crossen

We will be traveling to Venice by train, but after our visit we will need to get to the airport for our flight home. We will have only one bag and a backpack. Could someone give me some advice about the best way to get to the airport.? We will be staying at a hotel near the train station.Thanks.

RJD

You can take a cab from Piazalla Roma directly to the Airport.

joannyc

Or you can take the land bus from P. Roma to the airport.

greg

ATVO bus (green) from Piazzale Roma: http://www.atvo.it/it-venice-airport.html 8EU (not part of ACTV)

ACTV bus (orange) from Piazzale Roma: http://www.actv.it/pdf/urbano/U-5.pdf 8EU (not completely covered by ACTV pass)
Here is a video overview of bus stop area: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFGSaqN9jYQ The green bus that just passes by on the left of the video at the beginning is an ATVO bus.

Car Taxi from Piazzale Roma: 40EU fixed charge during day

pariswat

Hope advice given is for the right airport, there are 2 airports.
this link gives info on Marco Polo AND Treviso.
http://www.e-venise.com/transports-avion-venise.htm

pariswat

I realize I gave the link in French.
So I redid the google with 'aiport' and 'Venice' and - oh magic, got this
http://www.e-venise.com/transports-avion-venise.htm
Scrol down, you have the links for the bus/boats etc

Same for Treviso : 'Airpot' Venice' 'Treviso' works too...
http://www.veniceairport.it/en/trans...o-airport.html

Google is such a fantastic tool.

Ackislander

Are you rich? If so, take a water taxi direct from your hotel UNLESS the weather is foggy, in which case the taxi is unreliable.

So, some other questions for you, OP:

When do you need to be at the airport?

Where is your hotel and how will you get from there to Piazzale Roma?

crossen

Thank you all very much for this information. Here are a few details:

1) we will be staying at the Hotel Gardena Venezia / 239 Santa Croce / The hotel claims to be located 3 minutes from the Piazzale Roma.
2) Our AF flight to CDG is at 6:40AM connecting to another AF flight at 9:20AM
I realize that we will be leaving the hotel very early and that there won't be much sleeping that night. My concern is to make a reservation with a reliable transport (I'm sure the hotel can help us with this too, but I would like to have some ideas about this before we arrive). We have had similar early morning departures when we have left Paris to catch early flights back home, but this will be the earliest we have ever need to be at an airport.

No, we are not rich, but even if we were we are very thrifty. We both were raised by parents who grew up during the Depression in Steel Mill towns and they taught us the importance of thrift, even if money is not an object!

3) the AF flight leaves from Marco Polo.

This leads me to another question. We are traveling from Cincinnati to CDG, then on to Rome, then traveling by train to Florence and then by train to Venice. Will we pass through customs at CDG, or only at the locations that are our final destination? We have some short layovers at CDG and I am a little concerned about that. Thank you!

greg

1. Your hotel is practically next to the Piazzale Roma. Just look at the google map.

2. I feel a preference for "a reservation with a reliable transport" is an American thinking for those who don't live in places with usable public transit or don't want to use them. The buses start very early in the morning and so do land taxis. If you read enough postings with arranged transports, you will find no shows as usual complaints. Since you are staying so close to Piazzale Roma, double check early morning bus schedules to VCE airport and study how to buy tickets for ACTV and ATVO, whichever works for your timing.

3.
customs = for luggage. You do this when you claim your luggage = at Rome = a 5 seconds event to walk through "nothing to declare" door for most people. Many people imagine "customs" in third world countries where it might be a 3 hour ordeal. You are not visiting these kind of countries.

passport control = for people. You do this at first entry to Schengen zone in your case = CDG.

The usual transfer issue at CDG is the timing. It is an enormous airport. Two crucial info are missing from your inquiry: How much time you have? "short" can mean anything. Which are two gates? You can get this info by looking at CDG departure board info available online for "usual" gate assignments. http://www.aeroportsdeparis.fr/en/homepage

Many first timers incorrectly feel relieved when they hear all their planes use terminal 2. If you look at the map, you find that practically most of the sprawling airport is terminal 2. Even terminal 2E does not help. It consists of 3 different halls, K,L,M, requiring a connection by a people mover.

Here is the map: http://www.aeroportsdeparis.fr/en/pa.../terminals-map

rialtogrl

The airport buses will get you to the airport on time but you need to catch the first one (ACTV airport bus or ATVO bus.) Check the schedules that Greg provided above.

Buy the tickets the day before. If you go on the ACTV bus you need to validate the ticket on a machine on-board. I am not sure of the system on ATVO (human or machine validation.)

The buses drop you off right in front of the terminal. Easy peasy.

vincenzo32951

Good idea to familiarize yourself with the layout of CDG and your gate numbers. There's a shuttle between terminals, but it can take a while to get from Point A to Point B.

I checked this once some time ago, so you may want to double-check updated info, but I think the first bus to the airport leaves PR at 5:00 am. The bus takes about 25 minutes to the terminal, putting you there, practically speaking, at about 5:30 for a 6:40 flight.

