Flying out of Venice, but want to take my (grown) kids over to the heart of Venice for the afternoon/evening. Do any airport hotels (assuming there are some) offer transportation to Venice? And if so, how late does it run?
Or, if we decided to stay in Venice proper, how early do the Vaporetto run to get to the train station and airport? We have a fairly early flight - 10am, I think, so it didn't seem like that would be the best option.
We have stayed at Agriturismo Ca Beatrice (http://www.agriturismocabeatrice.it/eng/) several times for early morning flights out of VCE. It is located about five minutes from the airport and provides a shuttle service to and from the airport. For an afternoon/evening in Venice, they will take you to a nearby bus stop for the 20 minute ride to the vaporetto stops at Piazzale Roma or you can take a cab for about 40 euros. Agriturismo Ca Beatrice has beautiful, quiet rooms, a helpful staff, and delicious breakfast.
I don't think you will find any hotels offering complimentary transport into Venice, but a land taxi to Piazzale Roma is not very much. There is also the public bus that runs along the airport road.
As far as staying in Venice, the No 5 bus starts around 5 am, takes about 35 minutes. Unless it is a direct flight to the US (not many), 2 hours is plenty of time to arrive at the airport. The Vaporettos run all night on the Grand Canal.
10 am isn't early for Venice. 7 am is early, and I always caution people about that.
No, for such a late start, I'd stay in Venice.
The airport hotels are focussed on the airport, not Venice.
Where in Venice would you like to stay?
The vaporetto runs all day, and the day schedule starts around 5 am. Are you going to be on a direct flight home or is this a connecting flight (more likely) via another European city like Amsterdam, Rome, Paris, Frankfurt, London? If the latter you don't need to be at the airport ages before flight - maybe 90 minutes, unlike flights to the USA.
If your hotel is convenient to the vaporetto stop, I'd hop that around 6.30 or 7 after breakfast, a nice empty vaporetto (people are mostly coming in, some will be leaving), down the Grand Canal one stop beyond the Ferrovia, train station to the Piazzale Roma and then the airport bus from there. Fastest and cheapest.
Don't worry about the train when going to the vicinity of the airport - it doesn't go anywhere near.
I see that you've been visiting Venice for several years. Where do you like to stay?
Stay on Venice Island right at Piazzle Roma so that you can hop on the bus early (and easily) to the airport for your morning flight. Alternately stay ANYWHERE on Venice Island and hire a private water taxi to pick you up from your hotel and deliver you across the lagoon to the airport.
Definitely stay in Venezia, it is so different in the early morning and late at night (my favorite times).
If you can check in online and print out your boarding passes the day before, that might save you some time at the airport.
