The water taxi at Piazzale Roma and Tronchetto is the first boat you take when you arrive in Venice on wheels: this is where the tarmac stops, and the rest of the city can only be reached by boat or on foot. Under the fare schedule of the Comune di Venezia (the city council), the fixed route P.le Roma – Ferrovia → San Marco costs €60 per boat, Rialto €50; from Tronchetto to Piazzale Roma or the Ferrovia it is €40. If you want to spend less there are two routes: the People Mover at €1.50, or a seat on a boat transfer from about €18.
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from €18 per person
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Two different gateways
Piazzale Roma and Tronchetto are close together and connected, but they are not interchangeable.
| Piazzale Roma | Tronchetto | |
|---|---|---|
| What arrives here | ATVO and ACTV coaches, cars, land taxis | Cars, tour coaches, People Mover |
| Water taxi ranks | Rampa Parisi, Rio Novo | People Mover station, ACTV jetty |
| Fixed route to San Marco | €60 | €60 |
| Fixed route to Rialto | €50 | €60 |
| To the Ferrovia | same fare point | €40 |
Note the detail that saves money: the schedule counts Piazzale Roma and the Ferrovia as a single point, so moving between the two is not a taxi route at all but a short walk. From Tronchetto, by contrast, that same hop is a full €40 route — or a €1.50 ride on the People Mover.
If you arrive by train rather than by car, the boarding point changes: the Ferrovia has jetties of its own.
The official ranks and what to check
The Comune di Venezia publishes the fare sheet for each of the city’s taxi ranks. There are four in this area: Piazzale Roma – Rampa Parisi, Piazzale Roma – Rio Novo, Tronchetto – People Mover station and Tronchetto – in front of the ACTV jetty.
Displaying the fare schedule is an obligation, not a courtesy. Before boarding, photograph the posted sheet and the boat’s licence number: that is the practical basis of any complaint. Water taxi disputes go to the city through the DIME digital service desk, under “Segnalazioni” (reports), or on 041 041.
At a rank you board in turn, with no booking. Alternatively, the city’s water radio-taxi answers on 199 48 49 50; the Consorzio Motoscafi Venezia call centre, open 24 hours a day, on 041 522 2303; and Venezia Taxi, which has ranks at Tronchetto, Piazzale Roma, Santa Lucia, Rialto and San Marco, on 041 723112.
What you will not find at Tronchetto is a consortium ticket desk: Consorzio Motoscafi lists its only staffed ticket office as the one in the Marco Polo arrivals hall, and none of the other consortia claims a public counter here. You board at the rank, or you phone.
The official fare as it applies here
Water taxi fares are set by the city executive under resolutions D.G.C. 227/2011 and 516/2011. They work on two tracks.
On the meter: €15 fixed charge at departure, €2 per minute on city routes, plus €5 if the boat collects you away from a taxi rank. A ten-minute run into the inner canals therefore costs €35, twenty minutes €55.
On fixed routes, the prices that matter if you are setting off from here:
- From P.le Roma – Ferrovia: Rialto €50 · San Marco €60 · Lido S. M. Elisabetta €70
- From Tronchetto: P.le Roma – Ferrovia €40 · Rialto €60 · San Marco €60 · Lido €70
- To Murano: €60 from the historic centre
- To the hospitals or Isola di San Michele: €40
On top come the supplements: +€10 between 22:00 and 06:00, +€5 for each passenger beyond the fourth on the meter (+€10 on fixed routes, one bag included) and +€3 for each item of luggage beyond the first four and beyond the number of passengers. Residents and passengers with disabilities pay 20% less on every item.
Mind the gap between the city schedule and commercial price lists: a short trip in the centre, Piazzale Roma → San Marco or Rialto, is often quoted by operators at €60–90 per boat. That is their price, not the city fare. The systematic comparison is in Prices.
The People Mover, the €1.50 alternative
The People Mover is the elevated rail shuttle linking Tronchetto – Marittima – Piazzale Roma in roughly 3–4 minutes, with departures about every ten minutes. The ticket costs €1.50: it is the same 75-minute surface-network ticket used on buses and trams, and a book of ten costs €14. Capacity is over 3,200 passengers an hour in each direction.
Hours: Monday to Saturday 07:00–23:00; Sundays and public holidays 08:00–22:00 from April to October and 08:30–21:00 from November to March. Outside those hours, getting between Tronchetto and Piazzale Roma means the water or your feet again — a detail that matters if you have a dawn flight or a late-sailing ship.
Anyone who has parked at Tronchetto and needs to reach the Marittima has the fastest link right here, and the same in reverse coming off the ship.
Parking, NCC and hire with driver
The term “NCC” causes confusion in Venice because it covers two different things. On the water, noleggio con conducente (hire with driver) is a pre-booked service at a negotiated price, distinct from a taxi: the city fares do not apply. The city counts 250 water taxi licences, of which 193 are dual — the same boat can work as a taxi or as an NCC — seven reserved for the gondoliers’ cooperatives and 50 taxi-only, 25 of them fitted with a wheelchair lift.
The practical consequence: if you book a “private transfer”, you are very probably buying a service at an agreed price, not a metered ride. That is not a scam, but it is a different thing. Always ask, before boarding, which regime is being applied and whether the price is per boat or per person.
Lagoon tours as well — the island circuit, the extended Grand Canal run — are sold as hire with driver and do not follow the fixed-route schedule: the price is agreed beforehand, in writing where possible.
