TC

O.K....I know there are no taxis in Venice. Can someone give me first hand information on getting to your hotel with luggage?

The directions to our B&B say, from the airport you can take "a private taxi to the B&B" or you can take the "Alilaguna, public shuttle to San Marco's Square" and get off "near the B&B".

Here's my question. Is a private water taxi allowed to take us right to the door of our B&B (its on a small side canal)? If we take the public transport to the nearest public stop, is there any assistance available to help get to the hotel with luggage or are we strictly on our own to pull it along?

We intend to pack one small roll-aboard piece, but wonder if even that is too much to handle on cobblestone streets (are they all cobblestone?) for a 8 or 10 minute walk to our room.

What do the experts say?

rex

Cobblestone does not mean that you can't roll luggage on it. Thousands of people daily deal with these short walks. It would be somewhat unusual for it to actually be eight or ten minutes - - assuming that you can walk, say 50 yards a minute.

And yes, often a taxi can take you as close as 5-50 yards from the door of your B&B. Or in the case of some hotels (Bonvecchiati is one that comes to mind) - - they can literally take you to a landing from which you step INTO the hotel.

Best wishes,

Rex Bickers
Floyds Knobs, Indiana



You'll do fine.

TC

"Thousands of people daily deal with these short walks."

Rex, thanks for responding, I guess. This didn't really help with my question however.

Lorac1127

With one small suitcase, you should be fine...but everyone's definitation of small is different.

To answer you question, public transport does not offer assistance with luggage, nor is anyone available once you arrive at the stop. If you take a water taxi, the driver will bring you as close as possible to your B&B. He will also help you put the luggage on and take it off the boat...which for us was a huge asset because we had two suitcases, one 24" and one 26", a camera bag and a makeup case...that's as light as we can travel.

The question to ask the B&B is "are there any bridges to cross" to get to the B&B. The bridges are what would be difficult with heavy luggage.

elaine

Hi
Yes, what Rex said.

Before I went to Venice the first time my greatest anxiety was about getting from the train station to the hotel for the first time. It was easy, and I took a vaporetto, so had to walk about 5-7 minutes to hotel from boat stop, and I had a lot more luggage, unfortunately, than you are planning on.

If you don't get off right at your lodgings the odds are you will have to climb up and down at least one small bridge or to, but they usually have broad steps at either end so you can keep rolling your bags.

There are porters for hire at several public stops,though I honestly think that unless you have some infirmities
you will find it quite easy, as your hotel suggests, to get to where you are going on your own. To tell the truth, I found it part of the experience of Venice, and in other places I am definitely a taxi-taking person.

MFNYC

I haven't noticed any koind of assistance with regard to a public stop to a hotel. We took a water taxi to our hotel, but still has to walk a a couple of blocks (our hotel was not on a canal). We were taken to the nearest docking point, and rolled our luggage to the hotel with out any problems (and that included 2 children pulling bags on wheels).

Jun04ItalyHoneymoon

We stayed at the Locanda Barbarigo. We got off the Alilaguna at St. Mark's, and it was about a 5 minute walk to our hotel. We each had a 28" rolling suitcase (I can hear the Fodorites gasps of horror) and a carryon. There were a couple of small bridges to cross, which meant picking up our suitcases 4 times each. It was still really no problem, and I'm not exactly the most athletic of women.

Be sure to ask your B&B for specific directions from the Alilaguna stop at San Marco. There are often no street addresses - our hotel just had a number and San MArco, which initially led us to believe that it would be immediately in front of us from the San Marco stop - how wrong we were! It took a visit to the Information center near the San Marco stop and the purchase of one of their Venice maps to get us to our hotel.

gor29cos

How far you have to walk will also depend on the water levels when you are in Venice. I've been there when the water was very high, and you had to walk all the way to the Grand Canal to get a taxi, because they didn't have "head clearance" under the bridges to get back into the neighborhoods. This was a particular problem for people who couldn't carry their luggage, because we had to walk through about 3 inches of water to get out of the hotel and to the taxi - lots of people were stranded until the tide went out. It is always best to be sure you can carry your luggage a pretty good distance.

mclaurie

I can just reconfirm what others have said. First, there ARE taxis in Venice. They just happen to be water taxis. Yes, if your b&b is on a canal the water taxi should be allowed to pull right up to their water dock, assuming, as gor29cos points out, there are no aqua alta problems which usually occur mostly in winter.

I had not seen "assistance" available for luggage from the alilaguna stop but NYCFoodSnob, a regular poster (although away now I think) who goes to Venice often did mention it was available at certain spots.

My husband and I managed more luggage than you describe and did fine. You may encounter a few small bridges but the steps are usually very shallow.

Myer

Walking from the vaporetto stop to the hotel isn't the issue as long a walking isn't a problem.

Get a map of venice and find the location of the hotel.

Check to see how many, if an, canals you have to cross. That's the issue since each canal requires going up 5-10 stairs and then down.

metlc

TC,

Myer has it right.

All you have to do is check out the vaporetto routes versus your destination. I'd be surprised if you have to walk more than a couple hundred yards (meters) to get from a vaporetto stop to your destination. Not a problem, unless...

...unless you're the kind of person like Kate in TITANIC who has a couple of carriages full of junk that "your man" takes care of all of the time.

atcken

I was recently in Venice and we took a water taxi from the train station to our hotel - dropped us off right at the water entrance doorway on a small side canal. This was a splurge though because the water taxi cost 55 EURO for the one way trip - which as of today = $66.72. Expensive taxi ride. We used the vaporetto for the trip back- short walk to the stop - and this cost 3.50 Euro per person for a one way trip. Much cheaper and will be the way we do it the next time we arrive in Venice.

Ken

mclaurie

And the water taxi from the airport is 80-90e because it's further than the train station. Just to clarify lingo, the alilaguna (alilaguna.com) only goes between the airport and Venice and/or the outer islands. It takes about 1 hr 10 mins because it makes stops along the way. A water taxi takes about 30 mins. A vaparetto is the local (in town) water bus.

rex

I'm sorry - - I thought I actually DID answer your question. But admittedly, not this part:

<<is there any assistance available to help get to the hotel?>>

As others have replied, I am not aware of any, but your B&B might be able to send someone to meet you (for a substantial fee, I would suppose) - - if you really require it.