Is There A Train From Venice Airport To Padua?
No train serves Venice Marco Polo airport directly, but Padua is an easy EUR 13 airport bus ride away. Here is exactly how the connection works, plus the Mestre station and Treviso airport options.
Venice Marco Polo airport (VCE) sits about 38 km in a straight line from the centre of Padua, the inland university city in the Veneto that is famous for Giotto's frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel and the Basilica of Saint Anthony. The short answer to the question is no: the airport has no railway station inside or beside the terminal, so no train can carry you the whole way. What exists instead is one of the more convenient airport links in northern Italy, a direct Busitalia coach from the terminal forecourt to Padua that costs EUR 13 one way and takes about 45 minutes, plus a train workaround via Venezia Mestre station for anyone who prefers rail. This page lays out both routes with the published figures, the Treviso airport alternative, and what to expect once the bus or train deposits you at Padua Travel Guide's home city.
Is There A Train From Venice Airport To Padua?
There is no train from Venice Marco Polo airport to Padua, because the airport has no station of its own: trains to Padova depart from Venezia Mestre or Venezia Santa Lucia, both of which require a bus, taxi or people-mover connection first. The practical direct option is the Busitalia airport coach, EUR 13 one way for an adult, about 45 minutes, with no transfer at all. Rail enters the picture only via Mestre station.
That is the whole geometry of the problem. Venice's airport was built on the Tessera plain north of the lagoon city, and the nearest mainline stations, Venezia Mestre on the mainland and Venezia Santa Lucia in the historic city, both sit a separate bus or taxi ride away from the terminal. Once you are on a train at Mestre, Padova is a short hop: reported regional journey times from Padova to Venezia Santa Lucia run about 26 to 40 minutes, and Mestre is one stop before Santa Lucia on the same line, so check Trenitalia for the exact Mestre-to-Padova timing and fare when you buy. The through-fare figures the site can print are the regional ones: about EUR 5 Padova to Venezia Santa Lucia.
For anyone weighing the two approaches, the decision usually comes down to where in Padua you are heading and how much luggage is involved. The bus delivers you straight to Padua's bus station, beside the railway station on the northern edge of the centre, from where the historic core is a walk or one tram ride away. The Mestre route delivers you to the same Padova station platforms, but with an extra ticket, an extra wait and an extra transfer between airport bus and train. Neither route involves touching Venice's lagoon: Padua is an inland city about 36 km in a straight line from Piazza San Marco, a point worth repeating because plenty of maps make the two look like one conurbation.
| Route | Direct? | Published fare | Reported time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Busitalia airport bus, VCE terminal to Padua | Yes | EUR 13 adult one way, EUR 6.50 child up to 11, EUR 23 same-day return | About 45 minutes | 54 runs a day, about every 40 minutes, 05:30 to 22:50 from Padua |
| Bus to Venezia Mestre, then train to Padova | No, one transfer | Train fare via Trenitalia; bus leg priced separately | Train leg is a short hop on the Venice-Milan line | Adds a transfer and two tickets |
| Treviso airport (TSF) to Padua | No direct official bus found | Nothing published to print | Treviso to Padova trains reported at about 28 to 60 minutes, sometimes with a change | Needs a separate transfer to Treviso station |
How Does The Direct Airport Bus From Venice Marco Polo To Padua Work?
The Busitalia coach costs EUR 13 for an adult one way, EUR 6.50 for a child up to 11, EUR 23 for a same-day return, and takes about 45 minutes of driving time from terminal to Padua. It runs 54 times a day, roughly every 40 minutes, with first departures at 05:30 and the last at 22:50 out of Padua, per the operator's own service page.
The same operator page confirms the reverse direction from the airport, with runs from 06:30 to 23:50, so early arrivals and late-evening landings are both covered by the timetable rather than by hope. The service also reaches the spa towns: Montegrotto and Abano to Venice Marco Polo is EUR 15, which matters if your Padua stay is actually a thermal-resort stay in the Euganean Hills rather than the city centre. Tickets and exact departure bays are on the operator's site and app, and the site's fuller page on the transfer, how to get from Venice airport to Padua, walks through the arrival flow step by step.
