I have a flight that leaves Venice at 7:25 in the morning on Al Italia to return home. Am I crazy? Will I be able to make my flight at that time in the morning? We were planning on staying in Venice the last night and waking up at the crack of dawn to catch our flight. Any ideas? How do I get to the airport on time?

This is a fairly common theme; if you use the search box, you can find lots of discussion. If you are staying close to Pl Roma, you can catch the bus from there. If you are farther into central Venice, your best bet may be to pre-book a water taxi (pricey), as the night schedule vaporettos don't run that often. But do the search, I haven't had to deal with early departure myself.

Sorry, I do not have any advice about Venice, but I would think a water taxi, for example, is a good idea. You will make your flight. In fact, I can understand your concern as we have a similar flight. We have a 7:15 a.m. flight from Florence to Paris connecting to the States.

CBH - The first bus from Piazzale Roma is 5 a.m.

Journey time is about 25 mins.

http://www.atvo.it/eng/airport.php?l...id=0&var=v

Hope this helps ...

Steve

The 5AM bus will not be early enough since checking in and going through security at Marco Polo (I assume that is your airport rather than VIC) is often very slow. A water taxi is your best bet, but be aware that if it is foggy, the water taxi may not be able to make the trip.
Last October we had a 5 AM water taxi called, and it took us only as far as Piazzale Roma where we had to take an auto taxi (called by the water taxi driver) for an +80mph (much higher in kms) trip through dense fog to the airport, one of the more frightening rides in my life, though fortunately traffic is very sparse at that time. Land taxi set us back about 40 euros for 4 people on top of the water taxi charge from our hotel on the Grand Canal to PR, something like E 20.
I would, based on this experience, endeavor to book the last night in Mestre or somewhere else nearer the airport OR leave Venice mid-day the day before your flight home and spend the night at the airport where your US flight departs. Depends on how important it is to get home on time and how easily stressed you are.

Our flight out of Venice left at 6am.

We had to leave our hotel at 4:30am. It really wasn't all that bad, we had our hotel arrange a taxi pickup which was the best thing we could do. The water taxi pulled up right to the canal window of the hotel and they loaded up the luggage and then us. The ride took about 20-25 minutes in a nice covered cabin.
The taxi was 90 euro with a 10 tip. It drops you off at the southern tip of the airport, ther eyou can take a van for 10 euro's each to the terminal or d olike we did and just walk the 1.4 mile to the terminal.

Good luck

Reckoning,

1.4 mile from the dock to the terminal? Are you sure? Did you mean 0.4 mile?

The water taxi is the way to go. For the early morning or late night taxi, the fare is E85 (rather than E80 during other times). According to the consierge at both hotels I've stayed at, a tip is not expected. I'd be surprised if the walk from the pier to the airport is over a mile - it took my husband and I much less than 15 minutes and I had alot of luggage (heavy, too). It hasn't been my experience that the checkin is slow. I've flown Air France and Volare Air (the dear departed low cost replaced by MyAir). Alitalia may be slower-you gotta love the Italians and the pace they live and work at.

We have always flown out of Venice on an early flight and I agree that the water taxi is your best and most convenient option.

What time of year are you traveling? If it's in the fall or winter, be aware that there are often times fog in the lagoon and then the water taxis can't go that route. On our last trip (in October), there was early morning fog and our driver could only take us as far as Piazzale Roma. We had to find alternate transportation from there. So, keep that in mind if you are making a very early morn departure during foggy times of year.

Check http://www.actv.it for the public bus schedule from Piazzale Roma. ATVO is like an express shuttle, and ACTV is the public bus.

If you decide to use that method, you'd want ACTV bus #5.

sorry i meant 1/4 mile walk but its covered for most of it.

The Alilaguna boat service can get you there on time; the fare is 11 euro each.

If you have a larger party, a water taxi would be almost as economical, and faster. However, I think few of them have radar, so they are not usable in foggy conditions.

My experience is that the small airport does not take a long time to get through. In fact, I seem to recall that the airport closes at night, and does not open until 0600, so getting there earlier would not benefit you. On our first visit, we got up early (0400) to catch the first boat, and were early for our flight. It was somewhat interesting to be out and about Venice that early in the morning, but I think now I would sleep later.

There are many early morning flights out of Marco Polo, and I cannot recall having seen a posting where someone was unable to make their flight, so it must not be that big a deal.

The Alilaguna web site is at
http://www.alilaguna.it/

They have a trip planner there where you can see how early, and where, you can catch their boat. While their boats are about the size and speed of a vaporetto, they are actually a separate company, with separate stops.

Just stay at the Hotel Bologna in Mestre(a wonderful Best Western) that is located across the street from the train station(8 minutes across the lagoon with great views to downtown St. Marks for your last night there). You prearrange the taxi the night before at what time you want-they pick you up the next morning at assigned time and its 15 minutes to the airport with a very cheap price. Best of both worlds for "last night in Venice" and peace of mind that you will be on the airport on time.