eastave

Laurieco,

Would you report back on how your stay was in whichever place you stay? I am following you and booked both too! We are going in September, so I can learn from you.

laurieco

eastave, I will try to remember to do so. I still haven't figured out which hotel we will stay in.

Grandma

Laurieco… as far as I can remember I've been to Venice six times, stayed at various hotels, and loved them all….. why? Because I was in Venice -

tarquin

If I were going on my very first trip to Venice, I think I would opt for a water taxi just so the fabulousness would start as soon as I got off the plane.

raincitygirl

I second that idea tarquin! That water taxi ride makes you feel like you are in a James Bond movie.

laurieco

We aren't flying into Venice. We're arriving by train so the water taxi into Venice would not be very dramatic. We may take a private water taxi from the train station though.

tuscanlifeedit

laurieco: do it. The experience is worth every cent.

NYCFoodSnob

<i><font color=#555555>"The (private water taxi) experience is worth every cent."</font></i>

Hardly. If it's raining, it's a complete waste of money.

A private water taxi ride on exhausting travel days is mostly convenient. You avoid public transportation (and all those people) and get from point A to point B faster. If there's plenty of money in the budget, by all means go for convenience.

If you're looking for spectacular on-water views of Venice, don't waste your limited resources on airport travel days. Hire a boat during your stay and pick the most romantic time of day for your ride. That's what I call money well spent.

DonTopaz

Taking a water taxi from the train station makes sense. Even with a map, it's incredibly easy to take a wrong turn in Venice -- in fact, that part of the charm of the place, unless you're schlepping suitcases. And when you factor in the price of the vaporetto fare, the taxi becomes an even more sensible choice.

tuscanlifeedit

Well, yes, it would be a bit of a waste in horrible weather. For me, coming down the GC for the first time was a wondrous experience. I think laurieco would like it, under the right circumstances.

I've been fortunate enough to have the experience twice and still recommend it. I've also arrived by Alilaguna and vaporetto. They'll all get you where you're going but the taxi from the station is a memory that I'm glad I have.

annw

Sure, the water taxi can go wrong. I arranged one from the airport with my 4 sisters (one of whom had never been out of state, 2 never out of the country) to Locanda Orseolo after flying from California; they "hot shot" was on his cell phone and driving like a maniac and dropped us off over by Rialto due to low water in the local canal, theoretically, from where we made our way to the small courtyard where the locanda was, through the masses of humanity.

But for first visit after many years and on arrival to new hotel it still seems like a good plan.

laurieco

We'll see how we feel when we get there. I don't think the train ride from Florence will be particularly exhausting. I'll weigh whether I want the private water taxi vs. vaporetto, or a gondola ride instead at some other time. When I was in Venice with my parents in 1970, the three of us (well, my parents paid) hired a gondola. I'm sure it was much much less expensive back then. I remember my father stood up to take a picture of me and my mother and nearly got us thrown into the canal! When I was back in 1980, I was a poor student and did not take a gondola, or private water taxi.