Early International Flight in Venice
 

I know this topic has been discussed to death - but it seems like all the possibilities suggested don't work for me. So I wanted a second opinion.

The flight is from Marco Polo at 7:20 a.m. to the US. So I know options are:
1) Private Water Taxi - Too Expensive for us
2) Public Water Bus - but the earliest one doesn't leave until 4:50 and gets you at the airport around 5:50. And then I read that you need to catch a shuttle from the port to the airport. Just sounds like it might get frantic.
3) Bus from Pizzale Roma - but once again the earliest bus is at 5:00. And I've been getting mixed information - some places says its only a 20 minute ride, some say 40 min. So lets assume 1 hour - worst case scenario. we could get there by 6 latest. Considering it is an international flight - aren't you supposed to be at the airport 3 hours early?? But then I read somewhere that the airport doesn't even open until 5:30 a.m.

So what is the right way of doing this?

Is our only option to stay in Mestre? We really would like to avoid - but will do it if there is no other option.

Hi hawaiihoneymoon, that is my big complaint about departing from Venice to the US. The flights are so early in the morning.

About the bus from Pizzale Roma, I have never taken that so I am not sure about the length of the trip but hopefully someone else can advise you. But I do not think (but "think" is not the same as knowing for sure) the bus trip takes an hour.

This is the website for the Venice airport: www.veniceairport.it

I would suggest that you do check out this website, they have a lot of information on it.

My experience has always been when I get to the Venice airport (plane usually is suppose to depart around 7:00am) that the airport has not even opened up yet.

This is something you probably should discuss with your airline too.

I have only used the Private Water Taxi (and yes it is expensive) and of late my friends drive me from the town in Veneto to the airport early morning of the departure. We have to leave so early I never even bother going to bed the night before.

So do you know if the port (or drop off location) for the private water taxi you took is the same as the drop off for the public water buses? If so - is it far from the actual airport? I can't imagine it dropping you off at the doorstep - I would think you would have to take a shuttle or something?

VCE is a very small airport. The ACTV bus took less than 30 minutes to get from the airport to Piazzale when I took it at midday and it was very conveniently located.

I think I'd probably be okay with the bus leaving at 5 AM, for a 7:20 flight, but not sure - I get easily stressed by such things.

Take a look at your ticket rules. My recent ticket purchase (not for VCE) says to be at the airport two hours in advance, although I'll probably show up three hours early anyway.

For almost all flights wherever in the world, arrival at the airport one hour before departure is more than enough to catch the flight. More often than not, there is a long queue two hours before the flight leaves, and check-in times are so much shorter when you arrive an hour before the departure time of your flight. This is even more true at a relatively small airport like Venice Marco Polo.

We had a similar situation last June. We took the early waterbus and the area to check in at the gate wasn't even opn for half an hour after we arrived at the airport (I think it opened about 6-6:30am)

Hi, I went on the veniceairport website and their Cafe MarcoPolo shows it opens up at 5:30am.

If you go to the website hawaiihoneymoon you can email the Venice Airport to get more details.

I cannot remember where the private taxi let us off. But, that was when there was the old airport anyway, now Venice has their new airport so everything would be different anyway.

WillTravel said the bus trip takes about 30 minutes so if you caught the bus at Pizzale Roma at 5:00am you should be fine. I do not agree with the statement that it is necessary to only arrive on hour before depature, especially for an international flight.

Last T'giving we had a 6:30am flight.We took a private water taxi.
What you need to know is that the shuttle from the landing does not begin until 5:30. Therefore YOU have to get your baggage to the terminal and the way is not clearly marked if you arrive before 5:30.
If the bus takes you to the TERMINAL at that hour I would suggest it over an early water taxi which was a 1/2 hour ride from the upper part of the Canal

As you've probabaly seen in my previous post, we are on the same flight and decided to stay at the Plaza in Maestre. It seemed to be the most stressful way. We will either take our luggage there early and leave it to go back to Venice for the evening or just go over with our luggage after dinner. We are leaving on Tuesday so I will report how it worked when we get back after the 26th.

