The Grand Canal
Nearly all first-time visitors want to travel the Grand Canal. The three big magnets for tourists are along the Grand Canal.
At the western end of the Grand Canal is the arrival point for most visitors. Santa Lucia Railway Station and adjacent to it Piazzale Roma where the bus station and car parks are located. For those arriving by cruise ship the Piazzale Rome is also where the shuttle will deposit you.
Piazzale Roma is literally the end of the road of the causeway across from the mainland at Mestre.
From here you either walk or take a boat of some kind. This is far the busiest water bus area with many water bus lines each with their own small jetty, so make sure you are waiting at the right jetty and it's for the boat going the in the direction you want!
At the other end of the Grand Canal is St Mark's Square and about half way between, the Rialto Bridge, the other main two destinations for first time tourists to Venice.
Water bus routes 1 & 2 (vaporetti)
The workhorse route, the most busy and popular, is route number 1 that stops at every stop along the Grand Canal. Evening trips will be less busy, as well as atmospheric after dark.
These are the largest boats, leaving every ten minutes; even in winter there are five boats an hour most of the day.
The scheduled journey time between Santa Lucia Railway Station and St Mark's Square is about 45 minutes. There are 14 stops along the way. Number 1 ferry continues another 20 minutes across to Venice Lido Island.
There is also another express boat, route number 2 that does the journey between Santa Lucia Railway Station and St Mark's Square in a scheduled 30 minutes making only 5 stops including Rialto Bridge.
Though make sure the boat you get is travelling along the Grand Canal as this route is a circular route that loops around the south of Venice.
Water bus routes 4 & 5 (motoscafi)
Using smaller boats, routes 4 and 5 circumnavigate the main island of Venice in each direction and do not go through the Grand Canal that splits the main island in two.
These boats are more protected from the elements than the vaporetti, also having space for wheelchairs.
Route number 4 just follows the coastline all around the island, hopping across and back from the island of Murano along the way.
Route 5 follows a near identical route around the island but doesn't make the short detour to Murano Island. instead it detours over to the Venice Lido.
Water bus route 12 (outer island route)
This route is your transport to the smaller outer islands of Murano, Burano and Torcello and is well travelled by tourists.
Route 12 departs from a terminus on the north shore of Venice called Fondamente Nove.
Most visitors will have to travel to Fondamente Nove using water bus routes 4 or 5.
Boats used are mid-size larger than the small water bus routes 4 and 5, but smaller than route 1. There are a minimum of two services an hour even in winter. Unlike the other boats, these have toilets.
Water bus routes to/from Venice Marco Polo Airport
The convenient water bus transport between Venice and Venice Airport are dealt with on our dedicatedVenice airport transfers page.
