get the final walking directions from your hotel.

For the Rialto area, compare the Orange Line’s Rialto stop with the journey from Piazzale Roma. The Rialto Market and Pescheria are on the San Polo side of the canal. Hotels elsewhere in San Polo, near the Frari or Scuola Grande di San Rocco, may need a different walk or stop. The Frari is inland, so include the walk from your arrival stop.

For Cannaregio, check Guglie, Madonna dell’Orto or Fondamente Nove against the actual address; a stay near Santa Maria dei Miracoli still needs a mapped walking route. For Dorsoduro, compare Zattere with Grand Canal stops such as Ca’ Rezzonico. Santa Maria del Rosario and Santa Maria della Salute are different churches, so check which side of the district you need. Ca’ d’Oro and Palazzo Grassi help you orient yourself along the Grand Canal.

For Castello, Lido or Giudecca, confirm the individual stop and sailing rather than choosing a boat solely for the views. San Giorgio Maggiore is on a separate island; the Bridge of Sighs is beside the Doge’s Palace waterfront. Santa Croce and accommodation close to Piazzale Roma may be simplest on foot after a bus. Use our Venice city guide to orient yourself once your arrival route is settled.

Arrival checklist: luggage, access and late flights

• Pack for the final walk. Use an airport trolley where available, then allow for bridge steps, uneven paving and the distance from your landing. Comfortable shoes and manageable bags help more than choosing a transport mode by journey time alone.
• Plan accessibility with the providers. Confirm the vehicle, boarding assistance, landing and step-free hotel route in advance. A bus to Piazzale Roma is one possible starting point, not a universal solution for every traveller with reduced mobility.
• Keep tickets and bags secure. Retain your ticket for inspection, follow the crew’s luggage directions and stay clear of unguarded edges while boarding. Airport ATMs are available if you need cash; bring a card and a backup payment method.
• Save your route offline. Use the airport’s free Wi-Fi to save your hotel address, stop name, booking confirmation and contact number offline. A working phone or mobile data connection is especially useful for a late arrival.
• Check weather and service notices. Bring appropriate rain protection in colder months. High water, fog, wind or operational changes can affect routes and landings; check the day’s information rather than assuming a printed schedule is a guarantee.
• Allow a buffer. Carnival, the Biennale, Regata Storica and busy flight arrivals can mean queues. Check the last useful departure after baggage collection, not merely after your scheduled landing time; agree a taxi or alternative plan if needed.

Once the transfer is organised, browse Venice tours and tickets or gondola rides for your stay. A sightseeing gondola ride is separate from your airport transfer.