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How early do I have to wake up to do this?

How early do I have to wake up to do this?

Old Nov 23rd, 2004, 03:34 AM
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How early do I have to wake up to do this?

I got a special fare roundtrip New York to Venice for May.

The latter part of my trip will be Florence. I am now planning to take the train from Florence to Venice and then catch the 12:00 pm flight back to New York.

Has anyone done this? What time should I book the train in order to give myself enough leeway (sp) at the airport? Thanks, once again!
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Old Nov 23rd, 2004, 03:52 AM
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U would stay overnight in Venice, just to be safe. It is not that rare for trains to be delayed.
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Old Nov 23rd, 2004, 04:25 AM
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I agree. I would overnight in Venice, as well.
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Old Nov 23rd, 2004, 05:31 AM
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Sashie, I to would get to Venice the night before your trip. Your train ride will take about 3 hours. You need to be at the airport 2 hours ahead of your flight.

As others have said, if the train is running late (and last time I took a train from Florence to Venice it was 2 hours late) or if on the day of your flight there is one of those famous train strikes - well, you will not make your flight. IMHO it is better to be safe than sorry. Do have a beautiful trip.
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Old Nov 23rd, 2004, 08:02 AM
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Let me echo the others. Enjoy your last night in Venice.
Figuring the 5 hours needed to get to airport on time and leaving your Florence hotel about 1 hour in advance for the train, you would have to leave no later than 6am. This assumes that there's a 7am train.
If there are no delays and no strikes, this should work,but that's a big "IF".
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Old Nov 23rd, 2004, 12:17 PM
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Another vote for proceeding to Venice the night before! I would never count on taking a train that distance to catch a Noon flight. Too many possibilities for something to go wrong (IMO)- delays, strike, missed train, change in flight time, etc.
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Old Nov 23rd, 2004, 12:51 PM
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Have you considered an early morning flight from Florence to Venice?
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Old Nov 23rd, 2004, 01:37 PM
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Thanks all for your replies. And I agree with all of you but I was trying to avoid going back to Venice for a night.

I got a good deal round trip to Venice. Must arrive/depart Venice.
Cleveland Brown - are you saying book another flight (with another airline) for the Florence Venice leg? Any idea how much that would be in comparison to the train?
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Old Nov 23rd, 2004, 04:51 PM
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Just out of curiosity I checked the TrenItalia schedule for a Monday.

There is only one option which would get you to the Venice airport on time:

Depart Florence 1:45am
Arrive Venice 5:31.
The next train doesn't arrive until 9:23. That's cutting it much too close for a noon flight.

http://www.trenitalia.com/home/it/index.html

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Old Nov 25th, 2004, 04:13 AM
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Happy Thanksgiving! I appreciate all of your help...it looks like I will be spending the last night in Venice.

What I think we will be doing is taking the train from Florence to Mestre, staying in a hotel there and taking a taxi the next morning to the airport. I checked venere.com and there seems to be reasonably priced hotels there.

Has anyone stayed in Mestre? Any hotel recommendatons? Any reason this is not a good plan?

Thanks againh
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Old Nov 25th, 2004, 06:17 AM
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tell me about this deal....I'm tempted myself....
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Old Nov 25th, 2004, 11:15 AM
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I had thought that perhaps a discount airline had an appropriate flight, but the big one in Italy has apparently folded, and I don't know enough to find another. Alitalia has a flight from Florence to Milan to Venice (cost just over $200US), but it leaves at 06:35 and arrives at 10:50, too short a connection time for my comfort, even though Venice is a small airport.

You might try posting an inquiry on the cheap flights forum at http://eurotrip.com
They have some very knowledgeable people there.
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Old Nov 26th, 2004, 01:22 AM
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Sashie - I wouldn't choose to stay in Mestre from preference.

Padova would be a nicer option -
it's only about 25 mins from Mestre with a very frequent train service.
Or Treviso ...

From Mestre there's a regular airport bus ...

Hope this helps ...

Steve

P.S. There are no direct flights between Florence and Venice.
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Old Nov 26th, 2004, 11:32 AM
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How far is Padova from the airport? I don't think we will be spending much time in Mestre or Padova since we will probably end up arriving in the evening. however if Padova is nicer maybe it would be worth it to arrive earlier and walk around.

Or...

maybe take the train all the way into venice and stay near the train station. This way we can have a last dinner in Venice. The following day we can walk to the train station and take a cab to the airport (or is it easier to take a water taxi??//)

my husband says I'm over-thinking this.
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Old Nov 26th, 2004, 11:43 AM
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We stayed in Mestre once for 1 night just for scheduling convenience. The town is very industrial and charmless (if that's a word). Just for something to do we decided to talk a walk the night we were there, we had only walked about 10 minutes when decided that we shouldn't be; we stuck out like sore thumbs and the only people we saw out were "working girls". If you arrive at your hotel later in the evening and leave in the morning it's not a bad idea. But if you are planning to try to shop, eat out, etc. this isn't the place.
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Old Nov 26th, 2004, 11:46 AM
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Sashie, I have an idea. But have to leave the house, will write tomorrow. All will be fine, don't worry!
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Old Nov 26th, 2004, 11:53 AM
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Margie - where did you stay? Would you recommend?
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Old Nov 26th, 2004, 01:46 PM
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Your idea to spend the last night in Venice is a good one. There are plenty of good hotels in or near the train station/P. Roma area. Land taxi from P. Roma is the quickest and cheapest way to the airport, but timing for a noon flight won't be a big factor if you're already in Venice.
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Old Nov 26th, 2004, 04:49 PM
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Sashie, I'm sorry, I wish I could be more helpful. It was about 4 years ago and the hotel was so "blah" that I honestly don't remember the name. I'll see if I can did up my notes . . .
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Old Nov 27th, 2004, 02:25 AM
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Sashie - Padova to Venice airport is under an hour if you get a good connection at MESTRE.
[You would go by train from Padova to Mestre, then airport bus from Mestre].

- Padova-Mestre takes about 25 mins by train.
(There are several trains per hour to Mestre).
www.trenitalia.it

- Mestre-Venice Airport takes 17 mins by airport bus from Mestre station. Here's the timetable:

http://www.atvo.it/airport.php?ld=orari_fly.ihtm&id=1

Hope this helps ...

Steve
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