Venice day trip from Trieste

[petepie]

Just finished a cruise on Oosterdam, which overnighted in Trieste for the last night. We did a DIY trip to Venice that afternoon.
 

Ship docked at 1:45pm and we were off immediately and walked about 20 mins to Trieste central train station. Easy to find, but a longer walk than I expected. Taxi would have helped but the train left at 2:16pm so we didn’t want to waste any time looking for a taxi at the port.
 

Took a 2:16pm train to Venice St Lucia. Trains are every hour and we bought our tickets at the station. Arrived in Venice at 4:21, lost some time figuring out the water bus system and took a water bus (number 2) the “long way” down the grand canal to st marks square. It was packed.
 

Missed the last opening at St marks (around 4:45-5pm) but did get into Doges palace at 5:45pm (last entry 6pm, palace closes at 7pm). Got out of doges  palace close to 7pm and grabbed a light meal in Venice.
 

Walked the streets and headed back to the train station on foot. Caught 9pm train back to trieste, arrived 11pm. Walked back to the ship (felt safe and several others out walking in Trieste) and back on board by 11:30pm.

 

Got up the next morning and took the HAL bus transfer direct to VCE airport ( 2 hour bus ride).
 

Some thoughts - Venice is a stretch for a day trip especially with such a late arrival in Trieste. You will not be able to get into more than one site due to closing times. If we had missed the 2:16 train, we would have been on the 3:16 and likely missed the doges palace last time slot, unless we hired an (expensive) water taxi to take us straight from the station to st Marks square. If you decide to disembark on that first day, I think you would still be squeezed for time - you’d have to stop by a hotel in Venice before going to the sites.
The only ticket available in walkup at doges palace was a 25 euro multi site ticket. We could only use the doges palace portion - the other included museums were closed by the time we got out of the palace.

Train was 15 euros per person each way, water bus was 7.50 per person but I’m not sure I got the correct/cheapest ticket.

 

Bottom line - it is doable, and worth it to at lease see Venice and walk the canals, take a gondola ride etc. it is tough to squeeze in more than one site due to afternoon arrival in Trieste and later arrival in Venice.

[DCThunder]

Just curious, did the cruise end in Trieste?  Is that why you went to the airport on the 2nd day?  I've got an overnight in Trieste on an Adriatic cruise from Piraeus in October 2023 and was wondering about day trips to Venice so your information is very helpful for long range planning. 

[Petersonfcu]

2 hours ago, petepie said:

Just finished a cruise on Oosterdam, which overnighted in Trieste for the last night. We did a DIY trip to Venice that afternoon.
 

Ship docked at 1:45pm and we were off immediately and walked about 20 mins to Trieste central train station. Easy to find, but a longer walk than I expected. Taxi would have helped but the train left at 2:16pm so we didn’t want to waste any time looking for a taxi at the port.
 

Took a 2:16pm train to Venice St Lucia. Trains are every hour and we bought our tickets at the station. Arrived in Venice at 4:21, lost some time figuring out the water bus system and took a water bus (number 2) the “long way” down the grand canal to st marks square. It was packed.
 

Missed the last opening at St marks (around 4:45-5pm) but did get into Doges palace at 5:45pm (last entry 6pm, palace closes at 7pm). Got out of doges  palace close to 7pm and grabbed a light meal in Venice.
 

Walked the streets and headed back to the train station on foot. Caught 9pm train back to trieste, arrived 11pm. Walked back to the ship (felt safe and several others out walking in Trieste) and back on board by 11:30pm.

 

Got up the next morning and took the HAL bus transfer direct to VCE airport ( 2 hour bus ride).
 

Some thoughts - Venice is a stretch for a day trip especially with such a late arrival in Trieste. You will not be able to get into more than one site due to closing times. If we had missed the 2:16 train, we would have been on the 3:16 and likely missed the doges palace last time slot, unless we hired an (expensive) water taxi to take us straight from the station to st Marks square. If you decide to disembark on that first day, I think you would still be squeezed for time - you’d have to stop by a hotel in Venice before going to the sites.
The only ticket available in walkup at doges palace was a 25 euro multi site ticket. We could only use the doges palace portion - the other included museums were closed by the time we got out of the palace.

Train was 15 euros per person each way, water bus was 7.50 per person but I’m not sure I got the correct/cheapest ticket.

 

Bottom line - it is doable, and worth it to at lease see Venice and walk the canals, take a gondola ride etc. it is tough to squeeze in more than one site due to afternoon arrival in Trieste and later arrival in Venice.

Thanks for this report.  We are considering taking the train the opposite direction (Venice St Lucia to Trieste) in October to embark our HAL cruise.  How was the train ride?  Was it full?  Seats comfortable?  A place for luggage (realize you were on a day trip, but maybe you noticed . . . ). Any interesting views?  

