Best Day Trips from Venice by Water
The best day trips from Venice do not leave the lagoon at all. Before you take a train to the mainland, spend your spare days on the water, where the crowds thin and the city’s older, quieter self is still intact.
Murano, Burano and Torcello
The classic lagoon trio leaves from the Fondamente Nove docks on the north edge of Cannaregio, and it costs little more than a normal vaporetto fare if you go independently. Murano has blown glass since 1291; watch a live demonstration rather than the showroom sell. Burano, further out, is the island of vividly painted houses and lace. Torcello, a short hop beyond, is nearly empty on weekdays and holds the lagoon’s oldest cathedral with its Byzantine mosaics. Crucially for 2026, these minor islands are exempt from the day-tripper access fee. Give the trio a full day and go early, before the tour boats reach Burano mid-morning.
The Lido and Sant’Erasmo
The Lido is the lagoon’s beach, a long sandbar of Liberty-era villas about 30 to 40 minutes by vaporetto, and one of only two lagoon islands (with Pellestrina) where cars run. Rent a bike, swim, or walk the Alberoni dunes at the southern tip. Sant’Erasmo, the flat “garden island” north of the city, is the antidote to sightseeing: quiet lanes, artichoke fields and almost no other visitors.
Chioggia, the lagoon’s other Venice
At the southern end of the lagoon sits Chioggia, a working fishing town threaded with canals that looks like a smaller, saltier Venice without the crowds. The scenic way there is a mini-voyage: vaporetto to the Lido, a bus down to Pellestrina, then a ferry across, roughly two hours of pure lagoon; the ATVO land bus is the faster option (about an hour). Time it for the morning fish market and a plate of fried lagoon seafood.
Two easy trips by train
If you do want the mainland, two trips are quick from Venezia Santa Lucia. Padua is as little as 25 to 30 minutes away (roughly EUR4 to 9 each way), home to Giotto’s Scrovegni Chapel, which you must book ahead at cappelladegliscrovegni.it because there are no same-day daytime tickets. Verona is about an hour (roughly EUR9 to 12), built around a first-century Roman Arena. Both reward arriving before 9am.
For the wider region, from the Dolomites to Lake Garda and the Prosecco hills, plan those separately, since they run to different rhythms and hubs.
Read more: the full Venice travel guide covers lagoon transport and passes, and the Veneto day trip guide handles the mainland in detail.