e17345

We are planning our first trip to Italy.

Would youp lease offer your suggestions.
We hope to visit Rome, Florence and Venice.
I was thinking that we could fly from Atlanta to Rome.

My question is, on the way back, should be leave from Venice for Atlanta, or do we have to go to Milan to catch a flight to the US?

I am not sure if there is a big airport in Venice...

Statia

Yes, you can fly from Venice into the US, although you may have to connect somewhere in Europe. I would suggest flying into Rome, as you stated, and flying out of Venice, which is called an "open-jaw" ticket and is usually either the same price or cheaper than standard round-trip.

Bailey

I agree with Statia....but you may want to check for a non-stop flight from Milan to Atlanta. It's always nicer to go non-stop....I'd rather drive to Milan to get a non-stop flight back to the States.
Yes there is a major airport in Venice....well it's just a Aliliguna ride from the city center to San Marco Airport...VCE is the airport code.

Yes...sometimes the "open-jawed" tickets are a better deal.....I just flew into Paris & out of Venice....and my ticket was $50 cheaper than my niece's round trip Paris ticket!

ira

Hi e,

I suggest flying into Venice and oout of Rome.

The intensity of life increases as you move from Venice-Florence-Rome and it gives you a chance to acclimate.

Also, better schedules out of Rome to the US.

Statia

Although I hate to disagree with Ira, another way to look at it is that you could dive right into Italy by doing Rome first and then be able to truly relax in Venice before your return home.

We did that when we paired Florence and Venice and really appreciated doing the faster paced city first and being able to relax and catch our breath in Venice on the end of the trip, rather than the beginning.

Everyone has a different preference, however. It just depends on what interests you more and what type of traveler you are.

Ceci

I agree with you, Statia, and disagree with Ira. Venice should, always, come after whatever else. Otherwise, everything else, even Rome's grandeur, fades in comparison when your front door to Italy is Venezia, la Serenissima.

However, before making a decision whether to fly back to Atlanta from Venice or Milan, I'd check what flights and connections are available on your departure date.

Doble_Vergasser

Lets see:
Marco Polo, Malpensa, Linate, and is it Trevisio?.

The international airport from Milan is Malpensa. (The minor airport is Linate.) As far as I know the only public transportation to Malpensa is the shuttle bus. Malpensa is way out (you can drive of course).

The major airport for Venice is Marco Polo. It is my understanding that you can take either a vaporetto (a few euro) or a water taxi (about 80 euro) from Venice to Marco Polo.

You need to price your alternatives. But flying from Venice should not be much more than flying from Milan (but it won't be non-stop Venice to Atlanta.)

PamR

We flew into Florence and out of Venice once. It worked very well. I think we were limited on which days of the week those flights were available, though (we flew from Chicago). It was simple to reach Marco Polo via an airport boat. You could also take a water taxi, but that is expensive. I just remember the whole experience as being amazingly easy for a change, and there were several ways to get to the airport.

e17345

THANK YOU!!!

All of you are so kind to take the time to respond!

KT

You can also take a bus (either the ACTV city bus or the ATVO express bus) from Piazzale Roma in Venice to Marco Polo for just a few euros. It takes about twenty minutes and, unlike water transport, drops you off right at the terminal. Cheap, quick, and (again, unlike water transport) zero atmosphere. There have been a number of threads on this topic.

For Malpensa, there's also very frequent express train service, but it doesn't run from Milano Centrale station but from the less central Milano Cadorno station, where you can reach by subway, bus, or taxi.

Melissa5

I don't like to disagree with Ira either because he knows a lot about Italy and in fact helped me plan our first trip to Italy in June 2004 and it was great!

But for us, flying into Rome and out of Venice was great. It's true that Rome is intense, and needs to be very well-planned, and well-researched. But we started out in Rome and it was our #1 favorite city in Italy when we were done!

We ended in Venice, which worked nicely, as Venice is relaxing, in my opinion, as long as you study up on the vaphorettos (the public water buses!) in advance, and also try to get a flight that isn't too early out of Venice! Remember you will need to get yourself and your luggage across the water to the airport, which is more convenient if your flight doesn't leave at the crack of dawn.

Thankfully, our AAA travel agent, who booked this flight for us, thought of that, and booked us on a morning flight that wasn't too early. WE took a private water taxi from our hotel to the airport. (The rest of our time in Venice we took the vaporettos, using our 3-day vaporetto pass, for 22 euros each, which gave us unlimited on and off privileges)

Either choice would be fine I'm sure! There isn't a wrong choice.

dutyfree

When are you planning on going? If you need to go in and out of Atlanta-Delta has nonstop flights to Rome,Milan(year round) and Venice(Venice is seasonal that starts in spring) or there are nonstops out of JFK to those 3 cities also on Delta yearround. It really is so much nicer to go nonstop and avoid the hassle of connecting someplace.