There are two different types of buses from Piazzale Roma--the ACTV city bus that takes about 30 minutes and the ATVO airport express that takes a little less and costs a little more. Both are quite cheap, and have definite timetables you can check online.

There's another option that nobody's mentioned yet: a land taxi from Piazzale Roma to Marco Polo. Last I heard, it cost about 30 euros, which is quite a bit more than the bus but less than half the cost of a water taxi. I don't know whether there's a taxi rank at Piazzale Roma or whether you'll have to arrange in advance for a pick-up, but I imagine your hotel would be able to help.

Hawaii-

The shuttle from the water bus or taxi dropoff spot is a short ride: 5-10 mins. or so. I think it's actually a short enough distance to walk, but the shuttle is free and drops you off exactly where you need to be.

That's about all I have to add as we took a noon flight out last September. Even then, we were there 2 hours early and sat in the terminal for 1 1/2 hours - check in was very speedy. Good luck with your plans!

Hawiihoneymoon, Am I understanding you correctly? You have a direct flight from Marco Polo to the U.S.

You do not have a connection from M.Polo to another European city, and from there, on to the U.S.

If one has a connection in Europe, does that type of flight require as much of an advance check-in? I wonder if somebody can answer that question.

I_AM_Kane, Hi! When I fly from Venice to SFO I have to change plans in Amsterdam. My flights have always instructed to be at the Venice Airport 2 hours before flight departure. So I am. And noone to check me in. Ah the Italians! LOL. But at least I get checked in when the counter opens and then go through security and can relax, have coffee, read whatever.

I will be interested in damama's trip report when she returns. I imagine a lot of us will be.

And Damama, have a beautiful trip!!!

If you have some luck, you can find one or two other couples leaving early the same day and share a water taxi.

You've gotten some good information regarding the 2 buses to the airport. We took the ATVO (cost and easy walk to P. Roma were the determining factors). Being off season and early in the morning, it took no more than 20 minutes to the airport. (The bus driver pointed out where I needed to purchase the tickets.) The airport is small. It seemed well staffed and lines moved quickly. I didn't have the sense of a lot of people desperate/late to catch a flight. We took a 7:50 bus for a 10:10 flight and had plenty of time for coffee.

Thanks, LoveItaly. At the time we did the Maestre thing, it seemd to make sense. Now I'm not so sure but am not going to worry about it. My biggest problem(?) is the winter I was planning for in Italy is now forcasting 60s in Rome and Florence and high 50s in Venice. Must go shopping for the change in weather!

Check into www.veniceexplorer.net has a very good listing of Shuttles to Marco Polo and etc. Have mostly used Venice as an entry point into IT, but
if used as a departure, would have the
homebound flight the next day in another city such as Rome or Zurich..
Richard of LaGrange Park, Il..PS would take the water taxi!!!!! No hassle must be worth something...Your concierige will make all necessary arrngements...

I just had this same dilemma last sept. In the end we took the private watertaxi for 85 euros. We had no stress and we just decided to save on other things during the trip and splurge on this and I totally reccomend it. It is worth the money and it would be such a hassle to switch hotels, etc.

kelbo, although I, like most of us, do not like to spend anymore money then I have to sometimes making things easy on ourselves mentally and physically is worth the added expense.

I was just discussing this with a friend last week. I am taking a flight to Atlanta and did not choose the cheapest flight, chose a nonstop with flight times that hopefully will work out well for them picking me and and returning me to the airport.

And there is always a way to save money on something else, well usually, that does not seem to be as important.

But we all have our various ways to budget of course. Peace of mind for me is probably the biggest consideration.

wow - i checked back after a couple days and was surprised to see all the reponses - thanks!

Yes, I came across the land taxi in a Venice guide book as well. I guess that can be a backup plan incase the bus idea doesn't work out.

As for arriving at the airport 1 hour before - I would never attempt that. We accidently arrived 1.5 hours before an international flight out of Paris rather than the usual 3 hours - and ended up missing the flight and being stranded in paris for 3 days - until they finally had room for us on another flight. Never again - which is why I want to most fool-proof way to get back home.

