Getting to Venice
I had some idea of what to expect from a trip to Venice. I expected beauty, but I hadn’t expected how enchanting and mysterious it would be in real life.
Venice is soaked in a tangible magic that I have never felt anywhere else. Water laps against the parameter of the city and makes it feel even more dream like.
Venice is renowned, worldwide, as a ”must-see” European destination. It can feel like a bucket-list cliché but don’t let this put you off. While in 2024, more than 4,500,000 people visited Venice, the city still generously offers up a piece of its heart to travellers who are willing to break away from the well-trodden path.
Sadly, overtourism is a crushing weight on problems the fragile city however there are ways that we can reduce our impact as travellers.
Getting around Venice
The station that you need for the island of Venice is Santa Maria. Prepare yourselves for walking out that station door because you are immediately in the scene. The station is on the canal. In front of the station are the ticket offices where you can get your pass for the ferries.
The vaporetto is like a bus service on the water. You can buy your tickets in the kiosk and use them to move longer distances. Depending on your budget, you can get a ride in a gondola for 80 euros, or you can catch a water taxi in a gondola for just a couple of euros.
Walking is great if you are able – but be ready to double back if you don’t know the path as you can easy find yourself at a watery dead end.
Venice Travel Itinerary
Get Venice into your Italian Itinerary. The high speed rail options means that it is easy to get to Venice from any of the major Italian cities.
the most exciting train connection in the last few years, for me, is the Brussels to Venice sleeper with the European Sleeper! It is only a seasonal connection at the moment but I really hope they will extend it’s availabilty. This sleeper makes it unbelievably easy to reach Italy completely flight free. The alternative to this would be the Amsterdam to Innsbruck night train with OBB. This requires an additional connection
