Water Bus Lines in Venice (List and Overview)

The water buses are the only public transport in large parts of Venice. In particular, they connect the districts of the large old town and Venice with the surrounding islands.

Waterbuses are small ferries. Some are barely bigger than a normal bus, others can carry many hundreds of passengers..

As in the case of local buses in every other city, there are also numbered lines in the vaporetti (the water buses of Venice are called in Italian). The city of Venice operates most of the lines, these are numbered from 1 to 22.

In addition, there are some lines marked with letters. These are the airport lines of another company (Alilaguna) and the night lines (letter N). For the airport line, by the way, you also need completely different tickets

Route plan waterbuses Venice

Click on the map to open it.

Overview of important routes for tourists

In the following the important lines for tourists. These water buses take you to the sights of Venice and the interesting islands around the city. On these lines, normal tickets and day tickets are valid without restrictions. Most of the lines in the overview below run during the day at least every 20 minutes, many also much more frequently

>>>     On this link you can buy tickets for the water buses (vaporetto)

Line 1, the slow line through the Canal Grande: This water bus line runs from Venice central station through the entire Canal Grande (including under the Rialto bridge) to San Marco (Piazza San Marco, etc.). The vaporetti of line 1 stop more than 20 times, travel time about 45 minutes. Then the ships go on to the island Lido. Line 1 is something like the sightseeing line and very popular with tourists. >>> More information about line 1

Line 2, the express line through the Canal Grande. The water bus line 2 stops only about 5 times between the railway station, the Rialto bridge and St. Mark's Square. It can cover the distance in less than 30 minutes (line 1 takes 45 minutes, see above). Then the vaporetto line 2 goes on to the island of Giudecca and on a circular route back to Piazzale Roma (Venice bus station) and Santa Luccia station (main station). Line 2 runs the circuit in both directions. Usually a certain destination is much closer in one direction than in the other.

Line 3: Express line between bus station and main station to Murano Island (Non Stop), journey time about 20 minutes.

Lines 4.1., 4.2: These two lines circle the island of Venice and make a detour to the two islands of Murano and Giudecca, which are very close to Venice. The difference between the two lines: 4.1. travels counterclockwise around Venice, line 4.2. clockwise.

Lines 5.1. and 5.2.: These lines also circumnavigate Venice, but make a detour to the island of Lido. 5.1. again travels counterclockwise around Venice, 5.2. clockwise

Line 7: Direct lines between San Marco and Murano. So line 7 runs from the south of Venice to the island of Murano in the north of Venice.

Line 12: From Venice to the islands of Murano, Burano and Mazzorbo. Beware: this line departs only from the north of Venice (stop Fondamente Nove), so you have to change from the train station. About one boat per hour of the water bus line 12 goes on to Punta Sabbioni. This place is on a peninsula on the mainland, from Punta Sabbionni every 30 minutes buses go to the resort Lido di Jesolo.

Line 13: From Venice to the islands of Murano, Vignole and Sant Erasmo. Be careful, this line also departs only from the north of Venice (Fondamente Nove), so you have to change from the train station. Usually departs only once per hour.

Line 14: From San Marco (Venice) via the island of Lido to Punta Sabbioni. Again from Punta Sabbioni bus connection to Jesolo. Only runs about 2 times per hour.

Other waterbus lines are rarely used by tourists, except for the connections to the airport marked with letters instead of numbers. These have a different operator, you need different, more expensive tickets.

Most information on the site is from the end of 2021 and beginning of 2024.

Tickets Water Buses:   >>>  On this link you can buy tickets for the water buses (vaporetto)