For those who asked - no the flight is not a direct flight. It actually has a 2 stops - Milan and Amsterdam before continuing on. We contacted the airline and they said 2 hours before is sufficient - but they had no idea what the VCE airport hours were. I will look into the website mentioned.

As for the buses - I came across some info that said there are 2 buses - 1 is blue which leaves at 5:00 a.m. And then there is the Orange bus which starts at 4:00 a.m. Regardless, it seems almost pointless to leave at 4:00 a.m. if the airport doesn't even open until 5:30 a.m.

I think either way - the bus or land taxi should work out fine.

Willtravel - you mentioned you had taken the bus. WOuld you be able to tell me - where they drop you off -which terminal? Are the terminals for various flights spread out (as in CDG airport? - trying to catch shuttles from one terminal to another was a nightmare). Or are you basically where you need to be - once you get off the bus???

Stranded in Paris for 3 days. This is a bad thing?

The early morning flights from Venice have been scheduled that way for years. The bus and Alilaguna schedules have been that way for years, and I'm sure they know when the planes leave. We take the Alilaguna and it is always packed. Thousands upon thousands of people have done this before you.

Have you ever heard anyone complain that they were late for their flight?

I'm not Willtravel, but I've taken the ATVO airport express. There's only one terminal at Marco Polo, and the bus drops you off right by the front door. There's a luggage compartment at the bottom of the bus, so you don't have to drag luggage upstairs into the seating area.

At that hour, the ATVO doesn't run frequently, so the next one after the 5:00 is at 5:50. I think that the ACTV bus, which is a regular city bus, runs more often-- you can look on www.actv.it.

ATVO costs 3 Euros, and ACTV is less. I've bought the ticket before boarding at the ATVO office in Piazzale Roma. Don't know if it's open that early. If not I'd imagine you can pay on the bus (or maybe buy a ticket at the newsstand at Piazzale Roma), but I don't know.

If you bought a vaporetto pass that is still valid, you can use that on ACTV.

KT/Willtravel - thanks for the info - yeah I did read that somewhere - that the ticket offices do not open that early - so I am sure they will let you pay on the bus or something (will have to look into it when we get there).

RufusTFirefly - no on a normal day being stranded in paris for 3 days would be great - but when you have already been travelling and away for 3 weeks, have spent more than enough time in paris, were looking to get back home, are missing work days because of it, are stuck in an airport hotel since they keep asking you to check back the next day for open seats adn are told "nope all booked", and you go back to the crummy airport hotel - it is definitely a bad thing.

Ok Hawaiihoneymoon- I am just back from bella Venezia and I can answer your questions, since I did the trip to Marco Polo Airport (VCE) from the San Marco Alilaguna water bus stop less than 24 hours ago. So here are my suggestions, in no particular order:

You DO NOT have to be at the small, new and well-designed VCE airport 3 hours before-it is a domestic flight, so you will only have to be there for check-in an hour before, and I can also advise you they will not check you in at VCE for a domestic flight before 2 hours, (at least not on Lufthansa). If you go to the Venice Airport site, as LoveItaly suggested, you will see the opening check-in hours for flights, and the earliest check-in is from 5:30 on Alitalia to 6:00 for Air France, Delta and Lufthansa, so planning your arrival time for around 6:00am will coincide perfectly with the opening check-in hours for the air carriers in question.

Now, Venezia is not the easiest place to depart from, people who have never been there should know this before leaving and plan, as you are, what method of transportation you are going to use, and how close your hotel is to your outbound transportation plans. You need to think about your luggage, those purchases you will make, and walking with purchases and luggage in hand around on the calle of Venice-however everyone does it, and because you're leaving so early in the morning you should have the distinct advantage of being able to roll your luggage along almost deserted streets, which will make things much easier.

