There isn't a high speed line on the eastern side of Italy, but the Frecciarossa 700 trains, are used for this useful direct connection between Venice/Venezia and the coastal resorts and ferry ports on the Adriatic
Final Destination: Lecce
These trains also call at: Venezia Mestre and Rimini, and Ancona and Pescara
These two trains, which are usually scheduled to depart from Venezia S. Lucia station at 06:53 and 14:52, are the only direct trains from Venice to Bari.
2 x trains per day
*Save by booking in advance: Yes, for more details on how to obtain the cheapest prices for Frecce trains see the guide to Italian rail tickets.
Online bookings usually open: up to 6 months ahead of the travel date; though the booking period will be typically be shorter when looking up journeys for travel after the second Sunday in December.
When looking up a Venice to Bari train journey on the ticket agent websites, most of the journey options will involve changing trains in Bologna, but these two direct trains are usually scheduled to depart daily from Venezia S. Lucia station at 06:53 and 14:52.
Rail Pass Users:
If you will be using a rail pass to travel in Italy, you can save €10 by not taking these direct Frecc trains and instead:
(1) Take a Regionale Veloce train from Venice to Bologna, and then...
(2) Take an IC train from Bologna to Bari
Though if you'll want the peace of mind of being able to remain in the same seat for the entire journey on the IC, paying the optional €3 reservation fee is virtually essential.
However if you will be heading to Bari to take an 18:00 or 19:30 ferry to Patras in Greece, our advice is to take the first Frecce train of the day from Venice.
Thereby giving yourself more than three hours to in order to give yourself enough time to make the transfer to the port in Bari and check-in for the sea crossing; with some contingency to allow for a delay to the train.
Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
---|---|---|
Trenitalia | from €29.90 | |
Italia Rail | from €29.90 | |
Save A Train | from €29.90 | |
OBB | from €29.90 |
Connecting to the ferries to Greece:
The first train of the day from Venice is usually scheduled to arrive in Bari at 14:27, so if you are booked on a ferry to Patras that departs at 18:00 or 19:30, you should have time to make the transfer between Bari Centrale station and the ferry port.
Click on the 'Bari Centrale' station guide to access the details of how to make the transfer.
Like all departures from Venice one of the highlights of the journey comes at the very beginning of the trip, as the train heads out over the lagoon to the mainland - with the best of the views on the right.
Then on to Bologna and then Rimini the train travels across flat farm land, with nothing much to see - though the best is yet to come!
If your reserved seat is on the left* of the train (when facing the direction of travel) you'll be able to fully appreciate the highlights of the journey - which kick in after the train has departed from Rimini.
*If your seat isn't on the left, temporarily move over to one which is.
Once the train has travelled around 20 mins south of Rimini, you'll be able to revel in one of the best coastal train journeys in all of Europe.
For much of this part of the trip, the beach is all that separates The Adriatic from the train - a particular highlight is the part of the journey to the north of Ancona.
The sea views then continue, with the train travelling by the coast for around an hour either side of Pescara.
Though if you take the second train of the day, then these views can only be seen between March and October.
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This is one of more than 100 train travel guides available on ShowMeTheJourney, which will make it easier to take the train journeys you want or need to make. As always, all images were captured on trips taken by ShowMeTheJourney.