Last night in Venice, San Marco or hotel near airport
 

During the first leg of our trip, we'll spend two nights in Venice and return there for our last night. Should we just go ahead and book a room at the B&B we've secured for the first two nights? It's in San Marco just across the Accademia bridge. Or, should we find something closer to the airport. We'll arrive back in Venice on Friday evening around 7 p.m. or 8 p.m. and have an 11 a.m. flight the next day. Hope that's not too confusing..
Thanks in advance,
CDG

ttt

You can easily make an 11am flight, we made a 7am flight last summer!
I'd stay on Venice for my last night personally... Mestre on the mainland can't top the atmosphere.

Hey TexasAggie!
I just wondered if it would be worth it dealing with transportation to the hotel from the train station on Friday night and then turning around the next morning and getting to VCE. I guess it's our last night, so we should make the most of it:-) Thanks bunches!

Hi CDGirl, do you think you will be tired from your trip by the time you return to Venice? I understand your not wanting to go through a lot of fuss the night before your flight home.

But if you feel like you will not be tired and if you really enjoy Venice your first two nights there I would consider staying in Venice the last night again. If you stay at the same B&B at least the B&B, the area etc. will be famaliar which is a help.

I agree that since your flight is not until 11:00am you will have plenty of time to get to the airport the next morning. Lucky you, my flight home from Venice always departs at 7:00am as do a lot of flights.

Anyway, only you will know what is best for you. And that is the path that you should follow IMHO.

Do have a wonderful time in Italy!

<i>&quot;I just wondered if it would be worth it&quot;</i>

Who on earth could possibly answer this question other than yourself? Those who love Venice won't envy you and those who could take-it-or-leave-it would have no problem staying near the airport on the last night. Please don't tell me this is a vacation?

Frankly, I view any itinerary like this as a &quot;planning&quot; fiasco and would never recommend it to anyone, no matter what the circumstances. Venice is a difficult city to enter and exit with luggage and, to do it quickly, it costs quite a bit of budget planning.

I could NEVER imagine myself spending my last night in Europe at some hotel near the airport unless I had absolutely no other choice.

If you can afford the extra $400-$500, the only way I would deal with this situation is to water taxi to your hotel and hope you can get checked in by 9 PM. Get out and treat yourself to a lovely meal. End your evening with a cocktail at Florian and stroll as much of Venice as you can at night. Allow yourself four or five decent hours of sleep and get out early enough to eat breakfast at a cafe. Take another water taxi and get to the airport no later than 9:30 AM.

For some of us, there's only one way to live. Good luck.

ChiGirl-if you're getting in around 8pm from the train station, then have to catch the vaporetto down to San Marco, check in, (this will all take time-probably close to 9:30 or so, maybe later) and then, what? Get up early to do another baggage drill, get to the the Alilaguna dock at San Marco by 8am the next morning, for a 70 min. ride back to the airport? I don't think so. That wouldn't be worth it to me. Find an airport hotel-you'll be a lot more content and far less frazzled, I think.

And get to the airport a bit early so you can spend some time doing some quality shopping in Aeroporto Marco Polo-they have some lovely shops, (artisanal masks, of course, Murano glass, of course, but also, a nice Furla shop among other luxury outlets) it's actually quite a relaxing place-I think very highly of this airport-it's very well-run-and they have a miniature lagoon pool at the entrance of the airport with a replica of the Campanile in San Marco -just to let you know where you are.

Another suggestion. Perhaps find a hotel right across the canal from the train station in Venice. You could drop you bags off and grab a nice dinner. You could also wake up in the morning and still get some strolling time in. The train station in Venice was walking distance to the bus station which had a bus directly to the airport. Getting to the hotel here or Maestre will be the same amount of work, and the bus is an easy way to get airport in the morning, and you still get to enjoy the city. I wouldn't want to kill more time than an hour in VCE.

Thanks Loveitaly!! Appreciate your positive energy.

NYFoodsnob-Your last night itinerary sounds fun. We are covering every detail as we plan, so I'm confident things will be just fine. And actually it will cost us far less than $400-500 to stay in Venice that evening, thanks to fantastic
planning;-)

Spygirl and SandyD1 - Thanks for the feedback. I'm going to ask DH what he would prefer and go from there. Thanks again!