There are four ways to get to your lodging or any other destination in Venice after arriving at the Santa Lucia train station.

They continue on foot.
They take a water taxi.
They take the People Mover.
They take public transportation (vaporetti).

1. They walk

If your destination is near Piazzale Roma, Just keep walking. Enter your destination in Google Maps, and it will guide you safely along the best and fastest route to your destination.

2. You take a water taxi

There is a water taxi stop right on Piazzale Roma. Head over to the water taxis, hop on, and off you go.

And now you might have a problem.

Either: If you've booked a water taxi online, the taxi will, of course, be waiting for you. You get in, and it will take you to any destination in Venice or throughout the lagoon.

Or: As soon as you arrive, you head straight to the taxi stand and hope that a vacant taxi is waiting there to take you to your destination.

Of course, both options are possible. And both may carry a risk:

If you've booked a taxi online and arrive on time, get in, and drive off, everything is perfect. However, if your trip is delayed (due to traffic on the highway), the taxi driver will, of course, wait for you, and you'll then pay for the driver's waiting time as well.

The Best Solution: You’ll know well in advance whether you’ll arrive on time or not. If you get stuck in traffic or think you might, call the taxi dispatch center here in Venice (in English) and let them know you’ll be late. The taxi dispatch center will then decide whether the taxi driver will wait for you free of charge if the delay is minor, or whether another taxi will be assigned to you.

3. Take the People Mover.

On the north side of the square, right between the two parking garages—Autorimessa (on the right here) and Garage San Marco (on the left in the picture)—is the People Mover. It takes you right to the heart of the harbor in just one stop. Click here: The People Mover in Venice

4. You take public transportation (vaporetti).

On the right side of the picture, you can see a Line 1 water bus (vaporetto) at the terminal. On the left side of the picture is Piazzale Roma with the Autorimessa parking garage. Piazzale Roma is the central transportation hub on the northern outskirts of Venice. That is why many vaporetto lines stop here:

Line 1:

Line 2:

Lines 4.1 and 4.2

Lines 5.1 and 5.2

The Night Line N:

You can find a detailed description of the vaporetto, including prices, schedules, and stops, at these links:

Overview of All Vaporetto Lines

Vaporetto Lines 1 through 5 – Vaporetto Lines 6 through 10 – Vaporetto Lines 11 through 15 – Vaporetto Lines 16 through 22 – The Vaporetto Night Lines

The exact schedules with departure times for all lines:

Line 1 – Line 2 – Line 3 – Line 4 – Line 5 – Line 6 – Line 7 – Line 8 – Line 9 – Line 10 – Line 11 – Line 12 – Line 13 – Line 14 – Line 15 – Line 16 – Line 17 – Line 18 – Line 20 – Line 22 – Night Line N – Night Line NLN – NMU Night Line

Major Vaporetto Destinations in Venice – The following Vaporetto lines stop here:

St. Mark's Square – Piazzale Roma – Train Station (Ferrovia) – Tronchetto Park Island – Rialto Bridge – Lido – Murano – Burano – Punta Sabbioni

You can see which types of Vaporetti are used here: Overview of Vaporetto Types

From Piazzale Roma to the train station

From Piazzale Roma, take the new bridge—the Ponte della Costituzione, shown here in the photo—and you'll be at the train station in no more than 5 minutes.

Your Vaporetto online ticket.

Especially at Piazzale Roma, with its extremely high volume of visitors, you’ll often find yourself waiting in line at the ticket counter. And it would be a real bummer if the vaporetto left right in front of you. If you’re arriving in Venice via Piazzale Roma, it’s especially advisable to book your ticket online in advance.