Venice Bus Trip

Description: Venice
Location: Italy
Duration: full day

Venice is an early-starting bus trip - with excursions from most companies leaving at around 06.00 and not returning until midnight. But the lure of the historic city and the Venetian lagoon still attracts thousands of visitors each year.

The trip down normally makes a couple of stops along the motorway in Italy - the last one about an hour outside Venice - and arrival can be expected between 11.00 and midday.

Some tour companies offer a private boat which will take visitors directly from the coach park (located on the outskirts of the island and some way from the centre) to St Mark's Square. This is probably the most convenient for visitors who have never been to Venice before and avoids problems getting back at the end of the afternoon (when everyone else is trying to do the same thing).

People who have visited Venice previously may however prefer to take the public water bus (the "vaporetto") which gives the option of taking the same deeper-water route as the boats or the more crowded route down the Grand Canal and under the Rialto bridge.

Whichever option is chosen, most people will find themselves in St Mark's Square, with the stunning buildings of the Doges' Palace, St Mark's Basilica set against the backdrop of the lagoon.

The problem that most first-time visitors experience is trying to do too much in the heat and the crowds flocking through the main tourist areas of the city. Certainly the Rialto bridge and the market area are well worth seeing, and either the Doge's Palace or St Mark's Basilica. The best option is to pick just one or two of the famous buildings to take a look around.

Venice is however about far more than monuments and sights. Part of the charm of the place is wandering down the narrow alleys and getting slightly lost in the tangle of churches and tenement buildings. And, if getting lost gets too worrying, the ways back to the main routes around the city are signposted regularly.

Trips to the nearby islands are also possible in the afternoon - the Lido, for example, gives a good impression of the lagoon and of the faded grandeur of Venice's beach resort, while the island of Murano is interesting for the history of Venetian glass-making (there is a glass museum on the island).

Many of the coach tours to Venice will offer something extra in the city - either a trip to a glass factory (or, more precisely, showroom) or a gondola ride around some of the canals. Bus excursions normally leave Venice around 17.00 for the return to the Seefeld plateau and will stop for an evening meal stop along the motorway before Verona. Then the long haul back up to the Brenner Pass starts and a return normally between midnight and 01.00.

Resources
Venice Tourist Office
Venetian Glass

Please note that we do not operate or organise any excursions described on this site - they are usually run by British tour companies - and are unable to give any booking information for them as times and dates are only arranged at the start of the summer!

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