Hi,

I'm going to Venice with one other person - we're both first timers. We're arriving on Saturday June 19 via train and leaving Monday June 21 by train as well. The train departs around 5 AM .

My question is, should we pick a hotel next to something specific in order to get back? Is it best to get back to the mainland via train or taxi or another options I don't know of? Is public transit operating so early in the morning if we stay not right next to the train station on the island? I want to have this planned out before I book the hotel on the wrong side of the island and create the possibility of missing the train when we leave. Recommendations for strategy here?

Thanks in advance for your words of wisdom

Not sure what time public transit starts (you could google it) but I am not sure why you are catching your train from the mainland. Venice has a train station...

"should we pick a hotel next to something specific in order to get back? "

Absolutely not, unless you mean you're getting a train that stops at Mestre, but not Venice. In which case, change your plans.

Venice railway station is on the island - but in the rather unpleasant part, where cars and trains are allowed. Staying in a hotel nearby, IMHO, misses the point of being in Venice altogether: staying in Mestre, unless you've got a client to visit in what has to be Italy's most charmless city, is doolally.

From St Mark's Square, it's at most a 30 min, and intermittently beautiful, walk to the railway station - which isn't much different from the waterbus journey time. If you can't get a taxi booked and the buses aren't running that early, walk.

Most train leaves Venice Santa Lucia (station on Venice Island) and stops at Mestre (Main land station) before continuing for farther destinations. So usually you don't need to change trains at Mestre. Are you taking the train at 05:14 (R2090) by chance? That goes to Padova and Milano.

For hotel to the railwa station, check waterbus timetable at www.actv.it
No1. on Grand Canal (that stops at Ferrovia - Railway Station Santa Lucia) has night service, less frequent than during the day.

> From St Mark's Square, it's at most a 30 min,... walk to the railway station .... If you can't get a taxi booked and the buses aren't running that early, walk.

30 min is without luggage and also there are numerous small/ mid sized bridges to cross in between. I could do that because my luggage is a small carry on size when I visit Venice.

> Recommendations for strategy here?

Railway station area (Canaregio West) is not bad if you choose your hotel a bit carefully (although I do prefer other areas). If you choose to stay in that area, a big plus is you can walk to Santa Lucia station easily.

>>>Recommendations for strategy here?<<<

Take a later train?

Thanks for all the input, everyone, it's much appreciated. Train was already booked before I posted - we are going through a bunch of cities and are on a rather strict schedule due to the trains, but everything else is up for grabs and we'll go with the flow.

And yes, the train to get to (or near, I guess) Venice ends at Mestre, and departs from Mestre when we leave town too (just how it worked when I set up up online - it doesn't really bother me since they're so cloes).

After looking and worrying a lot, I decided the safest thing to do is stay near Mestre and just commute into Venice both days. It looks like during normal waking hours trains are very frequent, and buses, etc. Plus, the thought of dragging luggage though the streets that I won't be familiar with when it's still dark out around 3:30-4 AM isn't the best idea - and, I don't think there is a good way to get back to the mainland at that hour since I couldn't find a train that left Venice and stopped at Mestre that early. Best to play it safe so we don't biff our trip, I think

I would highly recommend rethinking staying in Mestre...the best part of Venice is having a lovely meal by a canal and visiting St Marks after all the crowds have gone!

I'm sure you could stop at the train station in Mestre and get an extention so that you are leaving from St Lucia! It wouldnt be expensive and would make your experience so much better!

If you stay in Mestre, you can still enjoy an evening in Venezia: the last train from Venezia Santa Lucia to Venezia Mestre seems to be at 0036.
However, if you're catching a train at five in the morning, you won't be able to enjoy an evening doing anything.
If your itinerary requires catching a train a 5 am, then you should change the itinerary. I've been all over Italy by train, but would never even think of getting a train at that time.

I see a train at 4:09 (#VE803) from Venezia Santa Lucia to Venezia Mestre arriving 4:24.
The next trains are 5:11-5:22 (#5952), 5:14-5:24 (2090), 5:26-5:36 (#2824).

Just for clarification: Venice Santa Lucia station, on the western end of historic Venice, is actually across the Grand Canal from the P. Roma where cars are allowed. There are no cars or buses around the train station itself--only vaporetti and water taxis.