Our flight home from Venice is 6AM and we are concerned that we will not be able to get transportation to the airport at that early hour. We were told to take an airport hotel for the last night, but I hate to give up an evening in Venice. Does anyone have any information about early transfers? Thank you.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kim,
IMO, you have two very good options for an early departure: 1) Make arrangements for a water taxi. If you're staying in a hotel, they can make the call for you the night before; if an apartment, there are several water taxi booths around the city where you can stop in and reserve in advance.
A 4:30am pickup will get you to the Venice airport in plenty of time to check in. Be aware that there's a little walk from the docks to the actual airport.
2) Take a vaporetto or taxi to Piazzale Roma and take a land cab to the airport. You'll be dropped off right at the departure gates. Cost in 2002 for this option was around E25 including tip.
Posts: 14516 | Location: The Beautiful San Francisco Bay Area | Registered: 06 August 2001
We ahd a 7 am flight out of Venice one trip. We were supposed to leave on a saturday but our flight got cancelled and we had to stay one more night in Venezia (dang I hate it when that happens!) We left our luggage at the left luggage office at the airport after cehcking to see that we could retrieve out stuff for the return flight. We stayed in a hotel nopt too far from San Marco and we walked to the alilaguana stop and took the boat to the airport. We took a boat at 4am (they run once an hour) and got to the airport by 5am and change. It was simple and we got to have dinner the night before at our favorite restaurant, Fiaschetteria Toscana.
You have been gven three good options for gettng to the airport. My preference would be for either of the two Colleen suggested. You can get an early vaporetto, a water taxi or walk to the Piazzale Roma depending on where you hotel is located. The water taxi will run about 50 Euro. A land taxi from the Piazale Roma to hte airport will be about 30 Euro; you can probably also take a bus to the airport. The blue airport bus is about $2.00; the regular bus is less than a euro, but it does make stops along the way. Neither bus takes more than 20-25 minutes. All land transport will leave you in front of the departure terminal A water taxi to the airport is about 85 euro; after 6:00 there are free shuttle buses to ferry you to the terminal, but before 6:00 you must walk. There are usually luggage carts around, but I do not htink yo ushould count on there being one. You walk past the old terminal buildings, which are visible from the road where you will be standing. When you come to the end of the old buildings, you must cross a road and you will be just to the left of the new buildng; you will see it on your right and you just walk on over to it. I am a very slow walker and it took me barely ten minutes to do this in May. The Alilaguna time is a little unpredictable since it is affected by how many people get on at each stop. I also do not especially like being inside for the ride. I'd rather be in a water taxi so I can stand outside or say goodbye to Venice at the Piazzale Roma and sadly return to being a land creature then and there.
Posts: 838 | Location: NJ | Registered: 07 July 2002
Private water taxi is the only option thaty makes any sense,other options will take 1.5 hours(connect to bus wait etc.)We did a 4 or 5am pickup which our hotel arranged but it will cost more like 70 but well worth not waking up another hour earlier! Rr
Posts: 6525 | Location: Culver City, CA, USA | Registered: 08 November 2002
quote:Originally posted by Robert Rainey: Private water taxi is the only option thaty makes any sense,other options will take 1.5 hours(connect to bus wait etc.)We did a 4 or 5am pickup which our hotel arranged but it will cost more like 70 but well worth not waking up another hour earlier! Rr
A water taxi from Venice to the airport is 85 Euro, and with the current covnersion rate it is more not less in dollars. My preference would be for a water taxi, but there are other valid options for those wo do not want to lay out that many euro. The bus or land taxi route makes for a very short ride; if you were to bring your luggage to the airport a day early, or if you travel light, you can walk to the Piazzale Roma in about 15-20 minutes from many areas of Venice or you can walk to the Rialto and pick up at 82 vaporetto which is the express. The Alilaguna does take 90 minutes which is why I would not recommend for an early mornng departure.
Posts: 838 | Location: NJ | Registered: 07 July 2002
Boleskine; thanks for the great information about the alternative.
But I highly recommend the watertaxi for a memorable way to end your trip. I had the same question before our trip to Venice last year and slightly considered staying in Mestre. We ended up with watertaxi and never regretted it. The memories! Check out this thread for my experience and some other ST members memories of taking the watertaxi.
