Getting from Milan to Venice (and Vice Versa)

Even though I tell everyone who asks that they should be flying into Venice instead of Milan or Rome, I know that not everyone is going to pay attention to me. So for those of you who have flown into Milan and only then realize that you really don’t want to spend your vacation in this busy, bank-filled city, here’s what you’ll need to know about getting from Milan to Venice.

I’ve talked to people who do this as a day-trip (one way or the other), which should be enough to tell you that it’s not a terribly long train journey. If you don’t mind the idea of a long day, it’s totally possible to do a day trip to Venice from Milan or vice versa, but keep in mind that if you’re only spending a day in Venice you’re missing out on the city’s real charms. Day-trippers also have to pay Venice’s access fee on set peak days (in 2026, 60 days between April and July: €5 booked at least four days ahead, €10 after that), so check the calendar at cda.ve.it before you go. Overnight guests don’t pay it.

Venice, even being a completely car-less city, is still quite easy to access via train, bus, and even by car. If you’re driving, just know that you’ll need to leave your car in one of the big garages at the edge of the city.

Taking the Train from Milan to Venice

This is your best option for getting from Milan to Venice. Trenitalia’s Frecciarossa and the private operator Italo both run high-speed trains from Milano Centrale to Venice. Italo’s fastest take about 2 hours 15 minutes and Trenitalia’s about 2 hours 27, with a Frecciarossa roughly every hour for most of the day. Most trains stop along the way at cities like Verona, Vicenza, and Padova, but you don’t have to change trains. You just get to sit tight and wait for your Venice stop.

High-speed fares work like airfares: book ahead and you can find seats from about €15 in 2026 (see Italo and Trenitalia), while tickets bought on the day cost more. For a Tuesday in early October, searched in mid-September 2026, Frecciarossa fares were about €28 to €30, which tells you this route rarely gets painfully expensive if you book a week or two ahead. Those tickets are for a specific train with a reserved seat.

There’s also a slower way that costs the same every day: a Trenord regional train from Milan to Verona and a Trenitalia Regionale Veloce from Verona on to Venice. It takes about 3 hours 25 minutes and cost a fixed €22.40 in 2026, with no reservations. It’s only worth it if you’re buying at the last minute and the fast trains have climbed well above that, or if you want to break the trip with a few hours in Verona, which I’d recommend anyway. If you’ve already got a rail pass, that’s your ticket on Trenitalia trains, but you’ll need to buy a seat reservation for the Frecciarossa (rail passes aren’t valid on Italo).

It’s important to note here that there are two train stations with the name “Venezia” in them. You want the one called “Venezia Santa Lucia.” If you get off at “Venezia Mestre” you’re still on the mainland. You don’t want that.

>> Learn more about taking the train from Milan to Venice

Flying from Milan to Venice

Don’t bother. Milan and Venice are close enough that there’s no sensible flight between them, and even if you found one, getting out to a Milan airport and then in from Venice’s Marco Polo Airport would take longer than the train ride. So even though I really love the Marco Polo Airport in Venice, I’d recommend you avoid flying from Milan.

Taking the Bus from Milan to Venice

Each region in Italy has its own local bus companies, but the national coach networks, FlixBus and Itabus, now link the big cities, and both run Milan to Venice. FlixBus listed about 24 trips a day in September 2026, taking from about 3 hours 25 minutes, with fares from around $9 on its site. In Milan most leave from Lampugnano bus station, on metro line M1. Check where the bus stops at the Venice end: some coaches go to Piazzale Roma or Tronchetto at the edge of the historic city, others stop in Mestre on the mainland.

So, the short answer to the question, “Can I take a bus from Milan to Venice?” is yes. The coach takes over an hour longer than the fast train, and since advance train fares on this route are cheap, I’d only take the bus if the train is sold out or I was booking the night before.

Driving from Milan to Venice

As you might have gathered, I’m a big proponent of taking the train in Italy, and that’s not restricted to destinations like Venice that are blissfully car-free. Milan is full of cars, but it’s also a pain to have a car in such a busy city.

Still, if you’ve got a car and you’re driving your way around the country, you’ll want to get your hands on a really good driving map (I like Michelin maps) and sort out the best route. The A-roads are the biggest, but generally come with tolls, so keep that in mind. Most of the trip between Milan and Venice is on the A4, which eventually even gets the name “Autostrada Padova Venezia.”

After passing Padova, you’ll begin looking for signs for Venezia, and it’s the E70 and then the SR11 which cross the water out from the mainland onto the island. There is one bridge connecting Venice to the mainland, and it’s both a car and rail bridge. Expect delays, especially during peak season. The car parks are at Piazzale Roma, just across the Grand Canal from the train station, and on the island of Tronchetto next door, which is linked to Piazzale Roma by the People Mover shuttle train. The road will practically lead you there, and there aren’t many places you can get turned around, so don’t worry about driving in circles or getting lost.

In fact, save the pleasure of getting lost in Venice for when you’ve left your car in the parking lot and you’re walking around the most beautiful city on earth.

>> But do your research on driving laws in Italy before you get in the car!

Now that you’re in Venice…

Here are some posts I’ve written which may be handy:

• Here’s my overall Venice travel guide, with loads of links to other things I’ve written.
• Not everyone loves Venice, so if you want to have a chance at loving the city then here are the 5 things you need to know about Venice to give it a fighting chance.
• Looking for a place to stay in Venice? I’ve written about hotels near St. Mark’s Square, and about hostels in Venice as well.

• If you’re pressed for time, which many people are in this city, then here are my top 10 things to do in Venice, most of which can be done in a day or two.
• Even though this is a very walkable city, you’ll probably want to make use of the public transportation at some point or another, so here’s my Venice transportation guide.

 

original photos, top to bottom, by: SpeakerX, PeWu, gwenael.piaser, Daisuke Ido