How to Get from Venice to the Dolomites in Just Over Two Hours

Venice is the most common starting point for a Dolomites hiking trip, and for good reason: it’s the only airport near the mountains that is both big enough for long-haul flights and close enough to reach the trailheads the same day. Getting from Venice to the Dolomites takes about two hours, there’s a bus that does it without a single change, and you don’t need a car at any point.

We run self-guided hiking tours in Europe, three of them in the Dolomites: the Alta Via 1, Val Gardena and the Alpe di Siusi, and Seiser Alm to Rosengarten. It’s a route we talk our guests through regularly, so here’s every way north: the direct airport bus almost nobody books, the three train routes and which valley each one serves, what driving actually costs you, and where to stay if you’re breaking the journey in Venice first.

How Far Is Venice from the Dolomites?

Closer than most people expect, and further than a single number suggests. The Dolomites aren’t one place: they spread across three provinces, and the two ends of the range are a two hour drive apart. From Venice, the eastern Dolomites are genuinely close and the western ones are a half-day trip, which is worth knowing before you settle on a base in the Dolomites.

One thing to sort out before you book anything: Venice has three places called Venice, and they’re not interchangeable.

• Venice Marco Polo airport (VCE) is on the mainland. Buses to the Dolomites leave from here.
• Venezia Mestre is the mainland railway station. Both buses and trains leave from here.
• Venezia Santa Lucia is the station in the historic center, at the top of the Grand Canal. Trains leave from here, and buses leave from Piazzale Roma next door, the only spot in the old city you can reach by road.

Check which one your ticket says before you set off.

The Fastest Way from Venice to the Dolomites: the Direct Airport Bus

There is a bus from the door of Venice Marco Polo airport to the middle of Cortina d’Ampezzo. It takes 2 hours 10 minutes, it runs five times a day all year, and it will beat any train and most rental cars. It’s called the Cortina Express, it’s run jointly by Cortina Express and DolomitiBus, and it’s the single most useful thing to know about getting to the eastern Dolomites.

Here’s how it works on the 2026 to 2027 schedule, which runs from June 19th 2026 to June 9th 2027:

• Five departures a day from the airport, spread from early morning to evening, so almost any arrival time is covered without an overnight stop.
• It picks up in three places. Venezia Piazzale Roma in the historic center, Mestre railway station, and the tourist bus parking at the airport. From Piazzale Roma the whole trip takes about 3 hours 10 minutes.
• It stops at Treviso on the way, which is why Treviso airport works as a backup, and at Longarone and the string of Cadore villages below Cortina.
• Two of the five services call at Calalzo di Cadore railway station, which is how the train and bus routes join up. Those two take 2 hours 30 minutes rather than 2 hours 10.
• Around €30 one way on the resale sites. There’s no published fare table, so check the operator’s own site or app for the current price. You can also buy from the crew on board at no extra charge, if there’s a seat, which is worth knowing if your flight is delayed.

There’s a second service worth knowing about, and it’s the one that makes an Alta Via 1 trip easy. Once a day, a through service runs from Venice airport all the way to Dobbiaco (Toblach) and San Candido, leaving the airport in the early afternoon and reaching Dobbiaco railway station about 3 hours 20 minutes later, with a scheduled connection at Cortina. In the morning it runs the other way, leaving San Candido just after 8am and reaching the airport before midday. Check the current departure times on the Cortina Express schedule page, because the summer and winter schedules differ.

Prefer not to plan around a bus schedule? Book a private transfer from Venice Marco Polo airport straight to your hotel in the Dolomites. You choose the pickup time, and it’s the easiest way to travel with luggage or as a group.

Where to Stay in Venice Before You Head to the Dolomites

If you’re arriving on a long-haul flight, a night in Venice before the hiking starts is the difference between a brutal first day and a good one. The thing to optimize for isn’t the view, it’s the walk to your bus or train in the morning, so stay within a few minutes of Piazzale Roma or Santa Lucia station. These three all are.

Once you’re up in the mountains it’s a different question entirely, and we’ve answered it separately in our guide to where to stay in the Dolomites, with the valley-by-valley breakdown and what each base suits. If you already know you’re heading west, the best Alpe di Siusi hotels covers the plateau and the villages below it.

