Santa Marta Cruise Pier

River ships and other smaller vessels often use this pier between Venice's Marittima ship basin and the San Basilio cruise terminal.

By Durant Imboden

River ships, such as Uniworld's La Venezia and CroisiEurope's Michelangelo, usually begin and end their cruises at the Santa Marta pier. (Other small ships also use Santa Marta from time to time.)

This pier is located just west of the San Basilio cruise terminal, in a separate fenced-off area immediately in front of the Venice port headquarters building and IAUV, Venice's architecture and design university.

Santa Marta can be reached by land taxi from Marco Polo Airport, the Piazzale Roma, or Mestre on the Venetian mainland. Alternatively, you can arrive at the Santa Marta or San Basilio ACTV waterbus stop (blue boat icons) and walk a few minutes to the port gate.

Hotels:

If you're walking, the most convenient hotels for Santa Marta are the three-star Hotel Tiziano ("H" icon near top of map) and the four-star Hotel San Sebastiano Garden (to the right of the Tiziano and above the San Basilio cruise terminal).

If you're arriving or departing by taxi, any hotel near the Piazzale Roma will be convenient. (The Piazzale Roma is where buses and taxis from the airport discharge and pick up passengers in Venice.) From the Piazzale Roma, it's only a few minutes to the Santa Marta pier by cab.

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Related articles:

Venice for Cruisers (index of all Venice cruising articles)

Uniworld cruise review (Venice and Lagoon)

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About the author:

Durant Imboden has written about Venice, Italy since 1996. He covered Venice and European travel at About.com for 4-1/2 years before launching Europe for Visitors (including Venice for Visitors) with Cheryl Imboden in 2001.

PC Magazine has called this "the premier visitors' site for Venice, Italy." Over the years, it has helped more than 30 million travelers. For more information, see About our site, our Europe for Visitors press clippings, and our reader testimonials.

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