Early Departure

First, I don't think the vaporettos go to the airport. At least they didn't when we were there two years ago. The private Alilaguna Blu Line does depart at 3:40am from San Marco and arrives at the airport at 4:59am. That's cutting it a bit close. CLICK HERE to see the Blu line schedule.

That leaves two options. 1) Spend your last night at the airport. There's the Titian Inn and a Courtyard by Marriot there. The Marriott is .8mi from the airport. 2) the private water taxi. About 150Euro for up to 6-7 people with luggage. Your hotel will arrange to have one waiting for you very early in the AM. You can then take the high-speed pre-dawn James Bond run through the canals to the airport. Its a spectacular run but maybe a bit early to see dawn break and the City come alive. You'll find that the hotel stay at the airport will about equal the cost of the private taxi.

WOW I didn't know it cost that much.

Maybe 125Euro if your lucky. But, they are not cheap. There is a ACTV land bus that departs from the Piazzale Roma and gets you to the airport at 5:05am. Still close. No earlier buses.

The final option is to take the late ACTV bus just before midnight and sleep in the airport. I'm not suggesting this but its done. There's even a website called www.sleepinginairports.net that describes and rates sleeping in Marco Polo.

Hi, Linda:
We were faced with the same problem last year (Lufthansa changed our flight to a much earlier one). We stayed at a B&B right on a canal, so we had them order a water taxi for a 4:20 AM pickup. We did this in lieu of a gondola ride. My in-laws were with us and they still talk about the water taxi ride...seeing Venice "wake up" right before your eyes. The taxi drops you off at a pier that's about a 10-minute walk (all under cover) and we made it in plenty of time. The bad news is it cost us 125 euros, but it was very memorable and let us breathe easier about making our flight.

Larry did an excellent job explaining the options.
We took the next to last ACTV Bus #5, the day before the flight in order to sleep at the airport for the early flight out.

It isn't comfortable for anyone over 40! The chairs are diabolical in their anti-snoozing design,
and you are left with hot and cold beverage vending machines in the wee hours.
It was interesting to meet other people doing the same thing and to see what they had experienced in Venice and to share picnic food that we had brought along. I would have brought more wine if I had to do it again. :)
So it worked out in that way as a fun experience.

You've identified the main complaint/difficulty in leaving Venice to fly back to the States. Last May we managed to get a flight with a 23 hour layover in Copenhagen. This allowed us to catch a 3 pm flight out of Venice, spent the night in Copenhagen, then had a 2 pm flight out of there the next day. Very civilized.

We have had similar discussions about earlier flights from Rome and elsewhere. I am always amazed that people book early flights -- 6, 7 AM and give no thoughts that you may have to be at the airport three hours in advance and how to do it. I would spend a terrific evening in Venice, packing some wine and food, catch the last bus to the airport, and have a party. That way you will sleep well on the way home.

Actually, the problem with early flights out of Marco Polo to the states seems to be when you have to connect in Europe for the transatlantic journey.

We have usually left around 11 am when we have had a direct flight to the US.

Having to deal with the logistics of Venice was why we chose, on our last trip, to fly into Venice and out of Rome. We knew that it would be much less difficult to get to Fiumicino airport in the early morning hours than it would be to get to Marco Polo.

I have decided to spend my last night in Venice at the airport. Whew! Know better next time.THANKS FOR EVERYONE's INPUT.