Best way from Marco Polo to downtown Venice with group?

Take the shuttle bus from the airport to the city. It is cheap and reliable. The airport is pretty small and personnel at the information desk can direct you to the stop as well as sell tickets. Also, Rick's books on Italy or Venice have detailed directions.

As posted by Nancy buy a ticket for everyone for the shuttle bus into Venice (Rick's Venice 2008 guidebook says to buy from the driver for 3 Euro each). You will end up at Piazzale Roma. Go the vapporeto stop buy your ticket or multi day passes. Then hop on a #1 to the Rialto Mercato Stop.

There are other ways however this should be the cheapest. All of this information is listed in Rick's Venice 2008 guidebook. If you or someone in your group does not have one of the guides yet, get one! It will tell you about the other options for the transfer into Venice.

One of my favorite "Rickism" is that "A good guide book is a $20 investment(in this case only a $17.95 investment} for a $3,000 vacation" And multiply that times 9 people. The Venice 2008 guidebook has all of this information, lots of maps, information on the passes and sightseeing plus so much more to make you Venice Vacation on to remember.

There are two bus systems from Marco Polo to the Piazzale Roma. ACTV is part of the Venice public transport system as are the vaporetto water buses. Cost from the airport is about 3Euro. ATVO is an alternate bus system. Cost may be up to 6Euro. The Piazzale Roma is also a vaporetto stop. As mentioned above, you can take the #1 vaporetto. The #1 is the local. It stops at every stop. Note that the #1 goes both ways on the canal. Thus, you want the one going to Lido. You should see a boarding barge for each direction. Inside the barge, you should see a routing map on the upper part of the barge. CLICK HERE to see what you should be seeing. The Rialto Mercato stop is 6 stops away. Don't worry. The #1 can be a bit crowded (with most people standing). Just get on with your luggage. You'll be thrilled with the whole experience and your first ride down part of the Grand Canal.

Yes! I do have the Rick Steves Italy book and the 2008 Europe book, but did not find info on this matter. I can't find the VENICE book around here! Waaaaa! so thank you all so very much for all of your help with this.
Kathie

Hi Kathie:

I don't have a 2008 version but my 2007 Best of Europe Rick Steve Guidebook has the information on the Vaporetto service near the end of the Orientation Section of the Venice portion. (page 971). The Venice Airport information is on next-to-the last page of the Venice section. In the 2007 book that was page 1026. The information probably won't be on the exact same page, but could be close.

I would guess someone with the 2008 Best of Europe could confirm the page numbers. Anyone?

Robert

Thank you, Robert....I'll take a look right away!
Kathie

Kathie - there are basically two ways to get to the Venice from the airport. Land or water. You've gotten some advice on the bus part, but let me muddy the water( pun intended) a bit. There are two water methods. One is the Alilaguna boat that transports people to spots around the lagoon. It is not part of the ACTV vaporetto system and as such requires a separate ticket. You would exit Marco Polo in the front and then turn left to walk down to the docks. It takes aboout 10 minutes tops. Once at the docks you'll see the spot for ALilaguna. You will get on the Linea Arancio (Orange Line). This will make a couple of stops along the way and about 45 minutes later you'll be at Rialto. You'll exit and go to the hotel. Advantage no transfer or changes, stay on the same boat. Disadvantages, slight walk to the docks and bit higher price per person. 12 euros for a ticker per person versus 9.50 for the bus vaporetto if you take ATVO and the vaporetto. 3 + 6.50

The other option would be to consider a watertaxi. A very sleek shiny motorboat that will take you directly from the airport to as close as they can get to the hotel. Advantages, fast getting there and you won't have to wait for the public boat. It also makes you feel like royalty. Disadvantages, pricier than the other methods of getting there. In theory it should cost around 100-150 euros. the fee is supposed to be set. They can take up to 10 passengers with one bag each. So if you have a lot of luggage you folks might not fit. With as many people as you are moving, you can spread the cost out. It would be the same if you only had 2 people going.

Whichever method you decide, tickets can be bought inside the terminal. As you exit the arrivals area, turn to your left at the first passageway and the ticket office are there for all methods.

Thank you, Ron. This sounds like it might be a good idea. Does anyone know if the fee is set and what the fee is?

Here is a link to the official website.

http://www.motoscafivenezia.it/

they have a phone number listed as well as an online request form.

Be advised that if you show up with your nine people AND a TON of luggage, they will probably want to put you in two boats.