Posts: 7716 | Location: Edmonds, WA | Registered: 25 October 2001
Less than two years ago it was not more than 70 dollars.However it would be worth $100 to avoid shlepping bags to airport day before or shleeping bags through Venice over bridges etc.Trust me I have done this before,that is one major reason we were going to stay at a hotel very near a vaporetto stop on our upcoming trip,but alas we canceled Venice and Tuscany portion and are focusing on north west Italy.RR
[This message was edited by Robert Rainey on 02 September 2003 at 03:26 PM.]
Posts: 6525 | Location: Culver City, CA, USA | Registered: 08 November 2002
The Alilaguna is not even an option since the first boat leaves San Marco at 4:35 AM and does not get to the airport until 5:45 A.M.
Water taxis are great, but if you let us know where you'll be staying we can let you know the ease with which you can get to a cheaper land taxi. Also, you could stay the last night at a hotel near Piazzale Roma and walk to the land bus or taxi. Albergo al Sole is near Piazzale Roma, and there is a Sofitel hotel practically on Piazzale Roma. It would be better than staying in Mestre.
THANK YOU SHANNON FOR YOUR SUGGESTIONS. WE ARE STAYING AT THE PALAZZO ODOINI - FONDAMENTA MINOTTO 0 SANTA CROCE - WITHING WALKING DISTANCE TO P.ROMA. THIS WAS PURELY BY ACCIDENT SINCE WE COULD NOT GET A HOTEL IN SAN MARCO FOR UNDER $300. P/N (RATES HAVE BEEN DOUBLED DURING THAT WEEK - WHY?). ANYWAY I THOUGHT WE COULD WALK TO P.ROMA AND GET A LAND TAXI OR BUS (FIRST DEPARTURE 4AM) TO AIRPORT. I WAS TOLD A WATER TAXI WOULD COST $100. P/P AND NOT VERY RELIABLE. ANY HELP WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED. THE ITALIAN TOURIST OFFICE TOLD ME THAT THE RATE INCREASE/LACK OF HOTELS WAS DUE TO "LA BIENNELI" - DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS FESTIVAL? THANK YOU...
Water taxi prices are NOT per person.It may now be about $100 total ask at your hotel,they arranged a ride for us it arrived exactly on time at 5 am or so.I guess you have to ask how much is it worth to not have to drag your bags to the bus lug them on etc.Also allows at least another 30 minutes to hour to sleep.RR
Posts: 6525 | Location: Culver City, CA, USA | Registered: 08 November 2002
Nandel, you are staying so close to Piazzale Roma you could spit on it. In this case it would be silly to take a water taxi, unless you want to pay a lot of money to ride in the dark. Basically you will walk over three bridges and you're there. You could even take the bus - it is the #7 I think - takes a half an hour and costs about a dollar. Get your ticket the day before, and between walking to the bus and riding on the bus your whole trip shouldn't be more than 45 minutes. Just make sure you get there in time to catch the bus you need to catch.
The Biennale is a big art festival in Venice.
Make sure you get a good map before you go. Staying where you are staying is not the most exciting area, but you can get down to Campo Santa Margherita, and the Rialto pretty quickly. The rest of the city is a bit of a hike, but with good shoes and a vaporetto pass you'll be able to get around just fine.
My apologies Chris, it was not my intention to be rude.
Shannon, thank you for all you help. I agree the beauty of departing Venice via water taxi would be lost in the darkness. I will order a land taxi to depart from P.Roma.
We are still trying to locate accommodations closer to St. Marks, but I fear we are going to have to settle for Santa Croce. Still have a few weeks to cancel without penalty.
Shannon could you expand on the "not most exciting area". I understood it to mean "residential,not many sights, out of the way" - am I correct?
Just ordered your book from Amazon - plan to dine on your recommendations. I am so impressed with your wealth of knowledge - you even know how many bridges we have to cross. Thank you for all your help Shannon.