A few practical points deserve emphasis. The fare is flat, so there is no advance-purchase discount arithmetic to optimise, and the same-day return at EUR 23 is the figure to check if you are flying out and back inside one day. The journey is entirely on the mainland: the bus never crosses the lagoon or the causeway to historic Venice, it runs west towards Padua through Mestre and the industrial belt. That also means no waterborne leg, no vaporetto and no dependence on Venice's own access rules, which is its own small mercy after a flight.
When Does Going Via Mestre Station Make Sense?
Going via Venezia Mestre station makes sense when a train ticket to Padova is already in your hand, when you are carrying a rail pass, or when the airport bus timetable has just missed your window: the train leg from Mestre towards Padova is short, on the Venice-Milan line, and regional trains run frequently, though the site can only print the Padova-Santa Lucia regional fare of about EUR 5 as its rail figure.
The catch is the first leg. The airport's connections to Mestre station are local buses and taxis, and no fare for that leg appears in the figures this site is allowed to print, so budget it separately and check the current price on the operator's page before booking. Once at Mestre you are on Trenitalia's mainline network: Padova is the next major stop west, and high-speed services calling at Padova continue towards Vicenza, about 16 to 25 minutes further on, and Verona, about 43 to 60 minutes, all reported journey times that should be confirmed against Trenitalia's own planner. The route is a workhorse commuter corridor, which means departures are frequent rather than scarce.
The through-rail route earns its keep in the other direction too. If you are landing at Marco Polo and heading beyond Padua, to Vicenza or Verona in the same afternoon, the Mestre connection avoids backtracking into Padua's bus station first. For the traveller whose final destination is simply Padua, though, the arithmetic rarely favours it: one ticket, one vehicle and one arrival point beat a transfer with luggage. The site's overview of trains from Venice to Padua covers the rail side in more depth, including the Santa Lucia end of the line.
What About Treviso Airport Instead?
Treviso airport (TSF), about 37 km in a straight line from Padua's centre, has no direct official bus to the city in the published material this site can cite, so the route runs through Treviso's own railway station: trains from Treviso to Padova are reported at about 28 to 60 minutes, sometimes with a change, and the fare and schedule should be checked on Trenitalia before travel. Treviso is a low-cost-carrier airport, so the question is not academic.
Because no direct Treviso bus figure exists to print, the honest planning advice is to build the transfer to Treviso station into your budget as an unknown and price it on the spot. The rail leg itself is straightforward: Treviso sits on the line that meets the Venice-Padua corridor, and through trains exist alongside change-at-Mestre options, which is why the reported times spread from under half an hour to a full hour. Anyone choosing between flying into Marco Polo and flying into Treviso for a Padua trip should weigh the Marco Polo bus, EUR 13 and about 45 minutes with no transfer, against Treviso's two-step journey with one unpublished leg.
There is a second consideration that has nothing to do with wheels. Treviso airport serves a different set of airlines and departure cities than Marco Polo, so for plenty of travellers it is not a choice at all. If it is, the site's page on Treviso airport to Padua collects what can usefully be said about that route, and the comparison page on how far Padua is from Venice sets out the straight-line distances for both airports against the city itself.
Should You Stay In Padua And Visit Venice, Rather Than The Reverse?
Staying in Padua and day-tripping into Venice is a pattern the Veneto's geography actively supports: trains from Padova to Venezia Santa Lucia take about 26 to 40 minutes, the regional fare is about EUR 5, and Padua's hotel base sits outside the lagoon city's own pricing and visitor rules. The Venice day-tripper access fee trial ended on 27 July 2026 and the fee does not currently apply, with no 2027 decision published.
