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A cruise ship moored below a pastel hillside town on the Mediterranean coast

Adriatic · Cruise port guide

Venice (Marghera and Ravenna)

Still on Adriatic itineraries, but no longer a berth in the city — large ships were barred from the historic basin in 2021 and now use the mainland.

  • Ships dock
  • No longer docks in the city
  • St Mark’s
  • Lagoon islands

Port basics

These are the patterns Venice normally operates on. Berth assignments, tender arrangements and time in port vary by ship, line and day, and we confirm the specifics for your sailing once we know the dates.

Planning a group cruise that calls at Venice?

About Venice

Sailing into Venice past St Mark’s was one of the great arrivals in cruising, and it no longer happens. In 2021 Italy banned large ships from the Giudecca Canal and the historic basin, citing damage to the lagoon and the foundations of the city, after years of campaigning. Ships now use Marghera on the industrial mainland, or Ravenna and Trieste further away.

The practical consequence for a group is that the transfer is now the defining feature of the day. From Marghera it is a shuttle and then a vaporetto or train — manageable, but an hour each way. From Ravenna, 150 km south, Venice is a full-day coach excursion and many passengers reasonably choose to see Ravenna instead.

That is not the consolation prize it sounds. Ravenna has eight UNESCO-listed buildings holding the finest Byzantine mosaics outside Istanbul, and the Basilica of San Vitale and the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia are as good as anything in Venice, with a fraction of the crowds.

If you do reach Venice, the islands are the escape. Murano for glass, Burano for its painted houses, and Torcello for the near-empty cathedral where the city effectively began — all reachable by vaporetto, and all markedly quieter than the route between St Mark’s and the Rialto.

Going ashore in Venice

Within reach on foot

  • Nothing at the berth — Marghera is an industrial port and Ravenna is a different city
  • In Venice itself: St Mark’s Square, the Basilica and the Doge’s Palace
  • The Rialto Bridge and the market beside it
  • The Accademia and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection

What the port is known for

  • Murano and Burano, the glass and lace islands in the lagoon
  • A gondola or traghetto crossing of the Grand Canal
  • Ravenna’s Byzantine mosaics, if that is your port
  • Padua and the Scrovegni Chapel

How ships berth here

Large cruise ships have been banned from the Giudecca Canal and St Mark’s Basin since August 2021. Ships now berth at Marghera, the industrial port on the mainland about 10 km from the historic centre, or at Ravenna or Trieste further along the coast. Confirm which port your sailing actually uses — the difference is an hour or more.

Access and mobility

Venice is difficult: the city is connected by hundreds of stepped bridges, though a network of accessible routes and the vaporetto make much of the main islands reachable. The transfer from Marghera or Ravenna adds substantially to the day.

Weather and when ships call

Hot and humid in summer, 28–32°C, with mosquitoes around the lagoon in the evening. Autumn brings acqua alta, the tidal flooding that puts duckboards across St Mark’s Square.

Cruise season

Calls April to October

Typical itinerary length

Venice usually appears on 7 nights Adriatic itineraries. April – October.

Ports often paired with Venice

Itineraries that call here usually call at these too, so it is worth reading them together when you are comparing weeks.

Explore further

Bringing a group to Venice?

We hold five cabins or more together as a single block, quote it once, and let each household book and pay separately. Tell us roughly when and how many.

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