Land Taxis in Venice and Mestre: Numbers, Ranks and Fares

Land taxis do exist in Venice, but they stop where the tarmac does. The number to save is Radio Taxi Venezia: 041 5964; the ranks are on the mainland, at the airport, on the Lido and at the Marittima. From Marco Polo airport to Piazzale Roma the fare is fixed, €40 per car.

If you are looking for a taxi number in Mestre to reach the station or the airport, that is the answer, and the rest of this page is about not paying more than you should. If instead you are heading for a hotel inside the historic centre, the car covers only the first half of the journey: the last stretch is done on foot, by vaporetto or by water taxi.

On the same airport–Piazzale Roma run, the direct bus costs €12 per person at the time of checking, and the Alilaguna boat, at €18, takes you into the centre without changing vehicle. Before you call a taxi, look at what the alternatives cost.

The number, the ranks and how you get in

The service is run by the Cooperativa Artigiana Radiotaxi, based in via Piave in Mestre, alongside Venezia Mestre station. A single number, 041 5964, dispatches calls across every rank.

There are seven working ranks:

• Venezia Mestre railway station
• Ospedale dell’Angelo hospital
• Mestre Centro, in via Poerio
• Marco Polo airport
• Piazzale Roma
• Lido, Piazzale Santa Maria Elisabetta
• Stazione Marittima, while ships are in port

At Favaro, in Piazza Pastrello, there is a call point with no permanent rank. There are also trial stands at Carpenedo (via Trezzo), San Giuliano (Porta Rossa) and Marghera, at the Panorama tram terminus and in Piazza Mercato.

On the mainland, think of it as you would in Rome or Milan: either go to a rank, or phone. Flagging a taxi in the street only works where traffic allows it, and that is precisely the situation in which you risk not knowing what you will pay.

The fixed fares that concern you

Car taxi fares are set by the Venice city executive, with separate tables for Mestre and the mainland and for the Lido. These are the fixed routes that matter to almost every traveller.

“Mestre Centro” is not a figure of speech: it is a zone the city has drawn around viale Stazione, via Piave, via Cappuccina, via Ca’ Marcello and the ring road. If you land at Marco Polo and your address falls inside that perimeter, you are entitled to ask for the €35 fixed fare.

Watch two conditions the city sets out in black and white: fixed fares apply only during the service hours of the departure rank, for the shortest route, with no stops or detours. One stop at the supermarket and you are back on the meter.

The meter, item by item

When there is no fixed fare you pay on the meter, at these rates.

The most common metered trip is Mestre ↔ Piazzale Roma: there is no published fixed fare for that route, apart from the €10 trial from San Giuliano/via Righi towards Venice. Everything else is on the clock.

The €4.80 supplement also applies to trips to and from the Stazione Marittima: if you are arriving or leaving on a cruise ship, budget for it on top of the fare. How to move between the terminals, the People Mover and the boats is covered on the cruise port page.

The sentence to say before setting off

This is the city’s own advice, and it is the only thing that really protects you: before the trip starts, ask the driver to apply the fixed fare. In its own words, the city urges passengers to “explicitly ask the driver to apply the fixed fare before the trip begins”.

Said on arrival, it counts for nothing. Said at the start, it settles everything in three seconds: “Piazzale Roma, fixed fare, forty euros, right?”

The same principle holds on the water, where the price is agreed before you step aboard: more on that in water taxi fares.

Taxi, bus or Aerobus from the airport

A land taxi makes sense if you are travelling in a pair or a group, at night, or to a mainland address. For one person heading into the historic centre it is almost always the most expensive and the slowest of the three.

The bus leaves from exit D, second lane on the left: bay 3 for Venice, bay 4 for Mestre. ATVO sets no luggage limit, which for a family with four suitcases changes the sums more than the ticket price does. If you want the full comparison with the vaporetto and the water taxi, it is all on the water taxi, Alilaguna or vaporetto page.

Where the road ends: Piazzale Roma

Piazzale Roma is the boundary. Beyond it Venice is only water and bridges, and you have three ways to carry on.

• Water taxi: under the fare schedule of the Comune di Venezia, the fixed routes from Piazzale Roma–Ferrovia are €50 to Rialto, €60 to San Marco and €70 to the Lido.
• Vaporetto: the 75-minute Rete Unica ticket at €9.50, the cheapest option if you are travelling light.
• People Mover: €1.50, linking Piazzale Roma, Marittima and Tronchetto in three or four minutes.

A water taxi is worth it if you arrive late, if your luggage is heavy or if your hotel has a usable water entrance. How boarding works and where the departure points are is explained in Piazzale Roma and Tronchetto.

Uber, NCC and apps

Uber lists Venice among the cities it serves and warns that waiting times can be longer than elsewhere. In Italy, though, it works with NCC (hire-with-driver) operators and partnerships with taxi drivers, not the American private-car model: which services are actually bookable changes over time, so check in the app before counting on it.

The physical limit remains: no car enters the historic centre. Even the priciest NCC drops you at Piazzale Roma or Tronchetto, exactly where a €40 taxi leaves you.

Delayed flights and night trips

Nights are cheap on the road: €3.20 extra between 22:00 and 06:00. On the water it weighs more, because the city fare schedule adds €10 in the same window and Consorzio Motoscafi applies a €15 supplement to its own commercial fares between 22:00 and 07:00.

For very late arrivals there is a useful practice worth knowing: Consorzio Motoscafi automatically monitors flight delays and, between midnight and 07:00, can bring delayed passengers to Piazzale Roma by road taxi and have them continue by boat from there. All the night-time options are gathered in night taxis in Venice.

If the fare does not add up

Complaints about car taxis go in writing to the Comune di Venezia: gestione.mobilita@comune.venezia.it, or by certified email to mobilitatrasporti@pec.comune.venezia.it. Always ask for a receipt and note the car’s number.

For trips by boat the channel is different: you go through the city’s DIME digital service desk or the number 041 041. Water taxi fares are displayed by law at every city rank, so a photo of the notice is the simplest evidence you can attach.

Worth reading with this

• Arriving by air and heading into the centre: read from the airport to Venice before choosing how to travel.
• Leaving Venice: the timings to respect are in from Venice to the airport.
• Travelling with a lot of suitcases: the rules and supplements are in luggage and water taxis.
• Want to book ahead instead of phoning: the three possible ways are in how to book.

Land taxis in Venice and Mestre are an honest, regulated service, with clear fixed fares to the airport and a readable meter: you just have to ask for the right fare before setting off, and know that the ride ends at Piazzale Roma. If your only goal is to reach the centre without spending much, the direct bus covers the same ground for a fraction of the price.