Travelling from Venice to Croatia is relatively straightforward because there are a number of ways of doing so – namely, catamaran, bus or flying! There are several flights from Venice to airports in Croatia (Split and Dubrovnik); with short flight times, it’s a relatively easy hop down to Dalmatia. (However, flights only operate in summer and aren’t daily.)
Another option for travelling from Venice would be to take one of the numerous daily trains from Venice Santa Lucia or Mestre stations to Trieste and then change there for more transportation options to Croatia. See the Trenitalia website for train timetables.
There are many cheap flights from the UK to Venice Marco Polo Airport, operated by various airlines. (There are also cheap flights to Venice Treviso, which is a completely different airport – see how to get from Treviso to Croatia.) So if you can’t find suitable flights direct to Croatia – to Istria in particular – flying to Venice instead and travelling across is very doable.
Travelling from Venice to Istria by catamaran
Venezia Lines operates routes from Venice to several Istrian ports – Porec, Rovinj, Pula and Rabac. Most services operate between June and September; more popular ones operate from April to October (e.g. Venice to Rovinj and Porec). Book online using the form below:
Online booking for catamarans from Venice to Croatia |
Travelling from Venice to Pula by Bus
There are several daily services from Venice to Pula – FILS and Brioni both run services, with the second company having a route that starts in Padua and stops in Buje and Rovinj along the way.
Crnja Tours also operates daily services from Venice to Pula as well – again, this route starts actually in Padua. The bus stops in Trieste, Koper (Slovenia), Umag, Novigrad, Porec and Rovinj before reaching Pula.
Travelling from Venice to Rijeka by Bus
Flixbus offers bus services on this route with a journey time of around 4 hours. You can find timetables on their website and also use it to purchase tickets.
Some of the Flixbus buses also make stops at Venice and Trieste Airports on the way to Rijeka, and some buses in fact start from further afield in Italy, such as from Florence, Bologna or Milan.
Flights from the UK to Venice Marco Polo
- British Airways Flights from London Heathrow and London Gatwick
- Easyjet Flights from London Gatwick, Bristol and East Midlands
- Jet2.com Flights from Birmingham, Leeds Bradford, Manchester and Edinburgh
- TUI Flights from London Heathrow, London City, Bristol and Manchester
(N.B. Not all of the above flights operate all year round.)
Can I travel from Venice to Split or Dubrovnik by ferry?
It’s a question we get asked quite frequently but, unfortunately, no – there are no ferries from Venice to either Split or Dubrovnik. Aside from the catamaran services to Istria and Mali Losinj (mentioned above), there is no ferry service from Venice to anywhere else in Croatia.
But what if I do want to get from Venice to Split or Dubrovnik? Flying from Venice to Croatia!
By far the easiest way of travelling from Venice to Dubrovnik is by air – Croatia Airlines operates this as a twice-weekly service in summer. If you’re utilising this route and want to get to Split, you could then also take a bus (about 4.5 hours) up to Split.
Easyjet flies from Venice to Split three times a week from April to October and to Dubrovnik twice a week in July and August.
Travelling by train
Otherwise, travelling by train isn’t really a suitable option – train services to Split will travel via Zagreb, so this will add on unnecessary hours to your journey. Travelling by train to Dubrovnik isn’t possible at all, of course, as the town has no train station.
You could travel from Venice to Trieste by train, and then take one of the daily buses from here to Split or Dubrovnik. See our guide on how to travel from Trieste to Croatia.
However, the bus journey from Trieste to Split/Dubrovnik is rather long, and it’s not everyone’s cup of tea being cooped in a bus for that long! In our opinion, therefore, the best way of travelling from Venice would be to take a train down the Italian side of the Adriatic, and then take a ferry across to Croatia. You should travel to Ancona for ferry services to Split (or Zadar) or to Bari for services to Dubrovnik.
Check for train schedules on the Trenitalia website, and then see our pages on travelling from Ancona and Bari.
Useful Travel Links
- Venice Airport Information on getting to/from the airport
- Trenitalia Train timetables for journeys within Italy
- Die Bahn European train timetables