Please help with suggestions. I'm not happy with info I've found so far and just too dang tired. Bob the Navigator and fellow fodorites on here for years -- surely you have good suggestions. We are a 50+ couple traveling with not so lite luggage at end of trip, arriving by train on May 29 mid day, and departing back to US May 31. We met in Venice 6 years ago... and want this to be a good re-visit. I am considering Hotel Al Duca Di Venezia.
Our flight leaves at 6:45 am for Amsterdam (to Houston), so we need to be there by 5:30 a.m. to check in. I'm concerned not finding vap service, and exorbitant taxi rate, or a having to catch a 3:45 am ride out of San Marco (a haul with our luggage).
Any suggestion, comments will be welcome.
Thanks, Travelots hasn't traveled so much lately...
Venice Hotel for 2 nights EARLY departure to MP Airport, May 2012
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I hate those early departures from Venice and refuse to book them. Since you now have little choice, I would stay as close as I could to Piazzale Roma and catch the 0500 bus to VCE. The airline counter will likely not open until 0545 anyway.
Here is a place to stay for a short walk to the bus---about 100 yards.
http://www.veniceby.com/cadoge/
Hm, with only 2 nights & wanting it to be an especially nice stay, the Piazzale Roma area is almost the last place I'd suggest staying - it's just not very nice. The night water buses run all night, so I'd look for somewhere near an 'N' bus stop, get the 'N' water bus to Piazzale Roma and get the land bus from there. This map shows you where the 'N' service stops - http://www.actv.it/pdf/navigazione/Mappa_linee_2nov.pdf.
Whether opting to be near Piazzale Roma or a 'N' waterbus stop, check the exact location of any hotel vary carefully - remember you can't generally walk very far in Venice without crossing a bridge, and you don't want to be heaving your luggage over multiple bridges (or any, if you can help it).
Have you looked at the price for a pre-booked water taxi transfers, though? They are a cheaper, set rate, currently E95 - http://www.venicelink.com/index.php?page=shop.browse&category_id=12&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1&lang=english. I know it's still a lot but would be much easier & would buy you an extra hour or so in bed! I'd never imagined forking out for a water taxi myself, but used this booking method recently when we had no choice due to the amount of our luggage (10 bags!).
1) The night before departure, visit a taxi stand near your hotel and book a water taxi to take you from hotel to Piazzale Roma. The hotel al Duca is not that far, and the taxi shouldn't cost so much. (In fact you could probably walk it in 15 minutes or so -- it looks like there's just the one bridge, but of course you should check.)
2) From Piazzale Roma, take either the ACTV (municipale) or ATVO (regionale) bus by land to the airport. They start at 4:00 am, I believe, and the trip takes 20 minutes, so leaving at 5:00 should be about right. This costs around 5 Euros. Buy your tickets the day before to save time, and double-check the schedule.
We have been cautioned against planning on travelling by water to the airport in the early morning, because, not infrequently, the trip is cancelled due to fog.
There are two hotels near the train station that I can vouch for: the Pricipe and the Hotel Continental.
My mother and step-father stayed at the Principe and a photographer friend of mine stayed at the Continental (which is right across the road from the Principe off of the Lista di Spagna).
I have been in the lobbies of both hotels and you could easily walk to the P. Roma from either hotel if you have roller bags.
The Ferrovia stop is right there by the hotel so you could take the vaporetto to other parts of Venice.
Just a suggestion.
Pepper