<nandel>
Posted
Marta....I went to the thread you suggested and truly enjoyed the dialogue between you and Shannon - now I understand why Shannon is a wealth of information. I did a seach prior to posting my question and came up "nil". Your qestion was the same as mine, and you had the same flight - guess I don't know how to navigate the site yet. Did you post a trip report - I would love to share your experience? I am so apprehensive about this Palazzo Odoni - hope I find alternate accommodations closer to St. Marks. Thank you Marta.
The Palazzo Odani looks pretty nice to me! I would stick with it. The area around there isn't exciting but it isn't horrible, either - it is one of the newer areas so it doesn't have the centuries-old feeling that much of the rest of Venice does. But hey, you can walk to the those parts in five minutes. And you will be able to take lots of late night trips up the Grand Canal coming home from St. Marks (get a pass so you can ride all you want.) How much time will you be in your room anyway? Spend the money you save on a gondola or a fantastic meal somewhere.
Oops... I've been caught. I didn't write up a trip report for Venice. I may have some notes that I can post. We had an apartment and we ended up not eating out much. Instead we did a lot of shopping at the Rialto market and having a leisurely dinners on the roof top terrace. But my notes do detail where and what we did each day.
Posts: 7716 | Location: Edmonds, WA | Registered: 25 October 2001
quote:Originally posted by dale: I am forever grateful for Delta 155 leaving for JFK at 12:35. Taking it again later this month.
We love that flight but unfortunately Delta discontinued it during April and May of this year. The one advantage to taking the earlier - much earlier - Alitalia flight was that we had a quick and easy trip from JFK to NJ instead of having to fight rush hour traffic.
Posts: 838 | Location: NJ | Registered: 07 July 2002
In May, 2002 we took a water taxi at 5:00 a.m. from near our hotel (Hotel Bellini) to the airport. I am sure your hotel can make the arrangements. It was a special event in and of itself, since you get to see early morning Venice. Our driver went slowly through Venice because the police carefully monitor the speed of boats. However, once the driver hit the open water, he opened the throttle - exhilarating. It was a great experience - nice way to end your visit to Venice. Don't miss it. Richard Hirschman http://www.pbase.com/doowopper
quote:Originally posted by nandel: My apologies Chris, it was not my intention to be rude.
Shannon, thank you for all you help. I agree the beauty of departing Venice via water taxi would be lost in the darkness. I will order a land taxi to depart from P.Roma.
We are still trying to locate accommodations closer to St. Marks, but I fear we are going to have to settle for Santa Croce. Still have a few weeks to cancel without penalty.
Shannon could you expand on the "not most exciting area". I understood it to mean "residential,not many sights, out of the way" - am I correct?
Just ordered your book from Amazon - plan to dine on your recommendations. I am so impressed with your wealth of knowledge - you even know how many bridges we have to cross. Thank you for all your help Shannon.
>>>>
I see nothing wrong with the area in which you are staying. You can walk easily to other areas. We much prefer the San Polo/Santa Croce/Dorsduro side of the canal to the San Marco side which is a great place to visit for a while. There is so much more to Venice than San Marco, and you will be in the perfect position to see it. you can travel by vaporetto, or on foot using bridges or the traghetti to cross to the other side. Do treat yourself to a good map and a vaporetto pass. Our book has lots of restaurants on that side of the canal too, Have a wonderful time.
Posts: 838 | Location: NJ | Registered: 07 July 2002
quote:Originally posted by nandel: Our flight home from Venice is 6AM and we are concerned that we will not be able to get transportation to the airport at that early hour. We were told to take an airport hotel for the last night, but I hate to give up an evening in Venice.
If you change your mind about taking a water taxi from Venice to the airport very early in the morning, THIS is a good hotel and if you are sleepless in Venice-Tessera, there is a great Casino very close to the hotel.
"Canto alla vita alla sua bellezza ad ogni sua ferita ogni sua carezza..."
"I sing to life, to its beauty, to each of its wounds and each of its caresses..."
[This message was edited by Amy on 12 September 2003 at 03:27 AM.]
Posts: 1831 | Location: New York, New York | Registered: 21 December 2002
Topic Closed
I didn't write up a trip report for Venice. I may have some notes that I can post. We had an apartment and we ended up not eating out much. Instead we did a lot of shopping at the Rialto market and having a leisurely dinners on the roof top terrace. But my notes do detail where and what we did each day.
