Florence to Venice by Train: Times, Fares and Which Venice Station

The train from Florence to Venice takes about 2 hours on a direct high-speed train from Firenze Santa Maria Novella to Venezia Santa Lucia, the station that opens onto the Grand Canal. Trenitalia lists its fastest Frecciarossa from 2 h 13 min and Italo advertises about 2 hours, with trains via Bologna and Padua from early morning to evening. In 2026, advance fares start at €18.90 (about $22) on Italo and about €23 (about $27) on Frecciarossa, and the flexible Base fare in Standard is €57 (about $66). Stay on the train past Venezia Mestre: Santa Lucia is the stop for the historic city.

Florence to Venice at a glance

The train is the obvious choice: it arrives on the Grand Canal, while a car stops at the edge of Venice at Piazzale Roma or Tronchetto, where you continue by boat anyway.

Florence to Venice train time

• Fastest: about 2 hours. Trenitalia's Venice page lists Firenze to Venezia "from 2 hours 13 minutes"; Italo's route page quotes about 2 hours.
• Stops: high-speed trains usually call at Bologna Centrale, often at Padova and sometimes Rovigo, then Venezia Mestre, before ending at Venezia Santa Lucia.
• Through trains from Rome: many Florence to Venice trains start in Rome or Naples, so they arrive in Florence already busy in summer. Book seats rather than hoping for a free one.
• The Apennines: the high-speed line between Florence and Bologna runs almost entirely in tunnels, so the first 40 minutes have no view. After Bologna the train crosses the flat Po plain, then the last minutes run across the lagoon on a causeway of about 4 km into Venice.
• Regional trains: a Regionale from Florence to Bologna, then a Regionale Veloce from Bologna to Venice, takes about 4 to 5 hours with one or two changes, for a fixed fare of about €23 in 2026.

Frecciarossa vs Italo vs regional trains

Frecciarossa has the most departures and four service levels: Executive, Business, Premium and Standard. Its Base fare can be changed and refunded with a 20 percent deduction under Trenitalia's 2026 conditions; Economy can be changed by paying the difference; Super Economy is the cheapest and cannot be changed. Eurail and Interrail passes are accepted with a paid reservation.

Italo runs 11 trains a day each way between Florence and Venice in three classes: Smart, Prima Business and Club Executive. Advance fares are often the lowest on the route, but there are fewer times to choose from, and rail passes are not accepted.

Regional trains are the cheapest, with a fixed fare and no reservation, but the change at Bologna and the slow Apennine line make them a choice only for a stopover in Ferrara or for rail enthusiasts.

For seats, we usually book Standard or Smart on this two-hour leg, and Business or Prima Business when travelers have large suitcases: in the busy summer months there is more room for bags and the arrival in Venice is calmer.

Venezia Santa Lucia or Venezia Mestre

• Venezia Santa Lucia is the terminus in the historic city, at the head of the Grand Canal. The vaporetto stop "Ferrovia" is right in front of the station, the water taxi pier is beside it, and the Rialto is about 30 minutes on foot over bridges with steps. This is the station for almost everyone.
• Venezia Mestre is on the mainland, about ten minutes before Santa Lucia. Get off here only if your hotel is in Mestre or you are picking up a rental car. Every train to Santa Lucia passes through Mestre, so do not leave the train when you hear "Venezia" announced.
• From Santa Lucia to your hotel: vaporetto line 1 stops all along the Grand Canal and line 2 is faster; a private water taxi takes you to your hotel's own landing when it has one. With heavy bags we book a water taxi or a porter, because most Venice hotels are reached over at least one bridge.

Venice access fee: which days you pay

Venice charges day visitors an access fee on peak days. In 2026 it applied on 60 days between April 3 and July 26, mostly Fridays to Sundays and holidays, at €5 (about $6) when paid at least four days ahead and €10 (about $12) after that, on the official cda.ve.it portal. Visitors staying overnight in the city's hotels are exempt, but must still register their stay to get an exemption QR code; residents of the Veneto region and some other groups are also exempt. For 2027 the city has published 72 fee days, from March 26 to August 15, 2027: mostly Fridays to Sundays, plus Easter Monday and two longer stretches, April 23 to May 2 and May 28 to June 6, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The 2027 amounts and arrangements are due by December 31, 2026. When you arrive by train to stay in Venice, your hotel booking covers it, and we register the exemption for our travelers.