I don't know where you are staying in Venice, but if is nearer the train station, (vaporetto stop: Ferrovia) i.e., around Rialto or other parts of Canneregio, then I would take the vaporetto to Ple. Roma and then take the ACTV bus, which as WT points out, takes around 30 min., give or take a few. As long as you get to VCE by around 6am, don't have a lot of luggage to check, etc. you should be FINE-and with the bus you should get to the airport by around 5:30am, which really should be the earliest that you arrive-as the airport is just opening at that time.

Now, if you are staying in the San Marco/Castello area, then I would strongly recommend you take the Alilaguna. Why? Because at that hour of the morning there shouldn't be that many people on the Alilaguna water bus (if you will be there in the height of the spring/summer season that might be different-but at any rate, you can take the 4:30 shuttle, it will take you exactly 70 minutes (I timed it yesterday and when I arrived a week ago) and it will let you off at the landing point adjacent to where the private motoscafi let you off, the only difference being you will be paying some 70E LESS per person, as Alilaguna one-way is 10E. This is not at all difficult, and quite a relaxing way to arrive at the airport, particularly when you think of how much money you've saved by taking the Alilaguna over the private motoscafi.


Now, your other question is about the airport shuttle bus from the water taxi landing area to the airport. I did not use this shuttle bus, either leaving from the airport to Venice, nor yesterday morning from Venice going to the airport. Why? Because it's not necessary! It is AT MOST a 5-7 min. walk with luggage, the way is marked-something like "way to airport" (and from the airport, there are well marked signs to the Alilaguna water taxi area) you get off the boat, walk up to the road, and start walking TO THE RIGHT, around the buildings, on the sidewalk, cross the little road, you're now at the outer walkway of the airport-walk up this sidewalk right up to the airport, follow the entry sign that says "departures" go in that door (and not the first entrance door you see) get on the escalator to the ticketing counters, and that's it! All the Venetians who do this jaunt regularly are already walking themselves and their luggage to the airport, so you can just follow them. Nothing difficult or complicated about it-it's actually a nice little walk.

I am one who much prefers to get to the airport early as possible. I left San Marco yesterday am on the 6:50 water bus and after arriving at around 8:00am, and doing the short walk to the airport I arrived at the ticketing counter right around 8:10am. LH did not permit me to check-in for my FRA flight until 2 hours before scheduled departure-however, for your 7:20 departure, the carrier would not allow check-in until 6:00, and they let people check-in as late as 40 min. before departure.


I now have in my hands the "Orario" (timetable) for Alilaguna that I got just yesterday. As I stated earlier, the first Alilaguna water bus leaves at 4:35 from San Marco, and if you are staying near Zattere your Alilaguna will leave from there at 4:20, and go on to San Marco for the 4:35am trip.

If I were you, I'd just get myself to San Marco Alilaguna stop for the 4:35 departure-that will put you in at around 5:55am, walk 6 min. or so, and you'll be at the airport right around 6am, which will be practically deserted at that hour (it was very quiet even at 8:00am yesterday, as a matter of fact).

So in sum, HawaiiHoneymoon-I DO NOT think you need to stay in Mestre at all-and would suggest that you either take the bus from Ple. Roma (but note of caution: you really need to calculate vaporetto time to Piazzale Roma relative to where your hotel is located-for example, from the Rialto vaporetto stop, there are some 6 stops before reaching Pzle. Roma, so this should take some time as well-it could be 10 minutes or a bit longer-check www.actv.it for vaporetto stops on lines 1 and 82, both of which run the length of the Grand Canal to Ple. Roma).

You're absolutely right to do your transportation planning well ahead of time, as it will make things so much easier for you once you get there.

Spygirl, Is that 70 euro per peron on the motoscafi? Wow, I thought it was about 70 euro for a party of four.

We will be a family of 10, so that equals 700 euro? Please confirm.

Thanks.

No, not per person on the motoscafi. For the number of persons in your party, for 7-10 persons, I believe, it should run somewhere around 105-115E total, depending on whether you're going to Venice proper or the Lido.

