lmh2588

Hi guys,

My flight leaves from Marco Polo airport for Paris at 8:45 AM tomorrow morning.

I always like to be to the airport early, especially for international flights, as I would much rather be hanging out in an airport than stressing on time.

What is the best way for me to get to the airport early in the morning?

My host told me to take a train to Mestre and then a bus from Mestre to Marco Polo? I see on Trentalia's schedule Bus VE111 from 5:11-5:31...is that a bus or a train?

If I do take that one, the bus schedule I've been given (ATVO) looks to be showing the next bus from there leaving at 6:15? How long is the bus trip from Mestre to Marco Polo? I would like to be early than that bus is showing is possible.

Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks.

annhig

the bus timetable should show you how long it is from Mestre to Marco Polo but it can't take more than 15-20 mins max. [ if you would like help interpreting it, I suggest that you post the link here so we don't have to search for it]

but really, you don't want to be at Marco Polo any earlier than you have to be. it doesn't start to open up until about 7 -7.30, and as you are flying to Paris, that bus should get you there in plenty of time.

annhig

and you host should be able to tell you if what s/he was talking about is a train or a bus.

The other option is a taxi - google maps says that the journey from where you are staying to the airport is a 20 minute drive.

Have you enjoyed Mogliani?

bilboburgler

you could take the train and bus or two buses (the second from mestre). The mestre to airport bit is 15 minutes (just out of the station and along the road. Line 10a, 25a, 4a, 8a from memory, but if in doubt try rome2rio

lmh2588

Thanks guys for the help.

Didn't spend too much time in Mogliano, stayed at a B&B here and saved money compared to staying closer to Venice, but it seems like a quaint little town.

One more question, which may be dumb, but how do I buy my bus ticket for the morning?

annhig

on the bus! [I can't imagine that any tabacs will be open at this time of night in Mogliano]

Have you commuted every day to Venice? how did you find that?

lmh2588

Sorry, I have only taken the train to Venice every day and bought the ticket at the station, no experience with the bus. Common sense thinking was that I could on the bus, but looking at their website, I thought I read something otherwise, so I think I just confused myself. Thanks for helping me through my stupidity lol.

annhig

not stupidity at all, imh - I've not taken that particular bus but I know that you can buy tickets on the ATVO bus that goes from Piazzale Roma to Marco Polo, so I'm assuming you can on the ordinary buses.

if there's a problem, you could always get the train to Venice, walk across the bridge to the P'Roma and get the ATVO bus from there.

it's a bit long-winded, but still easy to do in the time you've got.

I'm interested in how you came to pick Mogliani as a place to stay for visiting Venice as most people who decide not to stay in Venice itself seem to decide to stay in Mestre. how did you land up in Mogliani?

lmh2588

When I got to Mestre, one of the newspaper shops was open in the station and I was able to easily buy my bus ticket to the airport there.

Annhig, I booked the B&B through Airbnb, so when I searched through Venice listings, Mestre locations along with the B&B I stayed at in Mogliano popped up. The B&B looked nice and the location looked good on the map, and it was a great deal for the price, so that's how I ended up in Mogliano. I was very happy with my choice.

annhig

Imh - thanks for the feedback and the info about Mogliano - it sounds a nicer place to stay than Mestre, if you want t stay outside Venice.

do I gather that you got to the airport on time?

lmh2588

No one seemed to know where the bus I bought a ticket for was leaving from, so I ended up missing the first bus...I got to the airport a bit later than I would have liked, but Marco Polo was particularly slow that day and there was zero line at security, so I had no issues at all making my flight, thanks for asking.

annhig

Imh - I suspect that Marco Polo is slow every morning at that time, but I'm glad that you got through so quickly and managed to make your flight with no problems.

I ask because it's always nice to have feedback on the advice one gives - so that you know when the question crops up again that actually you were on the right track.

lmh2588

Annhig,

I guess there's the two different bus companies (ATVO and ACTV)...my ticket was for ATVO (8 euros in the train station newsstand), but I did get on an ACTV bus that said it was headed for the airport while trying to find the right bus...not sure if it would have been any cheaper or how many stops it would have made, so the travel time could be longer, but it's probably worth someone asking before they buy their ticket, if they have the time to check things out. Thankfully, it didn't ultimately make a difference, but even if it was the same price, I wouldn't have had to wait on the next ATVO bus so it may have saved time.

annhig

you're right, Imh, there are two companies - ACTV which runs all the transport within Venice [the vaporetti for example] and the surrounding neighbourhood, and ATVO which is a company which serves a wider area but just with buses. Both run lines from Venice to the airport - ATVO bus that serves the line from the airport to venice and back is quicker that the ACTV one as it stops less and has proper luggage storage underneath.

I didn't know hat there was an ACTV one between Mogliano and the airport - at that time of day it probably doesn't make a lot of difference to the time it takes which one you get.

lmh2588

Annhig,

That bus would actually have been from th Mestre station to Marco Polo, because I took the train one stop to Mestre. Since I had already bought the ATVO ticket though, I didn't bother asking about the price.

annhig

aha - certainly if anyone else makes this sort of enquiry, we will be in a much better to assist them after this thread. And to suggest a rather different place to stay!