We will be arriving in May at San Marco airport. We booked an apartment through Venitian Apartments near San Giacomo dell Orio in Santa Croce, and have the following choices as to how to get there.

1) Private Water Taxi service - met at customs and taken by road taxi to the quayside and then to nearest stop to apartment (San Stae). Their price is 150E each way. (Price seems a little high - is this what a private water taxi costs?)

2) Take free shuttle bus to Alilaguna landing stage, and then waterbus to San Marco. Pick up vaparetto from San Marco to San Stae. (This option seems round-about to me, as we are going way past where we need to get off and backtracking).

3) Take the "transfer bus" (how will we know what this looks like or where to find it?) into Piazzale Roma and then pick up a vaparetto from here to San Stae.

Can anyone advise or the easiest option, as we have not been to Venice before, and do not speak much Italian.

Also, can anyone advise of difference between ATVO and ACTV bus? I read somewhere that we could get a 7-day pass that covered both the bus and the vaparetto. Where do we get this?

Is it easy to find these buses, terminals, places to buy tickets once at the airport?

The ACTV bus is the one that is covered by that pass. There probably is a 7-day version as well, but I only know about the 1-day and 3-day versions. You buy this at the airport. The airport is very small, so I doubt you'll have trouble finding where.

It's very easy to get to the ACTV bus stop. You step out of the airport and it's about 20 feet away.

www.actv.it

I can't comment on the other options, but ACTV will be the cheapest particularly if you are buying a pass anyway.

There is no seven-day pass. The three-day pass costs 22 Euro and is valid for exactly 72 hours from the time when it is first stamped (which you do when you get on the bus at the airport).

The ACTV bus takes you to Piazzale Roma. There you take ONLY the No. 1 vaporetto in the direction of San Marco. (The No. 82 does not stop at San Stae).

San Stae is the fourth stop.

The price of 150 Euro for a water taxi is ridiculous. The real cost is about 80 to 90 Euro.

re- Bus Pass

there is a 7-day Venice card 'blu' available that covers the buses and optionally the alilaguna ferry from airport to Venice - it costs 71 euro with the airport option- I am looking at my reservation for this now.

I don't know website off hand but a search here or google for venice card blu should get it.

Does the 22€, 3-day vaporetto pass cover any transport to Marco Polo airport?

My mistake: Lcallow is right. It is 51 Euro without the Alilaguna, 71 Euro with the Alilaguna.

http://goeurope.about.com/gi/dynamic...prezzi_eng.jsp

Oh, and it lets you use the public toilets for free as well.

There is an orange version that includes admission to certain museums.

You can pick the card up at the VELA office at San Marco airport, daily between 9:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. or at the Alilaguna office from 7:00 p.m. to midnight.

JeanneB: The airport connection offered by the three-day pass is for the ACTV bus from the airport to Piazzale Roma and the vaporetto from there.

And vice-versa, but only if you are still within the strict 72-hour limit.

Thank you to all who responded. This sounds confusing to a first timer!

I think we will take the ACTV bus to Piazzale Roma, and then vaparetto from there. Is it fairly easy to find the vaparetto stop and figure out which one to get on?

I am a little confused about the 7-day ticket with ACTV. Several of my guidebooks list it. Here's a quote from AAA - "The good-value travel cards (biglietti a tempo) are valid on all ACTV water and land routes for periods of 24 hrs, 72 hrs, and 7 days (31 euros). All tickets are sold at ACTV booths, the ACTV office in Piazzale Roma and tabacchi (tobacco shops)."

Eloise, we'll have more than 1/2 a day left on our 3-day pass. I think we'd decided the Express bus from Piazzale Roma was the best alternative though. I believe it's only a 20 min ride at 3eu, so it doesn't really matter if it's not covered. If it's a gorgeous day, we may leave earlier and take the boat.

For the vaporetto stop at Piazzale Roma, just follow the crowds. There are two separate platforms for the vaporetti, marked with the direction; I'm almost sure San Marco is one, the other is, I think, Tronchetto.

Your guidebook information is out of date. The ACTV does not offer a seven-day pass (which was the reason for my mistake; I looked at the ACTV Web site).

The seven-day pass is called the Venice Card; it is offered by some Venetian tourism organization. For a seven-day stay during which you will frequently take the vaporetto to get to the main points of interest in Venice, it is probably a good deal. Whether you take the blue (only public transport and toilets) or the orange (with some museums) depends on whether you intend to see the museums that are included or not.

For the Venice Card, you go to the VELA or Alilaguna booth at the airport(depending on when you arrive), not the ACTV booth.

P.S. To get from San Stae vaporetto stop to the apartment, you will need either very precise directions or, preferably, a very precise map. Some people say that the one you get when you pick up your Venice Card is detailed enough; others recommend the Streetwise map; the most detailed one seems to be The Illustrated Venice Map by Magnetic North, which you can buy at:

http://www.travelguidewarehouse.com/

JeanneB: I'm not sure I understand. Both the express bus (which, as I recall, is the ATVO bus) and the ACTV bus leave from Piazzale Roma. And the only way you can get to Piazzale Roma, short of hiking through the city, is with the vaporetto (or boat).