And for all those out there who will be taking the Alilaguna water bus in the early morning from Venice....I hesitate to say this, because I know there will be those who might be afraid to take it at all after reading what I'm about to write, (which you shouldn't be-necessarily) but I'm talking about a fog situation now. If the lagoon is socked in with pea soup fog, as it very often is in the early morning, before the sun has had a chance to burn through it, well, you might want to reconsider...what happened Thursday morning was, um, a bit scary, to say the least.

I'm still thinking it over...how close we came to a terrible accident...not once, but twice...I got queasy, not from being on the wster either...we could see nothing of course, in this fog, but this is an ancient maritime city, its watermen must surely know this area backwards and forwards, in fog or no. Or so I thought... I kept looking out the window, feeling a vague sense of uneasiness-the watermen had their disco music playing full blast-which, was ok, I thought, I mean, whatever gets you started in the morning, right?

Then suddenly, there was a terrible blast of very loud fog horns and ALL the windows on the opposite side of the water bus from where I was sitting running the length of the bus were suddenly red...the red side of a large tanker was not 5 inches away...all along the length of the boat going in the opposite direction, or was it the same direction?...although there were life vests right next to me, ready to grab, had we smashed into it, as we very nearly did, we could not have survived more than a few minutes, as the water temp was probably no more than 30 degrees. I let out an OH MY GOD! The Italians on board were too shocked to say a word...they were sitting there with huge eyes and open mouths, gasping...

And then, I swear, it happened again. Not 5 minutes later, it seemed, but this time, it was another water bus, our "operator" slammed on the brakes, we were thrown forward, just a bit, and then there was screaming from the other waterbus as IT crossed in front of our waterbus not inches away (there were no passengers on the other waterbus I think) -it had to be inches, because I could see everyone on it-it was then that I began to think I was going to throw up... but we were suddenly there a few minutes later...shaken and stirred, but alive and in one piece.

Maybe I'll be able to be amused by this little "event" at some point...I sure hope so-after I got into the airport, I went over to the Cafe and promptly ordered a "caffe coretto" -espresso with a shot of grappa. It did in fact help to chase away the queasiness-ah yes, yet another travel adventure in la Repubblica!

And by the way, our trip INTO Venice on Alilaguna was just fine, thanks, really quite beautiful...as it was a lovely blue sky sunny day- and the view from the airplane coming into Marco Polo, with this wide angle view of the lagoon communities of the Veneto in the clear morning sunshine, was just stunning.

And yes, I will take Alilaguna again, but, like I said, probably not in the fog...

Spygirl, Scary, very scary scenario. I've taken the Alilaguna to-and-from the train station on a prior trip. With young grandchildren in tow, I prefer to "cut my losses" and spend the extra money for a water taxi. My husband would agree.

However, doesn't the fog affect every type of watercraft, not just the Alilaguna in a fog situation?

Indeed the fog does affect every sort of craft. For an early morning flight out of Venezia, we had ordered a water taxi at 4:30.

They came to our hotel, which had a landing, but left us off at Piazzale Roma because the fog was too thick to take us to the airport.

The scene at Piazzale Roma was chaotic. It was still dark out, and the fog made things worse. No one knew quite what to do: everyone was trying to get to the airport, but no boats were running.

Our of the fog, a bus pulled up, tons of people with luggage piled on, many stood, and off we went to the airport.

I don't think we even had tickets, but this was in 99 and it is hard to remember all the details.

However, despite getting to the airport later than we planned, we were still there in plenty of time, because the heavy fog delayed our flight departure.

I think we just made our connection in Rome, back to the US.

It isn't easy getting out of V. but it seems that everyone makes it!

Speaking of fog, and yes Venice can and does get terrible fog at times, do keep this in mind if your Venice flight is taking you elsewhere to change flights to get home to the US.

I have almost missed flights twice because the departing flight in Venice was delayed in takeoff due to fog conditions.

Consequently I would prefer more time before the second flight even if it means hanging around the airport longer (in my case Amsterdam) then missing my plane home to SFO.

Sometimes it's all about details.