A land taxi from PR is about 40 euros, and may be a bit faster than the bus, but not a lot faster. I suppose the benefit would be that you could grab a taxi earlier than 5:00 to get to the airport earlier. The taxis are usually lined up, but you can call ahead to reserve one if you want to.

The other option is to stay your last night at a hotel near the airport and use the hotel's private shuttle, which can be reserved for just about any hour you choose. We've used the Titian and been quite satisfied. They have their own shuttle, which is free, and is just 5 minutes from the airport. I understand if you prefer to spend your last night in the city, but just giving you another option.

rialtogrl

-I think the first bus to the airport leaves PR at 5:00 am.-

This is incorrect - see the links that Greg posted above. The first buses will ARRIVE at the airport at 5:00 am.

Unless its a festival day. Then the buses start later.

I'd want to get to the airport earlier than 5:30 for a 6:40 flight, personally. It used to be so quiet.. not anymore.

vincenzo32951

TY for the correction. As noted, it's been a while since I checked or used those schedules.

rialtogrl

I've made many a dark trek to Piazzale Roma at 4:15 in the morning... on good days, its not to catch a bus.

crossen

Thank you all for this information. It is terrific! We have flown into CDG a few times in the last couple years, but Paris was always our final destination, so connecting was never a problem. You are correct, CDG is a huge airport and I think the connection time is only about an hour on the way to Fumicinco and about two hours passing through on our way back home from Venice. I may need to try to change our flight to a later departure on the way to Rome. One option is to ask AF for help making the connection. I walk with a cane but have never asked for help before. We have traveled on trains in Europe several times, driven through Brittany and Normandy, etc. but I've never asked for help or used Handicap Stickers etc. I had a brain tumor several years ago and I just want to stay away from handicap aid. It is just a personal thing. I walk pretty fast, but this airport is a bit overwhelming! We have gotten lost here just looking for Baggage Claim.
Anyway, I was thinking that this once I might ask AF to help me get from one gate to the next. Just a thought. My concern about customs was that the time it would take to go through customs (if it was at CDG) on the way to Rome would making the connection impossible. We have taken this early morning arrival flight to CDG from Cincinnati in the past and it was never crowded going through customs, but making a connection is something totally different.
We've talked about the early departure from Venice and we thought of just going to the airport the night before our flight and not even staying at the hotel since there really isn't going to be much time to sleep anyway. We have never been to Italy so everything is going to be new to us. Thanks for all your help!

greg

1 hr is a tight connection at CDG. It is unlikely Delta would change your connection without making you a pay change fee plus difference in ticket cost since this is technically a legal connection. 2 hrs is not that good either given that is a U.S. return leg: security procedure back to U.S. is time consuming plus it can suddenly get even longer.

- On inbound leg, at CDG you go through a passport control: The transit time depends on how many other passengers are doing the same.
- Then you would have to make yourself to the departing terminal.
- Then you go through luggage check: The transit time depends on how many other passengers are doing the same.

I presume you have not looked up your CDG connection logistics at CDG web site?

Starting from http://www.aeroportsdeparis.fr/en/passengers/flights

If you look at October 23 gate assignment data, you see

CVG-CDG (arrival)
DL228 0610 2E (AF8701)

CDG (departure)-VCE
AF1126 0725 2F (DL8359)
AF1426 1020 2F
AF1726 1320 2F
AF1226 1535 2F
AF1526 1805 2F
AF1326 2100 2F

My guess is that your flights are DL228+AF1126 with about 70-75 min connection time?

The CVG-CDG usually arrives in 2E. The plane can arrive in hall M, the furtherest one.

The departing flights, as you can see, are usually from 2F.

So you connecting is "likely" to be 2E to 2F.

70-75 min is very tight EVEN IF your arrival is on time.

Many says this is ok because the airline would take care of putting you on a later flight. But it is a near hollow assurance if your flight is the last one of the day.

What favors you is that there are 5 later flights to Venice by AF. Luckily, your flight looks like the first Venice flight of the day.

crossen

Thanks Greg,
I appreciate the time you spent to research this! I did some sleuthing myself and your assumption was correct about the connecting flight through Paris. AF considers this time to be valid, but I find that hard to believe. I have not gone as far as asking them what happens if we miss our flight, but I will do that this week. We do not leave until February so I have some time to work on this. I enjoy the planning part of taking trips so I have been doing a lot of reading. Right now my initial concern is making the connection to Rome. As you mention there are several later flights so I feel good about that, but I would not be happy paying for fight changes. I think we will head to the airport early in Venice for the trip back home (maybe even the evening before). Thanks again for your help.
Sincerely,
RMC

Christina

They will tell you that you'll get put on the next flight with space available, that's all. There isn't anything else they can do.

You can always choose the connection you want on their website, there isn't any reason you have to choose a tight connection if you don't want one. I don't because I don't want the risk. No airline is going to charge you for a flight change if your plane was late unless you want a different type seat or something (in fact, I was surprised but I had that happen by United, they wouldn't put me on the next flight I wanted as the only seats available were premium unless I paid extra for them). Otherwise, I would have had to wait some more. So that can happen.