That last point matters for planning, because advice written before mid-2026 still tells day-trippers to prepay an access charge. The 2026 trial ran its course and ended on 27 July 2026, per Venezia Unica, the body that operates the scheme; anyone travelling later should check the Venice city site for any successor scheme rather than rely on the old instructions. The trains, by contrast, are a stable fact of the corridor: a regional service about every 15 to 30 minutes, with faster high-speed options at higher fares also covering the pair. The site's answer on whether Padua is worth visiting from Venice works the question in both directions.
There is also a slower, older way to make the same journey, and it is the one this site features: the Brenta Riviera boat cruise, a full-day voyage between Padua and Venice along the canal lined with the villas the Venetian patricians built along the Brenta. The classic vessel Il Burchiello runs the route from March to October in both directions, per its own site, and a bookable version of the same idea is described on the Brenta Riviera boat tour page. Sailing out rather than riding the rails turns transfer day into the day itself.
What Should You Expect When You Arrive At Padua Station?
Arriving at Padova station puts you at the northern edge of the historic centre with the essentials in one place: the IAT tourist office at the exit of platform 1, open Monday to Saturday 9:00 to 19:00 and Sunday and holidays 10:00 to 16:00; the tram SIR1 running north-south through the city; a left-luggage office on platform 1 open daily 6:00 to 20:00 at EUR 5 per 6 hours; and the urban bus ticket at EUR 1.70 for 90 minutes.
The tourist office is the detail worth knowing about first, because it closes only on 25 and 26 December and 1 January and can answer ticketing questions in person, including how timed entry to the Scrovegni Chapel works: the chapel admits at most 25 people every 15 minutes, the visit lasts about 15 minutes, booking ahead is required, and it closes completely from 16 to 27 November 2026 for the annual fresco inspection. The station's own page, a guide to Padua train station and its surroundings, maps the platforms, the luggage office and the tram.
From the station the centre is genuinely walkable: the Scrovegni Chapel and the Eremitani church sit about ten minutes on foot, Piazza delle Erbe and the market squares a few minutes more, and the Basilica of Saint Anthony beyond them across Prato della Valle. The full argument for spending days here rather than treating Padua as a corridor is made on the site's answer to is Padua worth visiting, and the practical frame for basing yourself here while Venice is a train ride away is laid out in the guide to using Padua as a base for Venice. For the first afternoon, the itinerary one day in Padua from Venice compresses the essentials into a single, ordered walk.
Common Questions About Trains And Buses From Venice Airport To Padua
Is There A Train From Venice Airport To Padua?
No. Venice Marco Polo airport has no railway station, so no train runs from the terminal itself. The direct Busitalia airport bus covers the route for EUR 13 one way in about 45 minutes, and rail options start at Venezia Mestre station after a separate transfer.
How Much Is The Bus From Venice Airport To Padua?
Per the operator's own service page, the Busitalia airport bus costs EUR 13 one way for an adult, EUR 6.50 for a child up to 11, and EUR 23 for a same-day return. The Montegrotto and Abano spa towns to the airport are EUR 15.
How Often Does The Venice Airport Bus To Padua Run?
The service runs 54 times a day, roughly every 40 minutes, from 05:30 to 22:50 out of Padua and from 06:30 to 23:50 out of the airport, with a journey time of about 45 minutes.
Can You Take A Train From Venice Mestre To Padua?
Yes. Mestre is on the Venice-Milan line and Padova is a short hop west; regional trains are frequent.
How Do I Get From Treviso Airport To Padua?
No direct official bus from Treviso airport to Padua appears in the published material, so the route runs via Treviso's railway station. Trains from Treviso to Padova are reported at about 28 to 60 minutes, sometimes with a change; confirm schedules on Trenitalia before travelling.
Is Padua Close Enough To Venice Airport For A Day Trip Connection?
Yes. Venice Marco Polo airport is about 38 km in a straight line from Padua's centre, and the direct bus takes about 45 minutes, so a morning flight can reasonably become an afternoon in front of Giotto's frescoes with the transfer built in.
