Venice tramway (Tram)

In Italy, as in Germany, new streetcar lines have been built in many cities in recent years. As in many languages, streetcar is called "streetcar" in Italian. There are two new lines in Venice. Before World War 2, there was already a streetcar in the district of Vendig-Mestre and on the island of Lido.

The two lines are intended, on the one hand, for local transport in the large districts of Mestre and Marghera on the mainland. Line 1, however, also travels over the several-kilometer long Liberty Bridge to Venice's Old Town Island, the Centro Storico. Every day, many thousands of tourists take the streetcar from the hotels on the mainland to Venice and back.

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The Venice streetcar, opened a few years ago, is designed to relieve the trains and buses between the mainland and the old city of Venice. It is also possible to go to Venice by car. In that case, you should book a parking space in a parking garage beforehand. See our article Parking Venice

>>> On this website you can book parking spaces in Venice

Many tourists stay in a hotel in downtown Mestre or in Marghera not far from a stop of the streetcar line 1. They simply get on the streetcar and get off at the terminal stop in the old town of Venice. The streetcar ends at the Piazzale Roma bus station.

From here you can continue on foot or by water bus (public ferries) to the old town or to islands popular with tourists such as Murano, Burano or Lido.

Like city buses, the water buses (vaporetti in Italian) have a precise schedule and frequent departures every few minutes.

Tickets for the water buses are quite expensive. But they are the only means of transportation in Venice. There are tickets for 24 hours, 48 hours, 72 hours and a week. Link to the online sale of tickets

All these season tickets for the water buses are also valid for the streetcar and the city buses in Mestre, Marghera, etc.. So you can use bus and streetcar for free if you have a ticket for the water buses. So you can go from your hotel in Mestre or Marghera to Venice and then change to the water buses.

The streetcar of Venice has only one rail. It is only a guide rail, the streetcar runs on rubber tires. This is a modern system called Translohr, which was developed in France. Several new streetcar lines in the world run this way with one rail and rubber tires, in Italy, France, China and Colombia. One has the feeling of sitting in a normal streetcar. The trains are neither outside nor inside different from a normal streetcar.

The streetcars of Venice are dark red. This is new, the buses in Venice are light. On the line maps, line 1 (T1) is red, line 2 (T2) is green.

Tickets are available in tobacconists and at kiosks. A one-way ticket costs only 1.50 euros, even to the historic center of Venice. During the week, streetcars usually run every 10 minutes.

The tickets have a magnetic strip and are in check card format. You have to hold the tickets contactlessly against a reader when boarding. If the ticket is valid, a green light appears. This is the same for buses and ferries.

The time tickets for all local transport (water bus, streetcar, bus) most tourists buy online. The tickets can be bought on this website.

 

Important: Long queues and fast admission to the Doge's Palace Venice is attracting every year more and more tourists. The majority of the millions of visitors of Venice want to see the important sights, one of them is the Doge's Palace. Very long lines are often formed at the entrance, causing  long waiting times. We know only one way not to wait: You buy a ticket online in advance