TRANSPORTATION
ARRIVAL BY AIR: The majority of visitors will arrive in Venice by air, and it's likely you'll land at Marco Polo airport (VCE airport code) on the Italian mainland near Venice, Italy, in Tessera. Alitalia, KLM, and other major airlines fly into Marco Polo which has a brand-new passenger terminal just north of the city on the Venetian lagoon. The Marco Polo airport, located about 4.3 miles from Venice has a new arrivals hall that was built at the beginning of the 21st Century, and it's an excellent and well-appointed gateway to the lagoon.
CITY BUS, TAXI CAB AND RENTAL CARS
Once you arrive at the airport, you don't have to wait long for checked baggage. Just toss your bags onto a luggage cart and walk a few yards to ground transportation. Your choices: city bus (confusing schedules for the first-time-visitor), taxi cab (expensive--normally in the €80-100 range) or rental car. You can take a rental car, bus or cab from the airport to the cruise ship pier or train station in the Stazione area by following the coast line down and crossing over the causeway. But please realize that all wheels (motorized vehicles) end there! If you have to go any further, to San Marco or to any of the island points--it's by foot and/or water taxi. If your hotel is located in other than these land areas you'd best take a water taxi or a water bus directly from the airport to your destination, as you will have to traverse canals bridges dragging your luggage up and down the steps.
WATER TAXIS AND WATER BUS
Go outside the Arrivals terminal and turn left. Walk to the end of the terminal's sidewalk and look for the sign for water taxis and the Alilaguna water bus. The walkway to the piers is straight ahead, beyond the brick column. My recommendation if you are staying somewhere in Venice would be to head for the Alilaguna ticket booth in the Arrivals area, purchase a Venice Airport Boat ticket to wherever you are staying if your accommodation is not accessible by land. (See a route map below.) Remember: All wheels stop at Piazzale Roma near the train station, except the ones on your suitcases! So if you didn't pack light (difficult for a 10-14 day cruise)...you are in for a struggle if your hotel isn't in this area! And since you will be walking a great deal--make sure you take--and wear your most comfortable shoes!
After you buy your Airport Boat Ticket, roll your luggage cart through the doors and take the free shuttle to the Alilaguna boat pier. Negotiate the fare before you board the boat, since water taxis don't have meters. Hopefully, you've chosen a hotel near the main tourist sites within easy walking distance of the Vallaresso boat platform near the Piazza San Marco. Valleresso is the main city stop for the Alilaguna airport boat, which connects the city center with the airport in 70 minutes. (Plus a few minutes extra for the free shuttle between the airport pier and the terminal.) You can leave your heavy luggage at your hotel until you return to the airport after your visit--or head for the cruise terminal if you're planning a cruise.
Alilaguna offers a
direct public transportation service from Venice's Marco Polo Airport to all
the main areas of Venice and its port via sea. Alilaguna is the
more comfortable and fastest way to reach the Historic Centre of Venice and
other island areas..
Please remember...If your hotel in Venice is not
by a canal the water taxi will drop you off at the closest possible landing
stage and you will have to walk with your luggage to your hotel. Porter
service in town is not always available.
For complete information and timetables download
the Alilaguna Water Taxi link below:
The vaporetto
(www.actv.it) is a public
ferry service that operates, for all intents and purposes, as the bus
network of Venice. Check their website for current prices, schedules and to
find which line and stop will lead you nearest to your destination. DEPARTURE
TIPS; PLAN NOW FOR THE TRIP BACK!
Get there and head for the airport departures area.
If you take a water taxi or water bus back to the airport, wait for the a free shuttle
at the pier that will take you to the departures area. If you come by bus or land taxi, you'll be dropped off near the entrance doors.Inside the departures lobby, you'll find limited seating and long rows of check-in desks to the left and right of the information counter and security gates. Each counter is assigned to a specific flight (shown on an electronic sign above the counter). If you don't see a counter for your flight, don't panic--it simply hasn't opened yet.
Warning: When we
were there, Marco Polo's departures lobby has only a few security gates, and
procedures are disorganized at best. You could wait in line about an hour...
so I'd suggest that you arrive early, watch the electronic departures board
above the information counter, and head for your flight's check-in desk as
soon as it opens. Otherwise, you could easily miss your flight.
