Venice Train Station called Venezia Santa Lucia is the main railway station in Venice, the city in Italy. If you are planning to travel by train to Venice and stop at Santa Lucia station, you will be able to find currency exchange at the main Venice Railway Station but don't expect to get a fair foreign exchange deal here.
Currency Exchange Offices
There are two currency exchange offices at Venezia Santa Lucia Railway Station. However, they offer identical foreign exchange rates as both these offices are managed by the company ForexChange that is offering currency exchange services at other train stations in Italy as well. While finding a place to exchange your currency at Venice Train Station is not difficult, we wouldn't recommend making any arrangements at these offices unless you absolutely must do that because here you would be losing a huge part of your money.
On Google you can find many negative reviews about the money changers operating at Venice Train Station as in addition to the displayed unattractive exchange rates they are also charging a fixed fee and commission that are not published nor communicated before the transaction. The customers of these currency exchange offices report of losing about 1/3 of their money so you should avoid them and find a better place in the city to exchange your money.
The fixed fee that is charged for every transaction and commission rates are not clearly displayed but the reports from their previous customers suggest that the money changer is additionally charging around 9.5 EUR fixed fee (might be subject to the currency and amount exchanged) and extra 19.9% commission. The staff is usually not providing such information in advance so you won't know how much money you will be losing until they hand over you the exchanged cash.
Currency Exchange Rates
On the day of our visit, currency exchange rates at Venice Train Station were not very attractive even without taking into consideration the fixed fee and huge extra commission charged on top of that.
What currency exchange rates can be expected at Venezia Santa Lucia Railway Station?
USD to EUR exchange rate at Venice Train Station
The mid-market USD exchange rate on the day of our visit was 0.9819 US Dollar for 1 Euro, so the rate offered at train station (1.052 USD/EUR) was by 0.0701 USD or 7.1% worse than the exchange rate at the market.
As it's only the difference between the displayed exchange rate and the mid-market rate, you need to add 19.9% commission and the fixed fee to this markup for knowing how much money you are losing by exchanging money at this currency exchange office. Depending on the amount exchanged, you would be losing about 30-36% of your money by exchanging your USD at Venice Train Station. Doesn't sound like a fair deal!
Reports on Google correspond with this evaluation as customers who have dealt with this money changer have lost more than 30% of their money by exchanging US Dollars at Venice Train Station.
GBP to EUR exchange rate at Venice Train Station
The mid-market GBP exchange rate on the day of our visit was 0.8808 Pound Sterling for 1 Euro, so the rate offered at train station (0.984 GBP/EUR) was by 0.1032 GBP or 11.7% worse than the exchange rate at the market.
The exchange rate at Venezia Santa Lucia is much worse than you could get at any reputable currency exchange office. Add 19.9% commission and fixed fee to this rate and by exchanging GBP at Venice Train Station in most cases you will be losing more than 1/3 of your money.
Exchange rates of other currencies at Venice Train Station
As you can see above, exchange rates for the most popular currencies at Venice Railway Station are far from being competitive and are much worse than your bank would use for your international ATM withdrawals. Exchange of less popular currencies at this place can mean even bigger loses.
The mid-market CHF exchange rate at the time was 0.9578 Swiss Franc for 1 Euro, so the rate offered at the railway station (1.038 CHF/EUR) was by 0.0802 CHF or about 8.4% worse than the market rate. Extra 19.9% commission and fixed fee makes you loose more than 30% of your money in a deal involving CHF currency.
The mid-market JPY exchange rate at the time was 141.8 Japanese Yen for 1 Euro, so the rate offered at the railway station (154.997 JPY/EUR) was by 13.197 JPY or about 9.3% worse than the market rate. Add 19.9% commission and fixed fee and you will be losing more than 33% of your money here.
In most cases you will be losing more than 30% of your money if exchanging any of less popular currencies at Venice Railway Station. Avoid exchanging your currency here!
Tips
If you need cash at the main train station of Venice, it might be better just to withdraw money from ATM. To get the best exchange rate on your withdrawals, make sure to stick to the ATMs of legitim banks and to use the card from Wise.