Due to the nature of its urban layout, the city of Venice has developed a comprehensive public transport system that combines land and water services. Water traffic on the great lagoon, which has always been a problem for the stability of the city itself, is today regulated by strict controls in order to prevent problems linked to waves eroding the foundations and stability of buildings.
Transport via Sea
The port of Venice is one of Italy’s most important seaports, visited by 80 cruise ships out of a total of 282 worldwide. Ships bound for Greece, Turkey and large cruise ships moor in the port and allow passengers to visit the city, as well as other main destinations on the Mediterranean Sea.
Airports
Near the lagoon city, at Tessera, is the Marco Polo International Airport, Italy’s third largest airport for volume of passenger traffic. Thanks to an efficient public and private transport service, you can reach Venice very quickly, giving you a unique opportunity to optimise your transfers during your holiday. Marco Polo airport offers departing and arriving passengers large, comfortable spaces with attractive shops and bars in an elegant, functional environment.
Trains
The Santa Lucia Station allows you to reach the historic centre of Venice from every part of Europe, thanks to the convergence of lines from Padua, Bologna (Central and Southern Italy) and Milan (North-Western Italy); from Trieste and therefore from Slovenia, Eastern Europe and the Balkans, from nearby Treviso, which absorbs traffic from Belluno, Udine, Austria and Central and Northern Europe. The main station where these routes interchange is Venice Mestre, where the railway line continues over the Ponte della Libertà to reach the station in Venice at the Western end of the Grand Canal, where you can connect with lagoon urban transport services.
Methods of Transport (Steamboat and Watertaxi)
As well as the normal public transport service that reaches the part of Venice on dry land, the historic centre and the islands of the lagoon are also served by a large network of boat lines. This characteristic public transport service uses steamboats, motorboats, offshore boats to connect the larger and smaller islands, motorships (the only vessels able and authorised to sail in thick fog, thanks to their radar systems) and, finally the characteristic ferries that connect the Lido, where cars are allowed, with dry land. Tourists who want to sail the lagoon to discover the hidden corners of the city and the islands are advised to ask for a tourist ticket, which saves you money and allows you to move freely within a given time.
As well as public transport services you can also use the taxi service on fast motor boats, or contact private companies for transfers between the various islands or to reach Venice from the airport.
Universities
The city of Venice is also the home of prestigious higher education institutes, like the Cà Foscari University, a multidisciplinary university complex; the IUAV, one of the best architecture institutes in Europe, the Benedetto Marcello Conservatory and the Academy of Fine Arts. Studying for a degree in a city like Venice allows you to experience an urban framework characterised by the same elements that inspire your passion. For example, students at the Academy or the IUAV come out of the university and are able to admire the same buildings or works studied and analysed a short while before in books.
The Biennale and Film Festival
Amongst the various cultural events that Venice has to offer, we should mention the Biennale and the Venice Film Festival, two events that bring the highest expressions and most important exponents of contemporary art and cinema to Venice, to celebrate their genius and creativity. The Biennale and the Film Festival are international showcases that have seen the participation of the grand masters of our century, in painting, sculpture and cinema. In the course of events there have been many that remain ingrained in collective memory, as well as in history, as a direct testimony of Venice’s continued link with art.