Tickets, fares and booking windows

• Where to book: trenitalia.com or the Trenitalia app for Frecciarossa and regional trains, italotreno.com or the Italo app for Italo.
• When to book: Trenitalia usually opens sales about four months ahead, less around the timetable changes in mid-June and mid-December. The lowest fares go first on spring and summer weekends. The European timetable change is on Sunday, December 13, 2026.
• Validating regional tickets: a paper regional ticket must be validated in the machine at the station before boarding and used within four hours; a digital one bought on the app is tied to your train and validates itself. High-speed tickets need no validation.
• Luggage: neither operator charges for bags. Italo allows suitcases up to 75 x 53 x 30 cm in Smart; Frecciarossa has racks above the seats, between seat backs and at the end of each car.

Train strikes (sciopero) and how we handle them

Rail strikes in Italy are announced in advance and listed on the Ministry of Transport's strike calendar. Trenitalia keeps a list of guaranteed long-distance trains for strike days, and regional trains run on weekdays from 6 to 9 a.m. and 6 to 9 p.m.; Italo publishes its own list for each strike. If a strike falls on your Florence to Venice day, we move you to a guaranteed train, shift the transfer by a day, or book a driver, and cancelled trains are refunded.

Stops worth making on the way

• Bologna: about 35 to 40 minutes from Florence by high-speed train, with the arcades, the two towers and the best food market streets in the region. Most high-speed trains stop here, so a lunch stop is easy: we have bags sent on or kept at the station.
• Ferrara: on the regional line north of Bologna, a flat Renaissance city with a castle and walls you can cycle around.
• Padua: about 25 minutes before Venice, with Giotto's frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel. Entry is by timed ticket booked ahead, so we fix the time before choosing the train.
• The Prosecco hills: by car rather than train, between Conegliano and Valdobbiadene, as a day out from Venice or a detour on the way to the Dolomites.

Accessibility at Florence SMN and Venice Santa Lucia

Both stations are termini with platforms level with the main hall, and both have a Sala Blu office run by RFI, which provides free help for travelers with reduced mobility, including a lift to board the train. Book through the SalaBlu+ app or SalaBlu Online at least three working hours ahead, by email at least six hours ahead, or by phone on 800 90 60 60 from an Italian landline or +39 02 32 32 32 from abroad, daily 6:45 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.; RFI asks travelers from abroad to send requests preferably 24 hours ahead. Italo passengers book assistance through Pronto Italo (+39 06 07 08) at least 36 hours before departure, and RFI staff then help at the station. Santa Lucia is step-free to the Grand Canal, and the vaporetto lines that serve it board level with the pontoon, but most of Venice's bridges have steps, so we choose a hotel reachable by boat without a bridge and plan routes around it. Our wheelchair-accessible Italy guide covers the rest.

Private drivers and door-to-door transfers

On this leg we arrange a driver from your Florence hotel to SMN, which matters because cars cannot drive into the center, and a porter or water taxi waiting at Santa Lucia. If you prefer the road, a private driver can take you from Florence to Venice in about three hours with a lunch in Bologna, and a water taxi meets the car at Piazzale Roma; door-to-door transfers are quoted on request.

Florence to Venice is the second train of our 10-day Rome, Florence and Venice by train, and our 14-day grand tour of Italy runs it in reverse, from Venice to Florence. Our Florence travel guide and Venice travel guide help choose hotels and neighborhoods, the Rome to Florence by train guide covers the previous leg, and our Italy by train guide puts the whole network together. For complete routes, see our 10-day Italy itineraries.

If you would like the trains, the water taxi and a lunch stop in Bologna arranged for you, ask a designer for your own version.