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City Guide - Venice - Rail | ||
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Rail For the thousands of backpackers that pour into Venice each summer, Santa Lucia station (tel: (041) 715 555; web site: www.fs-on-line.com) is their first port of call. Situated at the west end of the Grand Canal, it was built by the Austrians in the late nineteenth century finally uniting the island community with the mainland. Facilities include left-luggage, a bureau de change, an accommodation booking service and a small tourist office. The Italian state railway, Ferrovie dello Stato (tel: 166 105 050 for local information; web site: www.fs-on-line.com), is reliable and economical, although supplements are added according to the type of train boarded (Diretto, Inter-Regionale or InterCity). By law, all train tickets must be validated by stamping them in the yellow machines on the platform before boarding; failure to do so can result in a hefty fine. Rail services: Venice is directly linked by train to Bologna (1 hour 35 minutes) and passengers can change here for Florence (2 hours 40 minutes) and Rome (4 hours 20 minutes). It is also within easy reach of Milan (2 hours 45 minutes) and the smaller towns of Padua (20 minutes) and Verona (1 hour 45 minutes). Venice is the jump-off point for international departures to neighbouring Germany, Austria and the former Yugoslavia - plus regular services to Paris and London on board the legendary Orient Express. Transport to the city: It takes roughly 30 minutes to walk to St Mark's Square - a route easily discerned by the stream of tourists. It is a well-trodden and interesting introduction to Venice, but for that picture postcard view, visitors should hop on a vaporetto and make the first of many watery forays down the Grand Canal - numbers 1, 52 and 82 are among the routes serving the station and St Mark's Square. |