Venice to Croatia by ferry: Lines, Tickets

Are you visiting Italian Venice but willing to also visit the opposite side of the Adriatic? Or maybe you are planning to spend your holidays in Croatia but want to combine it with visiting the beautiful city of Venice?

It’s possible and easy to travel. Additionally, you can travel with beautiful views, as one of the easiest options is to travel by ferry. In my opinion, ferry transport is a great idea whenever it’s possible (as it has the most ‘holiday feeling’). In this blog post, I will describe details for such travel: lines, prices and tickets.

In this case, when saying Croatia, we are talking about the Istria Peninsula. As it’s where ferries from Venice operate during the summer months.

While Venice surely needs no introduction, Istria is a less-known Croatian region compared to Dalmatia with Split or Dubrovnik. It’s also different in terms of views or vibe. Istria is a special region to me, as it’s where I participated in a volunteer workcamp for the first time. I stayed in town Buzet, where we worked on park and museum renovation, and thanks to this managed to visit and see a big part of the peninsula.

Let’s see how to get there from Venice by ferry.

Venice to Croatia Journey Details

Journey time

Depending on the ferry company and the port of arrival, it takes around 3-4 hours to arrive from Venice to Croatia by ferry.

Ferry companies

There are 2 ferry companies that operate between Venice and Croatia: Adriatic Lines and Venezia Lines. There is also a company, Liberty Lines that operates between Istria (town Rovinj) and Trieste. Trieste is another Italian city around 2 hours by bus from Venice.

Ferry time from Trieste is around 2 hours.

Ferry routes

Ferries from Venice operate to the northern part of the Croatian coast, to the Istria peninsula. You will not get by ferry from Venice to southern regions. Ferry goes to ports on the western coast of the Istrian peninsula: Umag, Porec, Rovinj, and Pula.

All of these towns are worth visiting. In Pula, you can visit the Roman amphitheatre, the third biggest in Europe. In Porec, there is the Euphrasian Basilica from the VI century, which is Unesco World Heritage Site. Rovinj is one of the cutest and the most instagrammable towns with colourful houses.

Umag has a middle-aged old town and is also known as a host of tennis tournaments.

There is also a ferry from Venice to Piran, a beautiful Slovenian coastal city.

In the past, there were also ferry services to Rabac and Mali Losinj islands.

Prices and tickets

The price of a one-way adult ticket starts at around 80 Euro, for a return, it’s around 90-100 Euro.

You can buy tickets on companies’ websites or on the generic ferries’ websites, like this one.

Let’s look at these routes and travel times in detail:

Adriatic Lines

Adriatic Lines operates on the route between Venice and Porec, Rovinj, Pula, and Umag. Travel time is 3 to 3.5 hours. The biggest number of boats operate from Porec. Check here for a detailed timetable from Croatia (you can change names and check it for all cities). Here you can find the timetable from Venice to Croatia.

Note that it’s not a daily ferry, and the timetable changes depending on the month (the last ones are in October).

Venezia Lines Ferries

Venezia Lines operates between Venice and Porec, Rovinj, Pula, and Slovenian Piran. Detailed timetables and tickets are here.

Ferries from both companies are passenger ferries.

Ports

In fact, Porec, Rovinj, Umag, and Piran are not big towns. All have harbours in the city centres. The port in Pula is located below the Arena, Roman Amphitheatre.

In Venice, ferries from Croatia arrive at San Basilio Terminal. Be careful not to mix it with Cruise Liner Terminal. San Basilio is located around 500 metres from San Sebastiano Church, at the end of Zattere Area. You can reach it by foot or by water tram (vaporetto).

Other ferry routes from Italy to Croatia

In the off-season, there is only one ferry route from Italy to Croatia: Ancona to Split.

During the season (from April to October), there are more ferry routes between Italy and Croatia. Which means you can take a ferry from Ancona to Zadar, from Ancona to Hvar Island or from Bari to Dubrovnik. Those 3 are car ferries.

At the moment, there is no ferry between Venice and Split or Dubrovnik.

Other ways of getting from Venice to Croatia

By plane

Firstly note that Venice has 2 airports: Marco Polo (the closer one) and Treviso Airport.

There are not many direct flights between Venice and Croatia, but they sometimes appear in the summer. Most likely, you will need to go with a change.

More about airports in Croatia here.

By train

There are no direct trains between Venice and Croatia. If you want to travel from Venice to Istria, you would have to take the train to Trieste and change there for a train or bus. Most likely, you would have to go via Ljubljana and then via Zagreb. Basically it takes long time and it’s not really a suitable option. I would recommend taking a look at buses.

By bus

There are more direct buses on this route than trains. Generally, travelling by bus in Croatia is quite convenient.

Company Fils has direct buses between Pula and Venezia (via Trieste) and from Medulin and Buzet (so, interior Istria) to Venezia. The company Brioni goes from Pula to Trieste. In addition, company Crnja Tours to Venezia. They also do one-day trips.

You can also browse and book available connections (buses, trains, and ferries) in 1 place via Omio.

Italy and Croatia are both in the Schengen area, so travelling through the border, whatever transport type you choose, is quick and smooth.

Trieste in Croatian is called Trst; hence you can see this name on schedules.

One Day Trips

I’m not really a fan of one-day visits to places that need a longer stay. Venice and Istria are such places; it’s just not enough time to see them all well in 1 day. Not to mention, one-day trips are usually very tiring. But if your time is limited and you want to get a grasp and see the most important monuments, go for it.

Obviously, there are many companies that organise such trips for 1 day. You have transportation, a bit of visiting, and free time. Crnja Tours or Venezia Lines (trip by ferry) are among them. Day trip tickets can be booked at their websites.

Is Istria worth visiting?

Yes, absolutely. Istria is very well worth a visit. It’s less popular than Dalmatia and the Croatian towns of Split and Dubrovnik, and it’s just different than Dalmatia. Yet, coastal towns and interior Istria have a lot to offer. Except for obvious and most known monuments like the Roman amphitheatre in Pula or Euphrasian Basilica from the VI century in Porec, it’s many other middle-aged towns.

The interior of Istria is also a very interesting Croatian region, one of the few regions in Europe where truffles grow. It’s also very green, and the architecture and vibe can remind Italy.

I wrote more about regions in Croatia, interesting points to visit and things to do in this blog post.

Hopefully, this article has helped you organise your journey between Venice and Croatia. The idea of connecting two such amazing destinations sounds like a dreamy holiday!

For more Croatia Travel Tips, check out this article.

Check here for any guided tours and attractions in Venice, and here for Istria.

Check here for reviewing and booking transportation.