We are hoping to end our May '09 trip to Italy in Venice, but an earlier post said it was better to end in Rome because the flights out of Venice are so early. Is it difficult to get to the airport at 5 am in Venice? Is public transportation running at that time of day? I would think they would have to have some way to get to the airport or they wouldn't have a flight scheduled for that time, but you never know.

Thanks!

Where are you staying in Venice and have you booked your flight. Are you sure you have to leave at 5AM? Have you looked at flights?

The Alilaguna leaves for the airport starting at 3:40.

http://www.alilaguna.it/?funzione=1&...e=8&modo=6

I'm not a morning person, so the thought of ending a (hopefully) great trip by dragging my luggage around in the pre-dawn darkness would be torture. Would your budget allow for a water taxi?

But, where are you flying to?

It all depends on where you are flying to and how. In general, if you are flying directly to a US destination from Venice Marco Polo, the flights seem to leave at a reasonable time. The last couple we have had have been around 10:30 to 11:30.

The really early ones tend to appear if you are connecting in Europe again for your overseas flight. For example, you might have to catch a 10:30 or 11:30 flight out of Rome or Frankfurt. to do that you might have to leave at 6:00 or 7:00.

Check the flights available to you and decide. There are those of us who feel that Venice is an easier city to recover from jet lag in and would suggest flying into Venice and out of Rome.

notbob makes a good point. If your flight requires a connection, you will have to leave Venice very early, and it can be quite stressful. I think I have told the tale here of the 80 mph taxis when the boats were cancelled because of dense fog. And I know I have told the story of our different hassles but the same early flight issues from Barcelona via Frankfurt.

When we go to Europe again this spring, I think we will make our way to our departure airport (FRA, CDG,LHR,LGW) the day before, get a good night's sleep in a boring airport hotel and then get the flight home.

I have the opposite view of notbob's last sentence. I guess it depends on how travel affects you and the length of your trip. I would prefer Rome first as it is noisy and chaotic and I can accept that in the beginning of a trip as I'm excited to get moving and sightseeing. Rome energizes me. I become temporarily travel weary about 2 weeks into a trip and require some tranquility so Venice last would be perfect if it is a 2 week trip.

I agree with Adrienne in regards to Venice being a wonderful place to wind up an Italian vacation. We left early as well. I don't think the airport (airline counter) really is "open" that early, but if you factor the extra time they ask you to allow, that is about what time you feel like you must arrive. We left one of our bags at the airport when we dropped our rental car upon arrival to Venice. It worked out well. Our B&B (B&B Sandra) arranged a water taxi for us and it was well worth the money we paid. Be sure to arrange the taxi the day before and be sure someone there can notify them if they don't show up in time. Have a great trip.

I haven't been to Venice (yet) but I agree with adrienne about Rome. I have been to Rome several times and I love it at the start of the trip because the hussle and bustle of the city helps get me over jetlag quickly. I need some excitement and energy to keep me going, and Rome certainly delivers.

Tracy

Hi de,

Have you considered flying into Venice and out of Rome?

That would be my preference.

Ditto Ira. You get more time on the ground that way, a few more hours in Italy.

And I like getting over jetlag in Venice. You have to be more alert in Rome.

debrad,

Check your flights first. The last time I returned from Venice, my flight didn't leave until 11:40am. It was easy to take the Alilaguna to the airport in plenty of time.

My flight happened to connect in Paris, then on to the US.

Buon viaggio!

We had an early flight out of Venice to Milan and then our flight back to the states. Our hotel reserved a water taxi for us and it was at the hotel waiting for us in the morning.

(We did have a hotel on the canal though).

We took a flight on Delta from Venice to JFK last Saturday and it left at 11:45am. No need to get up early! Can cause a problem if you have to catch a connection from JFK that evening. Where are you flying to/from?

Why speculate? Look at the flights and connections both ways and then decide. The pricing and the hours may dictate for you.

Thank you for all of the replies. I really was just concerned that we wouldn't be able to get a ride to the airport at that time of day because of what the other poster had said. And my 5 AM time was including the two hours ahead of the flight that you're supposed to get to the airport, and travel time to the airport, not a 5 AM flight (that would just be ridiculous). So the idea of a watertaxi coming to get us sounds perfect! So thanks again!

Book the water taxi through your hotel in advance; you'll pay extra for the early morning but its fine; we had a 7am flight out to Vienna - worked out fine.

debrad149, we had an early flight and took the night waterbus at 5 a.m. to Piazzale Roma. There we had choice of taxi or bus. We chose the taxi and arrived before the Alitalia desk even opened.
Check with your hotel but believe me they will get you there.

During high season, I think the airlines add flights from Venice. We left on Delta after 1pm - chosen on purpose because I don't "do" 5am.

Two suggestions:

Before getting to the airport the suggested 2 hours ahead of time, be sure that the airline counter will be open at that time. We showed up at Marco Polo at 5:15 am a few years ago, but the ticket counter didn't open until 6

Oops, hit the wrong button.

Same thing happened in Berlin once a couple of years ago--got to the counter almost 2 hours before flight time only to be told there that the counter opened 1 hour before flight time.

The second suggestion:
Be careful if you have your hotel book a water taxi for you. I've seen some charge double for the "service" of making that reservation for you; e.g., up to 180 euros for a ride that should cost 90 or so.