Transportation in and from Venice
 

We are taking a transatlantic cruise which ends in Venice. We will be spending 3 extra nights there and then traveling by train to Florence. Does anyone have information on getting to our small hotel in the San Marco area? After 20 days at sea we will have heavy luggage. We are interested in a water taxi which will take us right to the door, if we can obtain one and it isn't too cost prohibitive. Then we need to get to the train station. Do we need to have reservations for the train? Do we need to buy tickets before we leave home? Thanks for any assistance.

You can get a water taxi that will take you to San Marco for a lot of money, but it will not take you to the door of your hotel unless it actually has a dock on the water (some hotels do, but most don't). It will be costly (probably over $200), but I don't know the cost off-hand.

When you leave, you can take a vaporetto (the equivalent of a bus but on the water) right to the train station from San Marco. But again, if you take a private water taxi, it's very expensive.

You absolutely need reservations for the train, but you can probably buy them in advance from a travel agent in Venice rather than going all the way to the train station. Just buy them on your day of arrival. (If you are going during a holiday or other really busy period, you might want to book the train in advance from the U.S., but that's not usually necessary, and you pay a huge premium to do it unless you make the reservaiton on the Trenitalia web site, which is possible and doesn't charge the huge commission).

When you get to the train station, be sure to validate your tickets in the machine before boarding or you may have to pay a penalty.

Try www.viator.com. I have used them in Vietnam and Portugal to book a taxi ahead of time with your credit card. Both taxis were waiting for me after I picked up my bags. Select Venice and then scroll to the end where the choices for airport transportation are located.

Well, stupid me - I just realized you didn't need transport from the airport.

Thank you all very much!

You would probably be better off booking a private water taxi to your hotel as it's a madhouse after you get your luggage. People are lined up waiting for the them.

Here's a link to the website: http://www.venicewelcome.com/servizi/taxi/watertaxi.htm

Your hotel in Venice should be able to book a train ticket for you to Florence. Last fall, we took a train from Florence to Venice and the owner of our hotel made a reservation for us without a problem.