Tuscanlifeedit, I can picture this scene you describe in my head, and it's not something to look forward to at the end of two weeks. It could, however, be good weather and smooth sailing (so to speak).

LoveItaly, Good point. The connection back to JFK cannot be tight. The pressure would cause a lot of stress if we were running late getting out of Venice.

Hi i_am_kane, yes the details! I think that is what is so wonderful about the Fodor's Boards, we constantly get reminded of things and details that we do not think about due to the pressure and time restraints with life.

I have gotten a bit lax these last years about details regarding travel. And I sure do not want to be uptight but reading these threads do remind us to be alert to potential problems and to be prepared for flight delays, cancellations, strikes etc.

Although what dear Spygirl went through is something we cannot be prepared for. Frankly I am shocked about her incident. And having boated for years I find her experience horrifying.

BTW, the fog is why I will not fly into Venice during the winter months. Amsterdam has this problem too. So does Milan (Milpensa and Linarte airport).

And in northern Italy tremendous auto accidents happen every year, 30 to 40 plus cars pile up on the autostrada due to the fog.

It is rather like the tule fog we get here in the Sacramento Valley.

Fog can be a wicked enemy.

Safe travels everyone!

I was considering taking KLM/NWA flights that would leave Venice and go through Amsterdam. Sometimes it is possible to get a reasonably-priced flight that leaves Venice in mid-afternoon, and then has an overnight stopover in Amsterdam, before flying back to the US. If I were to do this, that's the approach I might try to take, using Priceline for a good 3* or 4* hotel near the airport in Amsterdam or else staying at Ibis Amsterdam Airport.

I have read of one person on this board who said she did get in the check-in line at the earliest possible moment for a 6:30 AM flight or so, after waiting for someone to show up, but was still not allowed to check in because she was too late - sort of Catch 22 situation. It would seem most people here haven't had that experience, but it seems that it's not impossible.

For my next trip, I got travel insurance which covers various eventualities, but it does require that you make a reasonable effort to get to the airport 2 hours in advance (or 4 hours in advance if it's a separate ticket).

Hi WillTravel, I am not the person you are referring to but - I would love to have an afternoon flight out of Venice and stay overnight at the hotel in Amsterdam before I fly back to SFO. That would be wonderful.

Next trip I will check into this. It would cut down on stress (catching the KLM in Amsterdam) plus a good nights sleep would be wonderful as I never get any sleep the night before I leave the MarcoPolo airport.

Again, so many good thoughts and ideas pop up on Fodors.

What time of year is it foggy in Venice?

We took a private taxi to the airport for a 7:20 flight out of Venice. The concierge at our hotel called the night before to make arrangements for the taxi to be at the landing by our hotel at a little before 6:00am. (We were right by the Accadamia bridge.)Riding in the taxi made us feel like rock stars! They are very cool. It cost about 85Euros - but the concierge said not to tip the driver, because the driver owns the boat and makes lots of money on the fare. When we arrived at the airport landing, we didn't see a shuttle, so we walked to the terminal (maybe a 5-10 minute walk).

I would think that the alilaguna would be the safest of water transports, as each that I have been on has had radar and a full complement of navigational instruments, which I don't recall seeing on any water taxi.

As to Spygirl's report of a near accident, I think it is rife with exaggeration. Granted, the waterways around Venice are crowded, and the vessels do come close to each other, but the Venetians enjoy a reputation as skilled mariners, and accidents are very rare.

We flew back from Venice yesterday. We had a 10:15am flight. This is what we did:

- Took the vaporetto from our stop to Pizzale Roma. We caught it at 6:33am from the Accadamia stop and arrived a little after 7am.
- The bus (no 5 - local...I heard there's a non-stop but this is the only one we could figure out) doesn't leave very often on Sunday! It was scheduled at 7:40am and left at 7:44am.
- We arrived at the airport just before 8am.
- The check-in desk didn't open until 8:15am for our 10:15am flight.

I think the trick for peace of mind is finding out the schedule for the vaporetto (must less frequent before 7am) and bus.