cambe

I will be arriving in Venice on Tuesday at 11am. I am travelling with my elderly mother and my sister. I have been to Venice before but have always arrived by train, my mother and sister; this is their first visit. They want to arrive in Venice taking the grand entrance down the grand canal.
Should we book a water taxi in advance or can we negotiate at the pier?

I understand, from the website that there is a shuttle bus to the pier - is this correct?

Thank you , as I have said I have never arrived in Venice from the airport.

nytraveler

Well - first you need to find out exactly where your hotel is and if they 1) have a private dock the water taxi can pull up to of 2) what is the closest public dock. Then get a detailed map and exact instructions on getting to your hotel from the doc. (Unless you hotel has a private dock you will have to haul your luggage through the streets and possibly over one or more bridges. Be prepared and don;t have too much.)

I believe the water taxi from the airport to Central Venice (as in Piazza San Marco) is somewhere in the region of $100 (per taxi not per person). Another option is to take the shuttle bus from the airport to the train stition or Piazzaele Roma - and pick up a water taxi there. It would send you down the Grand Canal in the other direction but should be substantially lower cost.

This is what we usually do since we are coming by car and the cost has been between $60 and $75 or so - but we always get a hotel with a private dock. In that case when you arrive at the dock there is a small bell that the driver rings and a bellman from the hotel comes with a cart to get your luggage.)

nytraveler

Sorry - not sure what would be easier for your elderly mother. The water taxis are small private launches and are often much below the level of the dock - so the driver would have to help you mother down into the boat - and you would have to do the same - help her climb up out of the boat at the other end. Vaporettos - although much more crowded - have the advantage of being at the same level as the doc - so you are just stepping across - not climbing down or back up.

SusanP

Depending on where your hotel is, if the water taxi won't be good, here are the directions for the land bus from the airport and vaporetto to your hotel:
To buy the 72-hour vaporetto pass, come out from getting your luggage, turn left and go past the long line at the ATVO desk on your left (where people are getting Alilaguna tickets) to get to the ACTV desk on your right, where there will be no line – no credit cards, you have to have cash. This is a fairly short walk. The pass covers the ACTV Orange #5 bus to Piazzale Roma, which takes around 20-25 minutes (it doesn’t cover the ATVO express blue bus, which maybe takes five minutes less) and of course then covers the vaporetto to your hotel.
The #5 bus is directly out the front door, so it's another very short walk. After you get off the bus, as mentioned, getting on the vaporetto is easy, no step up, it's even with the sidewalk.

Ackislander

What nytraveler says is correct: water taxis are like cabin cruisers. Your mother will have to climb down into into the boat from the dock, which can be more difficult depending on the state of the tide and the waves. Then, unless the weather is good, you will have to sit inside, which means you don't get much of a view.

So do what she and SusanP say.

qwovadis

You can always arrive directly at Piazza San Marco in nautical style via the Cooperative San Marco/Alilaguna. For €12 you can get to town by sea courtesy of a large shuttle boat called the "motoscafo." The hour-long boat journey between the airport and Piazza San Marco makes intermediate stops at Murano and the Lido a dozen times each day. Boats zoom to and fro from 6 a.m. until 12 a.m. If your hotel is not within a stone's throw of San Marco, make a vaporetto connection here. For more information, visit the Alilaguna website.Expensive water taxis 20 to 30 minute option from the airport will set you back €90 for between one and six passengers.

eurocheapo.com/Venice great city tips.

cambe

Thank you all this is excellent information - my mum would not be able to climb down into a boat.

I will do as SusanP says.

Thank you again.

Keith

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