Once you get through security, Marco Polo's
departures area is quite nice. You'll find a bar, a good assortment of
shops, and plenty of seating in an airy, modern, well-lit terminal.
ARRIVAL BY LAND: The city by bus (departures at intervals of every half hour), airport shuttle (faster but more expensive, leaving every hour), and taxi cabs (very expensive) are available constantly.
ARRIVAL BY CRUISE SHIP: The Terminal Venezia Passeggeri or Venice Cruise Terminal is located near the 2-1/2 mile causeway that links the historic city with the mainland. It consists of two main areas: the Stazione Marittima basin, which can handle the largest ships that call in Venice, and the San Basilio pier, which is just around the corner in the Giudecca Canal. (If you are arriving by air to take a cruise, Marittima is a 15- or 20-minute cab ride from Venice's Marco Polo Airport. The fare is likely to be in the €30-40 range.)
.
Almost all cruise liners dock
in Stazione Marittima. Some cruise lines provide shuttle transport from
there to Piazzale Roma (or you can take the peoplemover for 1 Euro) where
you can purchase a ticket from a biglietteria
or "ticket point." Peoplemover:
Passengers just follow the sidewalk from the terminal parking lot to the
tram stop; it’s about a five-minute walk, but flat and paved. Peoplemover
tickets are vended from the machine on ground level (they’re 1€
each, machines take Euro coins or cash). There’s an escalator or elevator
provided to reach the tram platform, where every eight minutes (time to
arrival is displayed on an overhead LED) a quiet, climate-controlled tram
will arrive to take passengers either to Tronchetto or (more likely)
Piazzale Roma. There you can purchase vaporetto tickets, hire a taxi, or
walk to the city center. The vaporetto fare for a one-way ride is 6.50 Euros
(valid for 1 hour). If you plan to ride the "vaporetto" more than three
times per day you can save money by purchasing a 1-day pass Actv (18 Euros),
which are valid 24 hours from the moment you stamp it. For different stays
are also available following options: 12-hour pass, (16 €); 36-hour pass,
(23 €); 48-hour pass (28 €); 72-hour pass, (33 EUR); 7-day pass, (50 €). The
ferry ride costs 2 €. Children till 6 years of age travel free.
Usually the
cruise ships charge you around $25 for one round trip ticket to San Marco.
Some cruise liners moor along the Banchina del Porta
Commerciale in the Giudecca Canal just outside the Stazione Marittima docks.
This is often referred to as San Basilio and indeed is close to the San
Basilio water bus landing stage. However, if you do take a water bus to this
landing stage you will have to walk across a small canal bridge and into the
gates of Stazione maritima. There are no land vehicles - coaches or taxis
able to use this entrance as this part of Venice is pedestrianized. You will
have to walk from the San Basilio landing stage and carry your own luggage
for what may be a distance of several hundred meters.
LUGGAGE STORAGE: For those flying in a day ahead or staying over for a cruise. The cruise terminals do have left-luggage (baggage storage) offices. When last checked, hours were 9 a.m. to noon and 3-5 p.m., but opening hours are likely to vary by season or even by day, so check ahead with the port if you absolutely need to store and retrieve your luggage on a certain day.
You can also check
in the Piazzale Roma opposite the ACTV
ticket office (next to the Pullman Bar).
if you want to store baggage in the city before going to the cruise terminal
or into the city, look for the "deposito bagagli," or left-luggage office.
Alternatively, you can try the
"deposito bagagli" office in the Venice Marco Polo Airport arrivals
hall or in the Venice Santa Lucia Railroad Station.
Important: It is impossible to vouch for the hours
of deposito bagagli offices on any given day. If knowing this information is
critical, you'll need to check with the offices themselves ahead of time.
ARRIVAL BY RENTAL CAR:
When you arrive at Piazzale Roma, the end of the causeway, you must park
your car in one of the giant car parks, because Venice is entirely
pedestrian. This is hard to grasp for most people; we are used to a small
pedestrian area in the centre of a modern city. In Venice, it is the whole
city which is pedestrian.
Hotel
Tiziano – The hotel has a fully accessible room on the ground
floor room with a roll-in shower. The Hotel Tiziano is affordable and away
from the tourists. If you take an accessible water taxi, you will be dropped
off at the front door. If you take the vaporetto, you will have to navigate
over 2 bridges from the San Basilio vaporetto stop.