Take a train from the shores of Lake Geneva to the banks of The Grand Canal

This train is usually scheduled to depart from Geneve daily at 05:39; if this timing doesn't suit take a later train from Geneve to Milano and connect there for Venezia/Venice.

Final Destination: Venezia S. Lucia

The train also calls at: Verona, Vicenza and Padova/Padua and Venezia Mestre

If you will be heading to the historic heart of Venice, take care not to leave the train at this station, remain on the train until its next station call, Venezia S.Lucia.

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings open: Up to 180 days / 6 months ahead of the travel date - though booking periods will be shorter when travelling after the second Sunday in December.

Three types of ticket will typically be made available, Standard, Saver Flex and Saver - all types of ticket are only valid on the specific departure selected when booking.

The very cheapest type of ticket, Saver tickets, are taken off sale 7 days prior to departure.

The mid-price type of ticket, Saver Flex, are taken off sale 3 days prior to departure.

Exchanges

• Up until departure, the most expensive type of ticket, Standard tickets, can be for exchanged for another day of travel or travel time on the exact same route without paying any additional fees.
• Up until departure, the mid priced type of ticket, Saver Flex tickets, can be for exchanged for another day of travel or travel time on the exact same route, but the price difference with Standard tickets, at the time of exchange, will need to be paid.
• The cheapest type of tickets, Saver tickets, cannot be exchanged.

Additional information is available on the SBB website.

Refunds

• Up until departure, the most expensive type of ticket, Standard tickets, tickets can be returned and purchasers will receive 80% of the price paid.
• The mid priced type of ticket, Saver Flex tickets, cannot be refunded.
• The cheapest type of tickets, Saver tickets, cannot be refunded.

Seat reservations

Reservations are mandatory on the Italian section of the journey, so seats are assigned when booking all types of tickets.

Rail pass users

If you will be travelling with valid Eurail or InterRail passes, you will need to pay a rail pass reservation fee when boarding these direct trains for a journey to Italy.
Though avoid paying for these reservation fees at a station in Switzerland, because if you do so you, will also have to pay a 11CHF booking fee.

Child tickets

Children aged 6 -15 receive a 20% discount, those aged 5 and under aren't charged for a ticket.
Note that these terms are different to the national child ticket policies in Italy and Switzerland.
And the terms are also different for Swiss children travelling with a Junior Travelcard.

Bike tickets

When travelling with a non-folding bike, spaces must be reserved, but you need to make a simultaneous purchase of your travel ticket + the bike reservation on the Trenitalia website.

Dog tickets

Dog tickets seemingly aren't available for this end-to-end international journey, a dog pass will need to be purchased for the Swiss part of the trip and a dog ticket is required for the Italian section of the journey, see the dogs on trains guide.

When available the daily direct train from Geneve to Venezia / Venice departs before 06:00am.

This crack of dawn start can be avoided daily, by taking the train which typically departs at around 13:40 and has an easily timed, near guaranteed connection, of around 90 minutes into a train on to Venezia S. Lucia.
The arrival time into Venice will be around 21:45.

On Saturday and Sunday there is an additional option, which also has only one connection between trains, which is available when departing Geneve at around 07:40.

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings usually open: 4 months ahead of the travel date; though this period of time can be shorter, particularly when searching for journeys more than three months ahead during October and March.

Reservations will automatically be assigned when booking tickets (but rail pass users will need to make reservations prior to boarding at a ticket office - they're not available from the Trenitalia ticket machines)

Rail Pass Users:

If you will be travelling with a valid Eurail or InterRail pass you will either to pay the reservation fee to travel on this train

Our guide to using using rail passes to travel from Italy has all the info you'll need, OR you can avoid paying the fee by following this alternative routing.