Train travel- Venice to Vienna

There are several bus/train runs from Venice to Vienna shown on www.bahn.de (great German rail website). The journey takes between 8.0-9.0hrs and involves a bus from the Tronchetto in Venice (large garage parking area) to Villach, Austria where you pick up the Austrian train to Vienna. I used to see train runs from Venice to Villach but I'm not seeing them at the moment. I do see a train from Venice Santa Lucia to Udine which is 2.0hrs away but its a bus from Udine to Villach. Thus, I don't see a train all the way.

Jane, Going from Venice to Vienna (day), I myself would forgo the option of taking the bus and going to Villach Hbf. To avoid that I suggest Venice to Innsbruck ( You have to change in Verona), then Innsbruck to Vienna direct. If there's a Railjet train there available for to change to in May, you should arrive in Vienna (Westbahnhof) a bit after 20:00. The whole journey this way requires you to transfer twice with comfortable time to do that.

The bus from Tronchetto to Villach does start in Tronchetto but stops again in 20 min at Venice Mestre, which is on the mainland across the causeway from Santa Lucia, which is on the island. Mestre is much easier to get to from the island than is Tronchetto. Reservations are required for the bus, so you should have a seat when it gets to Mestre. If your railpass includes Italy and Austria, the bus will be covered. For the train from Venice to Innsbruck, you don't necessarily have to change in Verona. There is an EC leaving Venice at 13:34, arriving in Innsbruck at 18:32. From there, there is a RailJet leaving at 19:06, getting to Vienna at 23:44.

Its not hard to get to Tronchetto. Vaporetto line 2 stops there 2 stops after Ferrovia, the train station. If you go to Mestre there are no elevators or escalators up and down to the platforms and into the station, and the station is not the most straightforward.