Ferries to Venice

Venice ferry port is on the lagoon in north-eastern Italy and is the northernmost starting point for the Adriatic lines. Two very different kinds of traffic leave from here: the long crossings to Greece and the fast catamarans to the Istrian coast. Igoumenitsa takes 26 hours, Corfu a good 25 and Patras 32.5 hours. Piran in Slovenia and Umag and Rovinj take three hours, Porec 3.25 and Pula four hours. Together the eight destinations add up to as many as 15 departures a day. The port is served by Blue Star Ferries and Kompas.

Getting there and the terminal

The two kinds of traffic do not use the same berth, and that is the most important sentence about this port. The Greece ferries leave from the Terminal Fusina Ferries on Via dell'Elettronica in Fusina, on the mainland south of Marghera, not from the old city. By car you take the Mestre-Venezia motorway exit, head towards Ravenna and follow the signs for Terminal Fusina Ferries towards Malcontenta-Fusina. Without a car you take bus 16 from Venezia-Mestre station, and it is around 100 metres from the stop to the terminal; from the old city, vaporetto line 16 runs from Zattere to Fusina.

The catamarans to Istria and Slovenia, by contrast, berth in the middle of the city at Terminal San Basilio on Fondamenta Zattere al Ponte Lungo, walkable from Piazzale Roma, from Tronchetto and from Santa Lucia station. San Basilio is not to be confused with the cruise terminal.