[Hlitner]

Thanks for the post.  For others we would suggest that using Trieste as a base to travel to Venice is not a great idea or a good use of one's time.   Extending one's stay at least another day and than relocating to a hotel in Venice or somewhere closer to VCE (such as Mestre) would make a lot more sense in terms of commuting to Venice :).

 

Unfortunately for cruisers, the forced relocation of cruise ships to places like Trieste and Ravenna have had a huge impact on cruisers experiencing the joys of Venice.  The work around is to spend some time in Venice pre or post cruise before the long trek to the port.  We can all hope that the Italians get their act together and open up Marghera to most cruise ships.

 

Hank

[petepie]

10 hours ago, Petersonfcu said:

Thanks for this report.  We are considering taking the train the opposite direction (Venice St Lucia to Trieste) in October to embark our HAL cruise.  How was the train ride?  Was it full?  Seats comfortable?  A place for luggage (realize you were on a day trip, but maybe you noticed . . . ). Any interesting views?  

Train ride was fine - we were in 2nd class, groups of 4 seats facing each other without a table in the middle. No food car but did have toilets. We were in regional service, takes 2 hrs. Look at the timetables when booking - be aware that some trains are local service that takes 3 hrs. There are also fast trains but they only save you about 10 mins (Italo & Italia rail frecciarossa). Lots of people with luggage - train was not full so most just had their bags in overhead or rolled into their seating area. We were n the train on a Monday afternoon and evening so I’m not sure of crowds on weekends.

 

Nice views of small towns and countryside, briefly went by the coast near Trieste. Interesting note - train goes right by Fincanteri shipyard and we saw the NCL prima under construction.

[petepie]

11 hours ago, DCThunder said:

Just curious, did the cruise end in Trieste?  Is that why you went to the airport on the 2nd day?  I've got an overnight in Trieste on an Adriatic cruise from Piraeus in October 2023 and was wondering about day trips to Venice so your information is very helpful for long range planning. 

Yes our cruise ended in Trieste. Was supposed to end in Venice but moved to Trieste. HAL provided free bus transfer to VCE airport day of debarkation

[petepie]

10 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Thanks for the post.  For others we would suggest that using Trieste as a base to travel to Venice is not a great idea or a good use of one's time.   Extending one's stay at least another day and than relocating to a hotel in Venice or somewhere closer to VCE (such as Mestre) would make a lot more sense in terms of commuting to Venice :).

 

Unfortunately for cruisers, the forced relocation of cruise ships to places like Trieste and Ravenna have had a huge impact on cruisers experiencing the joys of Venice.  The work around is to spend some time in Venice pre or post cruise before the long trek to the port.  We can all hope that the Italians get their act together and open up Marghera to most cruise ships.

 

Hank

Agree this was not optimal way to see Venice. We were disappointed when the port moved to Trieste but decided to try to get to Venice anyway, even for a limited visit.

[RD64]

Although not the optimal way to see Venice - better than not having gone.

 

If you have gone before - Trieste and it’s environs offer a lot of sightseeing opportunities as well.

 

For something off the beaten track - about half way to Venice - is Udine. A great place to spend an afternoon, with a main square that has buildings built in the Venetian style - including the Lion of St. Marks. As Udine is not a touristy city, you will get a true Italian experience. If you know anyone that was stationed at Aviano Airforce base they will surely tell you what a gem the city is.

[JeffElizabeth]

The bus trip from Trieste to Venice was long, traffic was bad on the highway in April, but I was glad I took the excursion.  Even got to see a cruise ship being built in Finesterra (sp?)

[Heartgrove]

1 hour ago, petepie said:

Train ride was fine - we were in 2nd class, groups of 4 seats facing each other without a table in the middle. No food car but did have toilets. We were in regional service, takes 2 hrs. Look at the timetables when booking - be aware that some trains are local service that takes 3 hrs.

 

There are actually two different Reginale routes between Trieste Centrale and Venezia S. Lucia. The two hour train route includes a stop at the Trieste Airport while the three hour route travels via Udine. 

 

Glad you were able to do a day trip to Venice.

 

 

Edited August 11, 2022 by Heartgrove

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, petepie said:

Agree this was not optimal way to see Venice. We were disappointed when the port moved to Trieste but decided to try to get to Venice anyway, even for a limited visit.

We would have done the same as DW and I really enjoy Venice.  But that kind of long port day with all the darn transportation really does suck (for lack of a better term).

 

Hank

[jlnprt]

Trieste is a lovely city with lots to see and do. We spent 5 days there before our cruise and didn't run out of things to do. We spent two days in Venice after our cruise. Granted, not everyone has extra days on each end of a cruise but, if you do, Trieste is very enjoyable.