Getting to and From Venice Island
 

How difficult is it to get from the Venice Mestre area (close to Marco Polo) to Venice Island? How long does the trip take? Are the schedules convient? What would the approximate cost be each way?
Thanks...Tana

You can check the trenitalia website, but the trains run every 15 minutes or so, with last trains returning from Venice SL to Mestre at about 11 or 11:30 at night.

Are you referring to arriving Venice proper from the train station in Mestre, or from Marco Polo airport?

If you are coming from the airport, there are a few ways (water bus, private water taxi, land bus). On the other hand, if you mean from the train station in Mestre, then Shalott gave you the correct info.

Mestre is not Venice. Mestre is an industrial/commercial area on the mainland - which has no redeeeming characteristics whatsoever.

If you are going to Venice - stay in Venice (which is a series of islands - not one island) not Mestre - or you wil waste a significant amount of time trekking to/fro a place you don;t want to be.

As noted above there are several means of traveling from the airport to Venice proper (people usually quote to San Marco). If you can take the water taxi down the Grand Canal - if $ are a big issue, use one of the other choices.

We will be arriving very late and thought it would be easier to stay out by the airport rather than try and find our way to a hotel on Venice island. We will only be there 3 nights so we thought finding somewhere to stay that was close to the airport and transporting to the "island" every morning then returning after dinner would make sense, from what I'm hearing, maybe not. How much time should it take us to get from the Mestre area to Venice Island?
Thanks... Tana

Stay in Venice proper for the three days you will be there. Much easier and much nicer. It takes about 30-45 minutes to reach from Marco Polo airport. How late exactly will you be arriving? 3am?

I agree....even for three days it is much better to stay in Venice proper, than out by the airport.

There are still plenty of ways to arrive in Venice late at night, but just how late are you arriving?

I too prefer to stay on the islands, but for the budget tourist, Mestre is a very good alternative. It is only a 10 minute train ride from Mestre to Santa Lucia, and there is bus service if you are really watching your money (I think the bus service is included on the vaporetto pass, but have never used it to be certain). The hotels in Mestre are far, far less expensive than those on the islands, which makes for big savings.

Venice is pretty much closed rather early in the evenings, so you would miss almost nothing by going back to Mestre at 11 or 11:30.

Mestre is probably the worst possible alternative to staying in historical Venice. If you are really, really desperate to save money, then I suppose there could be worst things in life than staying in Mestre when you really want to visit Venice.

Multiple day trips to any city do not equate at all to staying in a city.

If you must seek cheap lodgings (and there are good reasons that lodgings in Mestre are generally cheaper than in Venice proper), then I'd prefer Murano or even the Lido. At least Murano has some character and the Lido isn't industrial. I'd prefer a one-star in Venice to a four-star in Mestre--though that would be a personal preference.

One of my great joys in Venice is to rise early and watch the activity along the canals as the various supply and service boats go about their business. Another is wending our way back to our hotel in the quiet, muted city--whether it's 11 p.m. or 3 a.m.

And there is plenty of activity available in Venice after 11:30--certainly not as much as in London or Paris or New York--but there are clubs and bars that stay open into the wee hours of the morning.

OK, OK, I get it, we'll stay in Venice proper.
Now for all of you savy Venice travelers, where would you recommend to stay that is reasonably priced? My daughter and her husband have an unwritten rule, no less than 3 star hotels in Europe. My husband and I don't have tons of travel experience in Europe so we would have thought that a 3 star would be adequate. Clean, private bathroom, decent furnishings in a safe area are a must. Other than that we aren't too picky.
We will be arriving @ Marco Polo airport ~10:00 pm in late April. What would be the best way to get from the airport to Venice at that time of night?
Thanks for all your input. Tana

Glad you got talked into staying in Venice proper...well worth it!

You'll have to define "reasonable" for us. For some people, its 80E/night, for others, it's anything under 400!

There are plenty of (by my definition) reasonable hotels in Venice...we stayed at Hotel Galleria (104E/night in Oct 2002). We stayed in an apt last trip (Sept 2004) and doing the same for next trip (in March).

Do a search on this forum for Venice hotels...you'll get lots of good advice.

Enjoy your trip!
Anne

Anne - how did you like the Hotel
Galleria?

Hi

Another vote for Venice and not Mestre. 3* hotels in Venice are costly. For a more homely experience check this decent B&B out - http://www.bbalessandra.com. Otherwise if it has to be 3* try - http://www.hotelmarconi.it

Ciao

JNT, I used this 3* hotel and it was very good, and pretty cheap, when I was there (but in December):

http://www.laforcolahotel.com

It has 24-hour check-in available.

I haven't stayed at this 3* place myself, but I noticed some good off-season rates. Again, I'm not sure about April.
http://www.hotelcentauro.com/en/

I do have to say that if very modern fixtures and a room without quirks are important to you, Venice is probably not the best place to stay. I was very happy with La Forcola, with its dark wood and marble staircase (and lift), but I don't think anyone would confuse it with a Holiday Inn, for example. Some people might want a very modern, yet cheap, hotel enough to stay on Mestre, and I can understand that.

There are numerous options for getting to Venice. Many people get a water taxi, but I consider that too expensive. I purchased a vaporetto pass in the airport, and then I took the ACTV bus from right outside the airport to Piazzale Roma, and then I took the vaporetto to my stop. If you go to the ACTV.it site, and look at the bus schedule, you can see that the #5 bus from the airport to Piazzale Roma runs until 1:10 AM. You can also look at the vaporetto (water bus) schedules. The one thing I don't like with any of these methods is that you will have to find your hotel in the dark, once you arrive at your stop, whether that's by water taxi or vaporetto. My other concern is whether you'll be able to buy a 72-hour vaporetto pass (which also works for land buses) at the airport at that time of night, or otherwise pay your fare, but it must be possible.

Fo searching out hotels try Tripadvisor site. You can sort by hotels with their ** rating and their average price. And it usually seems the best are not always the most expensive.
LisaS

What is all this talk against Menstre. I went to Venice Menstre and I stayed in a 4* hotel for E44 per night a great breakfast included and crossed the road - got on the train and was in Venice in 15 minutes for ONE EURO.
Returned to Menstra one night kind of early and had a great meal in a resturant that was far superior to any I had in Venice (cheaper and friendlier,)
Shops - yes there are shops, - walks - yes there are walks and if I hit back to that neck of the woods again I will stay in Menstre.

It's just not the same as staying in Venice proper; no matter how cheap your Mestre hotel was, it just doesn't compare.