On parking, the three big multi-storey car parks publish very different rates. Venezia Tronchetto Parking charges €29 for 24 hours, on an hourly scale that starts at €6 for the first hour and flattens out at the cap from the sixth. AVM’s Autorimessa Comunale at Piazzale Roma costs €35 for 24 hours, not pro-rated, with a reduced evening rate of €15 for entries between 17:00 and 05:00. The Garage San Marco, also at Piazzale Roma, is the most expensive: €45 for 24 hours, with shorter formulas from €25 for five hours and €35 for ten.
Two practical warnings. Booking the Autorimessa Comunale online does not save you money: it gets you a guaranteed space and a dedicated access lane, not a discount. And tall vehicles — over 225 cm at Tronchetto, over 220 cm at the Autorimessa Comunale — face separate rules or simply will not fit.
How to spend less
The official fare is per boat, so the saving comes down to how many heads you have.
- San Marco at €60 between four is €15 each.
- Rialto at €50 between four is €12.50 each, about the price of one and a half vaporetto tickets.
- Six people, again to San Marco: €60 plus €10 for each of the two passengers beyond the fourth, so €80, around €13 each.
The per-person alternatives, for direct comparison: the 75-minute ACTV Rete Unica ticket (vaporetto included) is €9.50, the Venezia Daily Pass €25, a boat transfer from Piazzale Roma to San Marco sold online around €18, and Alilaguna between Ferrovia and San Marco €10 one way. Platform prices recorded at the time of checking.
Three moves that cut the bill without costing you anything:
- Leave before 22:00: the city night supplement is €10, and Consorzio Motoscafi adds €15 to its own transfers between 22:00 and 07:00. If you cannot, see Night taxi.
- Keep it to four bags: from the fifth onwards supplements kick in, on terms that vary from operator to operator. See Luggage.
- Have cash ready. Online you pay by card or PayPal; on board, card acceptance is not guaranteed.
If you arrive (or leave) by road
Piazzale Roma is also one of the active car taxi ranks. The fixed fare Marco Polo airport ↔ Piazzale Roma is €40, airport ↔ Mestre centre €35 and airport ↔ Marittima €45. The advice comes from the city itself: ask the driver explicitly for the fixed fare before the trip starts, because otherwise the meter runs (€3.20 at departure, €8 minimum, €1.70 per kilometre on tariff 1) with airport or port supplements of €4.80 and a night and holiday supplement of €3.20. Radio Taxi Venezia answers on 041 5964; the full picture is in Land taxis · Mestre.
By coach: the ATVO Airport Bus Express reaches Piazzale Roma from the airport in about twenty minutes non-stop, at €12 one way and €20 return, with unlimited luggage included; the ACTV Aerobus uses the 75-minute ticket at €10. From there you carry on by water.
Where to go from here
- If you arrive or leave by train, the jetties and fares on the other bank are in Santa Lucia Station.
- If your ship docks at the Marittima or San Basilio, the full picture is in Cruise port.
- For the airport transfer, darsena (the airport’s boat dock) included: Airport → Venice.
- To choose between a private boat and a shared seat: Private taxi.
In short
From Piazzale Roma and Tronchetto a water taxi costs €50–60 per boat to Rialto and San Marco under the city fare schedule, €40 for the Tronchetto–Ferrovia hop, and becomes competitive from the third or fourth person onwards. Below that threshold, the €1.50 People Mover, the €9.50 vaporetto or a per-seat boat transfer do the same job for far less. Decide on how many of you there are and how much luggage you have, not on how rushed you feel.
Book your boat transfer from Piazzale Roma to San Marco from €18 · ★ 0.0
Frequently asked questions
How much is a water taxi from Piazzale Roma to San Marco?
Under the fare schedule of the Comune di Venezia (the city council), the fixed route P.le Roma – Ferrovia → San Marco costs €60 per boat, €50 to Rialto and €70 to the Lido. Operators typically quote €60–90 for a short trip in the centre.
Where are the water taxi ranks at Piazzale Roma?
The city recognises two taxi ranks at Piazzale Roma, Rampa Parisi and Rio Novo, and two at Tronchetto: one at the People Mover station and one in front of the ACTV jetty. The fare sheet is displayed at each of them.
How much does the Venice People Mover cost?
€1.50 for a single ride. It is the standard 75-minute surface-network ticket, valid on buses and trams too; a book of ten costs €14. It links Tronchetto, Marittima and Piazzale Roma in about 3–4 minutes.
Is it better to leave the car at Tronchetto or Piazzale Roma?
It depends how long you are staying and what you pay for the space: Tronchetto is connected to Piazzale Roma and the Marittima by the People Mover and has two taxi ranks, while Piazzale Roma puts you straight on the water. Check the parking rates first.
What is the difference between a water taxi and an NCC in Venice?
A water taxi charges the city fare schedule; NCC (noleggio con conducente, hire with driver) is a pre-booked service at a negotiated price. Many Venetian licences are dual, meaning the same boat can work either way: ask which regime you are being charged under.
Can I take a water taxi at Piazzale Roma without booking?
Yes. Boats wait at the city ranks and you board in turn. You can also call the city's water radio-taxi on 199 48 49 50 or the Consorzio Motoscafi call centre on 041 522 2303, staffed 24 hours a day.
Is there a land taxi at Piazzale Roma?
Yes, Piazzale Roma is one of the active car taxi ranks. The fixed fare Marco Polo airport ↔ Piazzale Roma is €40: ask explicitly for the fixed fare to be applied before the trip starts.
How do I get from Tronchetto into the centre?
By water taxi (€40 on the fixed route to the Ferrovia and Piazzale Roma, €60 to Rialto or San Marco), on the People Mover for €1.50 to Piazzale Roma, or by ACTV vaporetto from the Tronchetto jetty.