My husband and I are staying in Venice for three nights and leave the fourth day.
With the departure time of 7 AM and having to be at the airport so early we were wondering if staying near the airport is more advantageous on the third night as opposed to staying in Venice proper. Is leaving a hotel at 3 am too risky to transfer or is being close to airport just a better idea. Thank you for your feedback.
Posted by
Edmonds, WA 🌨 ☂
11946 posts
The plane you board in Venice, where does it land?
If in the Schengen zone you do not have to be to the airport as early as needed for a flight that lands out of the Schengen zone. The former does not require passport control whereas the latter does, thus the additional time needed.
If the latter, personally, I would definitely stay near the airport; if the former it would be 'probable'. ( I am not a morning person)
I would fire the travel planner..... :-)
Posted by
San Diego, California, USA
1144 posts
There are several threads about this on the forum over the last year or so if you search for them.
If you are staying near the train station then it is reasonable to catch an early bus or taxi and get to the airport by 5:15 or 5:30 - it only opens so early so there's no way to arrive fully two hours before a 7:00am flight. If you can walk to Piazzale Roma and not have to take the vaporetto then you can control what time you get to the bus without worrying about catching the boat. It will also give a few more minutes to sleep.
Staying nearer to San Marco I have taken both other options - bite the bullet and pay 140e for a water taxi directly to the airport and stay at a hotel near the airport with a shuttle. Both of these options have their good and bad points. No one wants to spend their last night either in Italy or Venice near the airport but sometimes you have to do what you need to do.
If your hotel is very near the airport or near a bus stop you could conceivably take the airport transportation back to Murano or to the city itself for one last night there and then travel back to the airport. I tried to make this work and realized I was trying too hard and we just spent the last night there after checking in the late afternoon.
I wish I had better news but everyone struggles with this issue. I love Venice but it is a logistically difficult city and terrible for early morning flights.
Have a great trip,
=Tod
Posted by
back in the Americas
725 posts
Here is the link to the direct ATVO bus from Piazzale Roma to Marco Polo airport.ATVO bus. The first bus leaves at 4:10 AM and the next one is at 5 AM. It is about a twenty minute direct bus ride to the airport. Cost is 10 € one way. Piazzale Roma is close to the Santa Lucia train station. If you can get to this area early, it is your cheapest way to get to the airport. There is a small ATVO ticket office in Piazzale Roma and there is also a ticket machine in front.
I also had an early morning flight out and caught that first 4:10 bus in spring 2023. . I was staying in Santa Croce area so not a very far walk to get to the piazza. I did buy my ticket, though, the day before.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16133 posts
Since your flight is that early you are not flying directly to the North America. For European flights, the check-in positions open 2 hours prior to departure, therefore getting to the airport before 5 doesn’t help much. The issue is that depending on where your hotel is located in Venice, your transfer to the airport can be as short as 30 minutes or way longer than one hour. So where would your Venice hotel be?
Posted by
San Diego, California
5648 posts
We have stayed at the Venice Marriott Courtyard at the airport, five minutes away, altho not walkable. They did have an airport shuttle but I don't know the hours of operation. I know it's hard to give up one last night in Venice, but you don't need to check in until bedtime, as you can say goodbye to the Venice lights. Safe travels!