place to meet at Marco Polo
 

Younger daughter and I are flying from ATL to Venice to meet older daughter who's flying in from Kenya. First time for all of us. Our flights ...different airlines...land pretty much at the same time. Not familiar, of course, with the airport layout, security. Any suggestions where we 3 can meet so we can taxi into the city together?

The airport web site is at
http://www.veniceairport.it/index.jhtml

Click on the English flag to get the English language version, then navigate to their map which shows the arrival areas.

There is a cafe there, which could be a comfortable place to wait.

It is a small airport, so it should be easy to navigate.

When we arrived, we took a shuttle bus to Mestre, then the train into Venice, as the initial view of Venice on exiting the train station was, accurately, highly recommended. We then took a vaporetto to our lodgings. Water taxis are perhaps a little faster, but also wetter and more expensive.

Enjoy your trip.

I agree that it's a small airport and it will not be hard to find each other. When you get through the terminal and through customs, you come to an "arrival area" with all the ticket booths for local transportation to the left, and the Cafe is to the right. The Cafe would be an easy meeting place if you are arriving during regular hours.

I will also offer another suggestion for transport into the city. I think arriving in Venice via water is a nice and scenic way to arrive, and you can get a ticket on the Alilaguna water shuttle (10eur, 45min-1hr) that gives you a lovely scenic tour around the lagoon and then drops you off right at the Piazza San Marco. From there you can walk to your hotel, or if it's not convenient to San marco, you can take a vaporetto (although eventually you are going to have to walk at least part of the way, so pack light!). If you buy a ticket for the Alilaguna shuttle, there is free shuttle bus (5 min.) that picks up in front of the airport and takes you to the boat.

Follow-up: The Alilaguna water shuttle is public transport that you share with lots of other people, it's *not* a private water taxi that costs much more (50eur+ from airport to S. Marco). Just in case that was not clear.

My friend and I were traveling with luggage and did not want to deal with bus/train/vaporetto, etc. and the Alilaguna water shuttle was ideal for us because once we got on, we did not get off until we arrived at S. Marco.

Thank you both very much. This already feels more manageable!

it's soooooooo small. I don't think you will have any problem - plan or not.

My wife and I just picked up our two daughters ( one from downtown Atlanta and other from Raleigh ) at Marco Polo at 11:00am this morning. They arrived from JFK via Delta. Marco Polo is a small airport and all passengers,after retrieving their luggage, have to pass thru a doorway where everyone is waiting for them. No way you can miss seeing them..the cafe is only 20 yards away. You can have a cappucino and see them come through the doors. I recommend buying tickets from counter behind the news stand to take the blue bus (express) to P.Roma transportation center near Ferrovia train station. Express costs $3 Euros per person including luggage and you catch it at the 2 lane 1. Takes less than 20 minutes and is an enjoyable ride after spending 8 plus hours on a plane. Nearby bus drop off are taxis and vaporetto. I recommend the 3 day vaporetto tourist pass at 22.00 Euros. The vaporetto will get you most anywhere in less than 20 minutes. Hiring a taxi is great if you have the bucks to burn. Eventually, you will use the vaporetto system and the sooner you learn how the better and easier getting around Venice will be for you. If you are staying in the Cannaregio area , as we are now, depending on where you can walk there in under 15 minutes with a gelato in hand.