Venice to the Dolomites by Train

You can get from Venice to the Dolomites by train, and it’s a lovely way to travel, but understand what you’re buying: no railway runs into the middle of the range. Every train ends at a valley station, and a bus takes you the rest of the way. Which train you want depends entirely on which end of the Dolomites you’re heading for.

Venice to Calalzo: the Closest Station to Cortina d’Ampezzo

Cortina d’Ampezzo hasn’t had a railway station since 1964. The nearest one is Calalzo-Pieve di Cadore-Cortina, 112 km (70 miles) from Venice, and the journey from Venezia Santa Lucia takes about 2 hours 40 minutes at best and nearer 3 hours on most services, with around 13 departures a day and one change. Fares start at roughly €13 booked ahead.

From Calalzo, the bus up to Cortina takes about 55 minutes and is timed around the train arrivals. Add it all up and the train route is slower than the direct bus and costs about the same, which is why we point most people at the bus. Take the train if you like trains, if the bus times don’t suit, or if you’re stopping in Belluno on the way.

Venice to Bolzano for Val Gardena and the Alpe di Siusi

For the western Dolomites you go the long way round, south-west to Verona and then north up the Brenner line. Venice to Bolzano is 140 km (87 miles) as the crow flies but a good deal more by rail, and it takes 2 hours 44 minutes on the fastest service, with around 29 trains a day and usually a couple of direct ones. Advance fares start around €14.

Bolzano is where almost everyone switches to a bus. For Val Gardena, bus 350 runs hourly to Ortisei, Santa Cristina and Selva in 60 to 90 minutes depending on the village. You can shorten that leg by staying on the train to Ponte Gardena, 18 km (11 miles) from Val Gardena, or Chiusa, 23 km (14 miles) away. Total door to door from Venice: about 4 to 4.5 hours.

Venice to Dobbiaco and the Val Pusteria for the Alta Via 1

For the northern Dolomites, Lago di Braies and the Tre Cime, carry on past Bolzano to Fortezza (Franzensfeste), where a second line branches east along the Val Pusteria to Brunico, Villabassa, Dobbiaco and San Candido. Bolzano to Fortezza is about 40 minutes and runs hourly; Fortezza to Dobbiaco is about another hour and a half. From Venice that’s a five and a half hour day with two changes, so the once-daily Cortina Express through service, at 3 hours 20 minutes, is usually the better call.

For Lago di Braies itself, bus 442 runs from Villabassa and Dobbiaco to the lake in about 20 minutes. From July 1st to September 15th it needs a prepaid reservation with your return time booked, and so does driving in between 9am and 4pm. Arriving on foot or by bike never needs one.

Venice to the Dolomites by Bus: Cortina Express, DolomitiBus and FlixBus

Three operators run between Venice and the mountains, and they do different jobs:

• Cortina Express and DolomitiBus run the airport service covered above: five a day to Cortina in 2 hours 10 minutes, plus the once-daily through service to Dobbiaco and San Candido. This is the one to book.
• FlixBus runs Venice to Cortina d’Ampezzo twice a day in as little as 2 hours 30 minutes, covering 164 km (102 miles), with fares from around €13. Cheaper, fewer departures, and it doesn’t always start at the airport. Worth checking if you’re on a tight budget and your dates are flexible.
• DolomitiBus line 30 is the local link from Calalzo station up to Cortina, about 55 minutes, timed around the trains. You’ll only need it if you’ve come by rail.

Driving from Venice to the Dolomites

It’s an easy drive and a beautiful one. Venice to Cortina d’Ampezzo is about 160 km (100 miles) and takes roughly two hours: the A27 north for 80 km (50 miles) to its last exit, then the SS51 up the Cadore valley. Pick the car up at the airport rather than in the city, because the historic center has no roads.

Whether you want a car at all is a different question. A car gives you real freedom between valleys, and the Sella and Pordoi passes are among the best driving in the Alps. But the Dolomites now manage their most popular spots with permits and timed access, and almost all of those rules are aimed at cars rather than at people arriving by bus:

• Lago di Braies is closed to cars without a reservation or transit permit between 9am and 4pm from July 1st to September 15th. Arrive on foot, by bike or by bus and the restriction doesn’t apply.
• The road up to the Alpe di Siusi is closed to cars from 9am to 5pm the whole time the cable car is running, which in 2026 means May 22nd to November 2nd. You can drive up before 9am or after 5pm, and down at any time.
• Parking in Cortina and Val Gardena in August is its own small ordeal, and most hotels charge for it.

