We are staying in Venice for a few days again and want to take a bus to Villach, Austria. I am finding sites for Austria about the buses, but nothing about getting the bus in Venice. We only want to spend the day and return early evening. Any help on this would really help. Thank you.
Personally I really don't see that as a day trip. By train or bus (or combo) it's a probably 4-6 hrs each way. That would certainly be beyond my day trip parameters, but everyone's different and you might not find that transportation time excessive. Even if you rented a car and drove it would be about 3-1/2 hours each way without stops, but it would be a nice drive.
According to rome2rio.com, it's a 2.5 hour drive, close to 5 hours by train/bus.
You may be right about the drive time Zoe, but in my experience the Rome2rio drive times are somewhat understated. Viamichelin.com shows 3 hrs 13 min, without comfort stops and I always pad the times a little.
The bus from Venice Tronchetto station to Villach takes over 3 hours each way. Not really a day trip, in my opinion. What is the draw with Villach anyway? Wouldn't be my first choice for a Venice day trip.
The bus departs from Tronchetto, is operated by the Austrian railway, and tickets are sold on their web site: www.oebb.at. It does take 3.5 hours each way and runs just a few times per day in each direction.
An all-train alternative is available. Venice to Udine by Trenitalia train, then Mi.Co.Tra. train from Udine to Villach.
Here is the Mi.Co.Tra timetable: