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4:00am water taxi to Venice airport

Posted by (Saint Paul, Minnesota) on

Have you taken a very, very early water taxi to the Venice airport? How was it?

I have sworn a few times not to book a 6:00am flight home from Italy ever again. And I knew from this forum that a super early flight out of Venice was particularly bad. Did it anyway.

It was hard to resist a $994 each Delta main cabin "classic"/KLM 6:30am flight. Recently the price went up as high as $1979 each, almost double. More reasonable now.

In December, we have an apartment a few steps from the Zattere dock for two and a half weeks.

I explored all of our choices pretty thoroughly:

One night airport hotel with a shuttle (even though we hate airport hotels). There were issues with every hotel and/or shuttle.

One night hotel near Piazzale Roma (noon check-in) and then 3:30am land taxi to the airport.

Noon the day before, taxi to a nice agriturismo 2km from VCE, then taxi to VCE in the morning.

Walk the 25 minutes to Piazzale Roma at 3:30am and get a land taxi the morning of the flight.

I guess in the end we just preferred the idea of staying in the apartment and taking a water taxi, which we've never done before in several previous visits to Venice.

Looking for reassurance, maybe? You wouldn't believe the 999 things my husband is NOT nervous about, but he's always been a bit nervous about both land and water taxis to an airport to catch a flight.

Posted by
67 posts

Hi, Giangilberto from Milan, the Consorzio Motoscafi Venezia (I’ve included the link) operates a 24-hour call center, importantly, you can book and pay online in advance and print out your confirmation, and the water taxis are connected to a central hub via GPS.
You save 5% by booking a round trip, and the price is fixed in advance so there’s no haggling at the pier at 3 a.m.
During "acqua alta" (exceptionally high tide), some bridges over secondary canals become too low to pass under, so the route might change, in thick fog, the water taxis slow down or in extreme cases suspend service.
These are rare occurrences, but December is a month when they can happen, so it’s worth knowing about them beforehand rather than finding out at 3 a.m.
Exceptionally high tide shouldn't be an issue for you, though, since you’re departing from Zattere, you’re already on the Giudecca Canal and won't need to navigate any secondary canals.
In any case, my practical advice would be to book with plenty of time to spare before your 6:30 a.m. departure and to save the consortium's number so you can call the evening before or on the night itself.

https://www.motoscafivenezia.com/en/

Posted by
2295 posts

Thanks, Giangilberto! So, you think booking with the Consorzio is a better idea than with an individual water taxi like Venice Taxi Boat? Also, are there ever strikes? The last time we were staying in Venice, the vaporetti were briefly on strike.

Posted by
67 posts

So, regarding strikes, I've got to know the day you should take a taxi or a vaporetto, without the day, I can't tell you if there will be a strike or not.
However, I'll send you a link to the official website of the Italian Ministry of Transport where all the updated strikes are listed.
The calendar is constantly updated, so my advice is to check it, not every day, but frequently, because a strike that is currently reported could be reduced or revoked.
As for taxis, I've always been happy with those from the Consorzio.
You can also use those from Venezia taxi, which have more or less the same travel conditions.
I know they also offer a 5% discount, if you can round trip from the airport. They have the option of booking it online, and they should also be active 24 hours a day. I repeat, I've always traveled with the Consorzio because I've been happy with them, but I'll send you the link to those from Venezia taxi as well. If you want to tell me the day you have to leave, I'll check the strikes calendar for you. Or, in any case, you can do it yourself from the link I'll send you.

https://scioperi.mit.gov.it/mit2/public/scioperi

https://veneziataxi.it/en/

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