Venice to Split?

We did it in the opposite direction (Split to Venice) by highway with our rental car. We actually rented the car in Venice, worked our way thru parts of Slovenia and Croatia, then returned to Venice by way of Split. The highways were great, and it was nice to drive alongside the sea, even if we weren't on the water itself. There may be ferries from Venice or other cities in Italy to Split, but a rental car worked great for us.

http://www.rome2rio.com/s/Venice/Split will give you various options. My preference would be for the Ancona - Split ferry.

Cyn, I woneder, how long did it take you to go there by car?

It was way back in late June 2004, so the road/traffic conditions may have changed since then, and there's always the variable of weather and any side trips or stops someone might make, but it took less than a day.

I know we made some stops along the way in a couple of interesting towns, but we left Split in the morning (maybe 9 or 10 AM - don't remember from 11 years ago), and turned in the rental car at the train station on the mainland by Venice in time to check in to our rental apartment - probably around 4:30 or 5 PM. Someone in a hurry could do it in far less time, even without speeding :-)

Check out Go Opti (a Slovenian shuttle ride service) and see if they connect Split to Venice. If not, your other option is fly from Split to Zagreb (1 hour flight), then Go Opti from Zagreb to Venice (about 2-3 hours).

I just recently returned from a trip through Italy and Croatia. Hope I am not too late to answer your question. There was no ferry between Venice and Split when we were there. Not sure if one runs in summer. We took the train (open seating, very cheap, no reservations needed - just buy ticket at machine in Venice) from Venice to Treste. We walked outside the train station and across the street to the bus station and caught a bus to Rijeka, Croatia and picked up a rental car there. The whole process worked smoothly and was inexpensive - even the rental car. We used fleetrental.com and could drive anywhere in the Balkans without extra charge, and we did that. We ended our trip in Dubrovnik, where we turned in our rental car before spending 4 days there and catching the ferry to Bari. Driving there was so easy, even without a gps. Our map was not very good, either, but we just stopped for directions whenever we thought we were lost and people were so helpful. I believe the rental car, with insurance, for 18 days was $141. It gave us a great deal of independence. We did not make reservations too far in advance, and used booking.com to find hotels as we went along.

I feel sure that there has not been a Venice-Split ferry for many years; there is Ancona-Split or Venice-Pula/Rovinj area (slower train connections). You can also fly Venice-Split on Volotea, though it departs very early.