If you’re hiking point to point rather than basing yourself in one village, a car is a liability anyway: it has to be somewhere, and that somewhere is rarely where you finish.

Getting from Venice Marco Polo Airport into Venice

If you’re spending a night in the city first, the airport is 12 km (7.5 miles) from the historic center and there are two sensible ways in:

• The ATVO express bus runs non-stop to Piazzale Roma in 20 minutes, every 30 minutes through the day. About €12 one way or €20 return, luggage included, same price on the bus as online. This is the fast, cheap, sensible option.
• The Alilaguna water bus takes 60 to 90 minutes depending on the line and stops at the Lido, the Rialto and San Marco. About €18 one way or €32 return. Slower and dearer, but arriving in Venice by water the first time is worth the extra hour.

Both drop you at or near Piazzale Roma, which is also where the Cortina Express picks up the next morning, so you’re never far from your onward bus.

How to Get from Venice to the Start of Our Three Dolomites Tours

All three of our Dolomites tours start in a town you can reach from Venice on public transport, which is not an accident. Here’s how each one works.

Venice to the Alta Via 1: Arrive in Toblach or Cortina d’Ampezzo

The self-guided Alta Via 1 hiking tour runs from Lago di Braies (Pragser Wildsee) to Belluno, 111 km (69 miles) with 6,640 m (21,780 ft) of ascent on the full 11-day route. You don’t start at the lake, though. Day 1 is an arrival day at the basecamp hotel in Toblach (Dobbiaco) or Cortina d’Ampezzo, and both are straightforward from Venice.

• To Cortina d’Ampezzo: the Cortina Express from Venice Marco Polo, 2 hours 10 minutes, five a day, no changes.
• To Toblach (Dobbiaco): the once-daily Cortina Express through service, about 3 hours 20 minutes from the airport, or the train via Bolzano and Fortezza if the timing suits you better.

Venice to Val Gardena for the Alpe di Siusi and Seiser Alm Tours

Both our western Dolomites tours start at a basecamp hotel in Ortisei, Santa Cristina or Selva: the 5-day Alpe di Siusi and Val Gardena hiking tour, which is our easiest Dolomites trip with three hiking days, and the Seiser Alm to Rosengarten hiking tour, which crosses the Seiser Alm at 1,700 to 2,200 m (5,577 to 7,218 ft) before heading for the Schlern.

From Venice, take the train to Bolzano and then bus 350 up the valley: about 4 to 4.5 hours in total. If you’d rather skip the bus, a private transfer from Bolzano station takes about an hour. It’s worth saying plainly that Verona is a shorter trip to this side of the range, 1 hour 28 minutes by direct train to Bolzano, so if you’re still choosing flights and the fares are comparable, check Verona too. We cover the full comparison in our guide to how to get to the Dolomites.

Should You Spend a Night in Venice First?

Absolutely, yes. Venice is famous for a reason, and it deserves two or three days of your trip before you head for the mountains. Ride a vaporetto down the Grand Canal, get happily lost in the lanes away from St. Mark’s Square, and catch the sunset from the Rialto Bridge.

It’s also the best way to beat jet lag. Nearly every transatlantic flight into Venice lands in the morning after an overnight, and you don’t want your first hiking day to follow a night in a seat. Sleep properly, see the city, then take a mid-morning bus north rested and ready to hike.

Book the bus ahead in July and August. And if you’re still working out which trail you want, the Dolomites sit near the top of our list of the best hikes in Europe.

Venice to the Dolomites: FAQs

Where to Stay in Venice: Map

Use the map to see what’s available in Venice on your dates, and what it costs. Zoom in on Piazzale Roma and Santa Lucia station if you want to be close to the bus and train north, or out towards Mestre for cheaper rooms a short train ride from the center.

Ready to Hike the Dolomites?

Venice to the mountains is two hours on a bus. The hard part was never getting there, it’s the hotels that book out a year ahead, the mountain huts that book out sooner, and the luggage you don’t want on your back. That’s the part we do.