Venice Travel Answers

We arrived into Marco Polo and went by Allilaguna water bus directly to Piazza San Marco - didn't take 2 hours, more like 45 mins. When you exit airport look for Allilaguna station - marked in blue. It is about a 5-7 minute walk. Take the bus on the left it is the quickest one. It is also very economical running about 7€ ? It is also quite simple. If you need assistance people will happily point it out for you inside the airport. One thing - you mention not wanting the trip to be on water bus - you will find that arriving this way into Venice gives you a wonderful "WOW" factor of seeing Venice for the first time. That alone is worth the time! Just my opinion. Homer

Note that Alilaguna runs both scheduled services and taxi services - you want the scheduled service referred to above, not the taxi service which will be ten time (maybe twenty) times more expensive. I assume you have looked at cadelcampo.it/eng/location.h... This shows you an aerial photo of the hotel and Piazza San Marco. To me, the real question is how much luggage will you be carrying? Can you two move it all yourself comfortably? You can either follow the hotel's advice to take the Alilaguna to the Giardini stop (San Marco), then walk to the hotel (100 steps, they say ;-) ). or get off at the Giardini stop, walk over to a nearby bar, sit one of you down with all your luggage while the other - now hands free - goes and finds the path to the hotel. Note that if you do this, don't sit at a bar IN Piazza San Marco, as it will be the most expensive drink you will ever have had in your life. In fact, as you know, sitting at a table in a bar doubles the price of the drink, but given your state (long flight, tired, too much luggage) it may well be worth it at a bar on a side street or even facing the water. Make sense? P.S., new prices went into effect on May 1st. It's now 15 euro one way from the airport to Piazza San Marco or 14 euro if you buy it ahead of time on the Internet. See alilaguna.it/en/tickets/fare... Bill

Alternatively, you can take the excellent, cheap, comfortable ATVO bus from directly outside Arrivals at Marco Polo airport (5 euro, 20 minutes or so) to Piazzale Roma, and then take vaporetto 1 or 2 down the Grand Canal to San Marco. ATVO timetables (click the clock): atvo.it/index.php?lang=en&ar... Vaporetti timetables and routes: actv.it/en/movinginvenice/wa... This will be the cheapest option (bar walking from P Roma, which will take you about 25 mins). 5 euro for the ATVO bus, 7 euro for the vaporetto fare (or buy a vaporetto card if you intend to use the boats a lot). Fare info: actv.it/en/movinginvenice/fa...

WOW! Thank you all for your quick responses. The info was very helpful! Stacey

Again, this is a function of the amount of luggage you have...while the ATVO bus is geared towards travelers with luggage (as everyone on the bus is going to/from the airport), the vaporetto is not. People have reported on VT having difficulty boarding the vaporetti with luggage, depending on the number of steps, the tide, and how crowded the boats are. Note that the reason the vaporetto is 7 euro is because you are a tourist - the locals pay more like 1 euro, but the city installed a penalty fare for visitors because the tourists were overwhelming local transportation. So, while leics' alternative is perfectly doable (again, if you don't have too much luggage), 14/15 euro for a direct boat to San Marco with a scenic view versus 12 euro for a bus and change to a possibly crowded vaporetto, well, I'd go for the simpler case in this case - the Alilaguna...it's hardly any more expensive and much more straightforward... To quote myself, "Trying to save money when you arrive in town tired and laden with luggage, is the wrong time to be cheap..." Bill

I'm always cheap, Bill..'tis the way I am. And I'd probably walk from P Roma to a San Marco hotel) :-) It also depends on how far one's travelled and we don't know where the OP is coming from. From the UK it's a 2 hour flight. I wouldn't feel the same if I was flying from the US.

I'm glad you guys gave me both options, and the pros/cons of each. It's so hard to figure all that out by online searches, and my travel agent has been less than helpful. We're traveling from the US, and will be exhausted after just having our wedding, family in from out of town, etc. I'm thinking, based on all your input, that we'll do the boat (14-15 euro) to San Marco, and then walk to our hotel. We're expecting to each have one good sized piece of luggage on wheels, and one carry-on. Should be managable for the walk. Thanks for everything! Stacey

Travel agents very often seem to be unhelpful/unknowing: VT is much better! :-) You've made the right decision, imo. The *only* time I've taken a taxi from an airport ever if when I flew UK>NY last year (told you I was cheap!). And I'd do the same if I was flying US>Venice, in that I'd take the simplest route using the Alilaguna boat. Be aware that you'll have to walk (with your bags) from Arrivals to the pontoon.

One major difference is that I know that leics (a good friend) has a lot of experience traveling alone, and travels quite light to boot. Also, since she is UK based, she is likely to show up in Europe better rested than us guys from the US. I don't know how much you two happy-soon-to-be newlyweds have traveled together - it's an art for two people to combine their travel styles into something that works. For us, depending on the situation (and the luggage), I indeed might drop the Official Spousal Unit off at a bar with all the luggage - she always carries a book for such a purpose - while I go scout things out and determine the best route. It sort of depends on how comfortable you two are in dragging luggage off to parts unknown. I also don't know if the hotel has a porter (you might email them and ask) - for a nice tip, this guy may accompany you back to the bar and help you with the luggage. I will note that while you are researching this, the hotel website suggested that one routing would be to take the ATVO bus, then the vaporetto to the Rialto stop - this stop appears to be actually closer to hotel than the stop near San Marco - however, the hotel website implies that you would have to go over a bridge (perhaps the Rialto bridge itself) this way as opposed to the more convenient but slightly longer trek from San Marco...again, a function of what you're carrying...as light as leics travels, I can well believe that she would just hoof it from Piazzale Roma... Bill

Crikey Bill, thank you...I don't think I travel light! I have a rucksack and a medium-sized case-on-wheels (mostly for books and because I cannot break the UK habit of packing for at least 3 seasons wherever I go). The real reason it usually weighs no more than 15kg is because I can't lift it if it's heavier (I am small) But when I have travelled with others a cabin bag and a medium-sized suitcase each does the trick. I am entirely bemused by those I see with two huge suitcases (or more!) and two huge cabin bags just for a couple of weeks' visit (or less). Clothes-washing and laundry facilities do exist in Europe. :-)

Thanks Leics and Bill, you have saved me posting this question. We will pay the extra money as we will be exhaused after the flight from Australia. Now all I have to do is book the accommodation and it will be close to a water taxi wharf, as we will get lost for certain if we have to trolly luggage through the streets. The good thing is our flight is scheduled to arrive Marco Polo at 2:05 pm and hopefully we will be through customs by 3:30pm, to enjoy a daylight ferry ride to our hotel. Mike

You may be even quicker than that. I flew in to MC in March (from outside Schengen, so I went through the usual border control/customs checks) and we were sitting on the bus to Mestre outside Arrivals 25 minutes after landing time (I checked my watch)! Fastest I've ever got through anywhere, I think!