The airport described by Ryanair as ‘Venice Treviso Airport’ is in fact the local airport for Treviso, a pretty town twenty miles from Venice. It’s an easy journey to Venice, with a special coach service.
About Treviso Airport
Treviso Airport (Aeroporto di Treviso; IATA code TSF) is a Ryanair destination with flights from London, Liverpool, Dublin and Shannon as well as other European cities. It’s a small airport, despite its large new terminal building, which can only really handle one flight arriving at a time. It seems to us to be well-run, however, and the staff are helpful. The airport used to be called Sant’Angelo di Treviso, but more recently it adopted the name Aeroporto di Treviso Antonio Canova, after the local sculptor.
The large barn-like terminal building was built to accommodate the busy schedule of low-cost flights. It has a massive first-floor departures hall, although the architects were criticised for overlooking the airport’s primary function. Departure gates, seemingly an afterthought, are clustered around stairwells with no space for queueing and only a handful of seats.
Food, drink, shops and services
The best place to eat is upstairs in the departures area, before security. Next to the check-in area is a decent self-service bar-cafeteria where you can buy hot or cold drinks, toasted rolls, slices of pizza and pasta (it closes around 9pm). Pay at the cash till before ordering at the counter. It’s quite a pleasant place to sit, with views over the road towards the mountains beyond. There’s also a small shop selling books, newspapers and souvenirs – a better choice of these than you’ll find after the security barrier.
After security, you’ll find a typical airport duty-free shop, selling perfumes, alcohol and pricey foodstuffs. On our last visit we couldn’t find books, postcards or the kind of cheap souvenir available outside. There are also small shops selling clothes, health and beauty stuff, not-terribly-interesting gifts, Italian football souvenirs and luggage. There is another bar with a few tables offering drinks and light snacks (rolls and cakes). There is a decent amount of seating on the first-floor level, although once you descend to the departure gates you’ll find less comfort (see our complaint above). Toilets can be found both before and after security.
Bus travel from Treviso Airport to Venice
An efficient coach service for Venice is scheduled to coincide with flights landing at Treviso. The service is run by a local company called ATVO, and the latest bus timetables and prices are available online at www.atvo.it. There are coaches specifically to serve each Ryanair flight, so if your plane is late there should still be a bus waiting. Tickets can be bought online in advance. At Treviso you can buy tickets in the airport’s arrivals hall, validate them in the machine provided, and then simply step outside to find coaches waiting on the tarmac. In Venice you can buy tickets at the ATVO office in Piazzale Roma, underneath the car park building. You can’t usually buy them on the bus.
The journey takes between 35 and 70 minutes, depending on the route and traffic, and is usually a swift and efficient service with sufficient coaches to meet demand. Most of the services stop first in Mestre, Venice’s mainland industrial zone – confirm with the driver if this is your destination as occasionally they run separate buses for each destination – before continuing over the road bridge to Piazzale Roma, Venice’s transport hub. The return journey is from Piazzale Roma, from the same bay where the buses arrive (check the timetable for the latest details). Most of the ATVO coaches are comfortable with air-conditioning, curtains to keep out the hot sun, seat belts – which should be fastened – and a hold for luggage. It’s worth looking out of the window during your journey – the regular route passes some grand old villas on the plains between Treviso and Venice.
> After arriving at Piazzale Roma
Note that occasionally two flights-worth of travellers will attempt to squeeze onto one coach at Piazzale Roma. We’ve seen a shameful rugby scrum with men pushing old women and children out of their way, and nearly coming to blows with each other in order to get on the bus. They had no need to panic: in our experience ATVO have always produced a second vehicle to meet demand.
More transport options
Local buses run by Treviso firm ACTT stop outside the airport on the main road, and these will take you into Treviso. Bus number 6 connects the airport with Treviso railway station in around 15 minutes, and continues into the centre of town, stopping in Piazza Duomo. It runs approximately every half hour – timetables are available on the ACTT website (see links panel on the right). Tickets are cheaper if you buy them in the airport / railway station before you travel.
If you’re planning to tour the area by car, you can collect a hire car at the airport from a variety of firms. Our car-rental partners are Auto Europe.
Early and late flights
The reliable ATVO bus connection to and from Venice means there’s no real need to spend the night near the airport. In Venice, too, regular boat services operate both early and late, although you can save journey time by lodging near the bus terminal at Piazzale Roma. Treviso is a very nice town, however, and if you are spending some time in the area you may wish to spend at least one night in Treviso to see the town as well as to be near the airport.
> Visiting Treviso
> Treviso hotels & B&Bs
Stranded at Treviso
If your flight arrives late you shouldn’t have problems; the bus to Venice will be waiting. But if, like us, you arrive from Venice to catch a late flight, only to find it is cancelled, you may encounter difficulties returning to Venice. Try clubbing together with other passengers to request a bus (if there are enough of you, ATVO staff may be obliging). Alternatively you could consider staying in Treviso overnight. Buses from the main road and taxis will take you into Treviso, where you may be able to catch a train to Venice (the last usually leaves at around 11.45pm).
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