Or do you mean by "boat" the Alilaguna?
You can only take it at a limited number of points in Venice and it takes you (by water) straight to the airport, eliminating any need for a bus. It also costs, if memory serves, 10 Euro per trip.

In centuries of documented travel to Venice, I don't think anyone ever said it was easy... But it's well worth the effort.

About that 7 day vs. 72 hour (3 day) pass. . . We rented an apartment for a week. On arrival in the mid afternoon we got a 72 hour pass. We didn't use any boats on the fourth day after that hour they expired and walked to dinner that night (as we often do). The next morning about 9 AM we bought new 72 hour passes which were then good until after our last trip to the train station when we were leaving the final morning. In other words, two 72 hour passes should get you through the full week.

I couldn't justify the cost of that pass that includes a handful of museums.

Ah yes, those outdated travel books....

OK, then, we will pick up a Venice card - Blue or Orange and VELA or Alilaguna booth at the airport (are these easily found?), then take the ACTV bus to Piazzale Roma, then take Vaparetto #1 toward San Marco and depart at stop #4 - San Stae. Do I have this right? I am hoping it will be easy once we are there.

We are to call the apartment representative once we arrive at the airport, which raises another question - I distinctly remember a 20 min. struggle with a pay phone in Paris which we never could get to work.

What's the best option for calling locally once at the airport - pay phone, cell phone (my current cell phone is not international) and - I feel very stupid asking this - how do I dial, i.e., what sequence of #s (area code, etc. do I need to dial)?

I've read that alot of the pay phones do not take coins, but require phone cards. Where would I obtain a phone card or would I be better to search for an international cell phone, as I want to call home to the States once in awhile.

Sorry to be so naive about all this.... I appreciate everyone's help enormously!

Patrick's suggestion of two 3-day passes at 22 Euro each as opposed to one Venice Card (tansportation only, not forgetting the toilets) at 51 Euro is a valid one, if you are sure you will not take the vaporetto up or down the Grand Canal on Day 4. If you do take a vaporetto on the Grand Canal on Day 4, it will cost you 5 Euro per trip (except if you only go one stop, in which case it is less). I think I would spring for the 51 Euro 7-day Venice Card for public transportation and toilets (without Alilaguna).

The added cost for the museums is one you will have to decide for yourself; it will depend whether you want to visit the included museums or not.

The San Stae vaporetto stop will not have the number 4 on it; it is simply the fourth from Piazzale Roma.

And yes, telephone calls. I have always managed with telephone cards (you must have a telephone card; there are almost no coin operated telephones), and I imagine that you can buy one at the newsstand/cigarette stand at the Venice airport.

You must dial the area code and the telephone number, even if you are calling Venice from Venice.

And if you get the international code from Italy for your long-distance telephone provider, you can use the Italian telephone card and only be charged for a local call. Your own long-distance provider will charge the long-distance charges, which can be as low as 5 cents per minute.

We'll be arriving at TSF---is the 3 day ACTV pass available from there as well. I checked their website, but parts of it (such as timetables and routes) are not working now.

It seems that the pass is good for one hour once stamped, but I understand that it takes that long to get to this airport to where we're going...??? So, if it's available at this airport, does it allow for the transfers and such?

Thanks for your help (I agree--it's confusing, but well worth it!)

From TSF (Treviso airport), you'll take the shuttle bus to Piazzale Roma, and then you can get your ACTV passes.

Eloise, I think you missed part of my point. First of all those passes aren't "three day passes", they are 72 hour passes. If you arrive in Venice and buy your card at 3 PM for example, it is still good until 3 PM on the fourth day. And if you will be taking your final boat trip on the 8th day say at 8 AM to go to the train station or towards the airport, then on the fifth day you can buy your new pass at 8:30 AM and it will be good through the rest of your stay. So you only need to avoid riding boats over one late afternoon and evening.

Wanderer-here are some useful links that will help you in planning your trip to Venice:

For Traveling, departing and arriving:
Train: Trenitalia- www.trenitalia.it/en
Airplane: Aeroporto di Venezia (VCE): www.veniceairport.it
Vaporetti and buses: www.actv.it
Regional buses: www.atvo.it
Waterbuses from and to the airport: alilaguna.com

Booking tickets for museums/exhibitions online:
www.weekendavenezia.com

As far as finding the Alilaguna water bus ticket booth from VCE airport to San Marco, it's very easy to find (Aeroporto Marco Polo is a VERY well laid out airport-5 years old or so). When you exit customs in the arrivals hall turn to your left and go all the way down to the end-you'll see the various tourist information booths, with a separate booth to buy Alilaguna tickets-it's in English so no worries there. Then the overhead signs in the airport will tell you where to catch the shuttle bus that will take you to the dock, or you can do as I did, and just walk there-it's not far, a pleasant 8-10 min walk or so.

Artlover-yes, the ATVO bus IS available from TSF, it goes-TSF-Mestre-Venice Pzle. Roma. The bus takes 45 min. and the return ticket is 7.60E. Tickets can be bought in the arrivals lounge at the bureau de change booth. See this site: http://www.trevisoairport.it/dove/in...view=trasporti

correction: that should be www.alilaguna.it, and www.weekendavenezia.it

Thanks all for the information. As always, you're fantastic. What would we do without you?