Munich Airport to Venice

Venice doesn't have a road into it. The city sits on 118 small islands separated by canals, and the closest a car can get is Piazzale Roma - a large parking hub at the western entrance to the island, connected to the rest of Venice by the single Ponte della Libertà causeway. A private transfer from Munich Airport deposits you there in around 4 hours 15 minutes, from where a vaporetto or water taxi takes you the rest of the way. It is the only practical door-to-door option from the airport that doesn't require a train connection into the city centre.

The route follows the A8 motorway south from Munich, crosses into Austria near Kufstein, climbs through Innsbruck and over the Brenner Pass, then descends the A22 through the Adige Valley - past Trento, Bolzano, and Rovereto - before joining the A4 near Verona and heading east to Venice. Two Schengen border crossings: no passport control for EU travellers, but ID documents are worth having. Austrian motorway vignette and Italian A22 and A4 tolls apply - most carriers include these in the quoted price; confirm at booking.

Summer traffic on the Brenner corridor is among the heaviest in the Alps. Saturday changeover days in July and August can add an hour or more between Munich and Innsbruck. If your journey falls on a peak Saturday - particularly during school holiday periods in Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, or North Rhine-Westphalia - plan the departure time with your carrier. They know the route and the patterns.

Venice itself draws visitors for almost every reason imaginable: the Biennale runs from April to November in alternate years (Art Biennale and Architecture Biennale), Venice Carnival draws 3 million visitors in late January and February, and the Venice Film Festival in September brings an A-list crowd to the Lido. Demand for transfers into Venice is consistent across all these periods.