Travelling from Venice to Croatia - to Istria, Split, Dubrovnik

15th June 2026

Travelling from Venice to Croatia is relatively straightforward as there are a number of ways of doing so – namely, by catamaran or bus!

Another option for travelling from Venice to Croatia would be to take one of the numerous daily trains from Venice Santa Lucia or Mestre stations to Trieste and to then change there for more transportation options to Croatia. Alternatively, take a train from Venice south along the Italian side of the Adriatic to Ancona or Bari, and then a ferry over to Zadar, Split or Dubrovnik. See the Trenitalia website for train timetables.

There are many cheap flights from the UK to Venice Marco Polo Airport, operated by various airlines. (There are also cheap flights to Venice Treviso, which is a completely different airport – see how to get from Treviso to Croatia.) So if you can’t find suitable flights direct to Croatia – to Istria in particular – flying to Venice instead and travelling across is very doable.

Travelling from Venice to Istria by catamaran

Adriatic Lines runs a catamaran from Venice to destinations in Istria – Umag, Porec, Rovinj and Pula – during the summer months. There are the most services to Porec and Rovinj, then Pula and then Umag; the latter route normally only runs during peak summer.

Travelling from Venice to Pula by Bus

There are several daily services from Venice to Pula. FILS and Brioni both run services. Do also look up schedules on Flixbus; they offer several buses per day, including some that start in Padua with stops in Porex and Rovinj along the way.

Travelling from Venice to Rijeka by Bus

Fli xbus offers bus services on this route with a journey time of around 4 hours. You can find timetables on their website and also use it to purchase tickets.

Some of the Flixbus buses also make stops at Venice and Trieste Airports on the way to Rijeka, and some buses, in fact, start from further afield in Italy, such as from Florence, Bologna or Milan. Utilising the Flixbus service from Venice (or Trieste) Airports is an excellent way of reaching Istria or the Kvarner region, especially in the winter months when there are far fewer flights to Croatia.

Flights from the UK to Venice Marco Polo

British Airways Flights from London Heathrow and London Gatwick
Easyjet Flights from London Gatwick, Bristol and East Midlands
Jet2 Flights from Birmingham, Leeds Bradford, Manchester and Edinburgh
TUI Flights from London Heathrow, London City, Bristol and Manchester

(N.B. Not all of the above flights operate all year round.)

Can I travel from Venice to Split or Dubrovnik by ferry?

It’s a question we get asked quite frequently, but unfortunately, no – there are no ferries from Venice to either Split or Dubrovnik. Aside from the catamaran services to Istria mentioned above, there is no ferry service from Venice to anywhere else in Croatia.

But what if I do want to get from Venice to Split or Dubrovnik? Flying from Venice to Croatia!

If you’re keen on making the hop from Venice to Croatia locations that are further down the Adriatic coast – Split or Dubrovnik in particular – here are your options.

Flights

There are, at present, no flights from Venice to Split or Dubrovnik.

Travelling by train

In our opinion, the best way of travelling from Venice would be to take a train down the Italian side of the Adriatic, and then take a ferry across to Croatia. You should travel to Ancona for ferry services to Split (or Zadar) or to Bari for services to Dubrovnik.

The alternative would be to travel by train in Croatia. However, train services to Split will travel via Zagreb, so this will add unnecessary hours to your journey. Travelling by train to Dubrovnik isn’t possible at all, of course, as the town has no train station.

You could travel from Venice to Trieste by train, and then take one of the daily buses from here to Split or Dubrovnik. See our guide on how to travel from Trieste to Croatia. However, the bus journey from Trieste to Split/Dubrovnik is rather long, and it’s not everyone’s cup of tea being cooped in a bus for that long!

Check for train schedules on the Trenitalia website, and then see our pages on travelling from Ancona and Bari.