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Venice Bus Station

Yes, Venice is a city of canals, but rubber-tired buses (not just water buses) do serve the city center. Most buses use the motorized-traffic gateway of Piazzale Roma, but others arrive and depart at the Tronchetto parking island or the cruise terminals.

ABOVE: Buses reach central Venice via the Ponte della Libertà, a 4-km (2.5-mile) causeway and railroad bridge from the Italian mainland.

By Durant Imboden

When we delve into the search-engine queries that bring travelers to our site, we often see variants on the question of "Where is the Venice bus station?" The answer is tricky, because it depends on the bus. Below is a quick summary of where you'll find buses of various types. (A handful of intercity buses use other locations, so always check the schedule for your exact departure or arrival point.)

Piazzale Roma

ABOVE: Buses await passengers in the Piazzale Roma, which is at the edge of Venice's historic center.

The Piazzale Roma is the closest thing Venice has to a central bus station. It isn't really a station or depot, however--it's simply a large square with surface parking for buses and land taxis plus a handful of expensive parking garages for private cars. It's the gateway and last stop for motorized traffic entering Venice.

The square, sometimes abbreviated "P.le Roma" on maps, is where you'll find Venice Marco Polo Airport buses and ATVO Treviso Airport buses, ACTV municipal land buses, a tram to the mainland districts of Mestre and Marghera, and buses to other  towns in the region.

Our Piazzale Roma article has more information, including a map.

• Tip: If you need an ACTV water or land bus ticket or a  1- to 7-day travel pass, look for the transit office in a small brick building near the modern Calatrava Bridge. (Ticket machines are also available near the boats.)

Tronchetto

ABOVE: Tourist coaches (Pullman in Italian) occupy asphalt pads on the Tronchetto parking island.

The artificial island of Tronchetto is best known for its massive car garage, but it also has surface parking for 500 coaches (called "Pullman," which is both a singular and a plural, in Italy). Like the nearby Piazzale Roma, Tronchetto is reached via a causeway from the Italian mainland.

If you arrive at Tronchetto by tour bus, intercity coach, or a Barzi bus from Treviso Airport, you can take a public or private water bus into the historic center. Walking to the Piazzale Roma is another possibility, or you can ride the People Mover automated tram from Tronchetto's main parking garage to the Piazzale Roma.

Cruise terminals

ABOVE: In this aerial photo, you can see the Marittima cruise basin at upper right. The piers (no longer used by large ships) are lined with terminals where buses depart for port facilities on the Italian mainland.

Ever since the Italian government banned all but the smallest cruise ships from central Venice, cruise lines have been forced to use ports on the mainland--either the Marghera industrial zone (near the foot of Venice's causeway) or, in some cases, cities as far away as Ravenna and Trieste.

However, many cruise lines still allow you to check in at the Marittima cruise basin, with a bus transporting you to your ship. In some cases, you may be shuttled to and from your ship from Venice Marco Polo Airport.

Your cruise line will tell you where to report for check-in or where you'll be taken by bus after disembarkation. If that location is the Marittima cruise basin, you can reach the city center quickly and cheaply on the driverless People Mover elevated tram from the cruise port. (The People Mover takes only a couple of minutes to reach the Piazzala Roma from Marittima, including a brief stop at the Tronchetto parking garage.)

• Note: Some public bus routes serve locations throughout the region from a transit hub in Venice's mainland district of Mestre. Other public and private bus lines connect Venice Marco Polo Airport with towns in the Veneto region and beyond.
  
  The Lido di Venezia, Venice's seaside resort island, also has a small bus network with a transit station at the Santa Maria Elisabetta vaporetto and land bus stop.
  
  These areas are beyond the scope of this article, which focuses on buses that arrive and depart in Venice's centro storico or historic center.

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.

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