Piazzale Roma

ABOVE: Click the thumbnail for a larger diagram of the Piazzale Roma's bus stops.

Every year, millions of tourists enter Venice through the Piazzale Roma. This depressingly ugly square, with its parking garages and lines of orange ACTV buses, lies on the Venice side of the long causeway from the mainland.

The Piazzale Roma is Venice's gateway for several categories of travelers:

1) Tourists who arrive by public bus from the airport or parking lots on the mainland. (Note: If you're flying into Venice, the airport boat is a much more pleasant way to reach the city.)

2) Motorists who are naïve enough to endure long lines at the Piazzale Roma's garages instead of using the more manageable Tronchetto parking island on busy or weekends or during high season.

3) Members of tour groups (although many tour buses discharge passengers at Tronchetto for transfer to vaporetto, water taxi, or private waterbus).

Transit information

If you arrive at the Piazzale Roma and aren't part of a guided tour, head for the tile-roofed ACTV information office and request a free map of the vaporetto routes. (Maps often aren't available, and the ticket agent may be surly, but it doesn't hurt to ask.) You may also want to buy a tourist ticket for 12 hours to seven days; the ticket allows unlimited travel on the city's transportation system.

Water buses and taxis

Next, walk down the steps on either side of the small garden near the ACTV office to reach the landing where you can catch a vaporetto or water taxi. (The vaporetti or waterbuses are far cheaper than water taxis, although the latter may be convenient if your hotel is on a side canal and you can split the fare with other members of a group.)

Next page: Parking, baggage storage