Logistics - shuttle from MP Airport to Venice?

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g187870-s301/Venice:Italy:Arriving.And.Departing.html

Do you have a Venice Guide Book yet? If so, great. If not, I would suggest you get one as it is full of useful information to answer your question and that we used when we visited Venice recently. If you do not have such a guide book and decide to get one, you can order one elsewhere on this web site and I have no association with the RS organization.

Barb, This is the easiest (and probably cheapest) method to get from the airport into Venice..... www.alilaguna.it/en Happy travels!

Where are you going once you reach Venice? Which sestieri (neighborhood) are you wanting to visit? Buon viaggio,

Barb, there are two major ways to get into Venice. The big question is which part of Venice? There are two bus system (large buses) that run from Marco Polo to the Piazzale Roma. Both stop in front of the airport terminal. The ACTV is part of the Venice public transportation system (vaporettos included). They have a ticket booth on the left as you depart Marco Polo after picking up your luggage. One-way fare is 7Euro. The other bus line is ATVO. Both go to the same place. From the Piazzale Roma, you most likely will need to take the public vaporetto (water bus) to the stop where your hotel is located. Hence our need to know the name of your hotel so that we can advise further. Second is the Alilaguna boat. It's a 10-minute walk to the docks from the airport. Nice ride. 15Euro. However, the Alilaguna boat does not stop at every stop on the canals. Hence again, our need to know where you are staying.

I am still booking my hotel. I am trying to get into either the Dorsoduro area near Santa Croce area. My first choice is a hotel near Rialto Bridge. My family and I don't mind walking a bit. There are 3 of us. Perhaps, a taxi one-way would be cost effective. I really appreciate the posts all of you have made. It will get me started in the right direction. I have a RS Italy book 2012. Sometimes, the information gets out of date. I thought there was a shuttle from Airport to Santa Lucia Train Station? ---Barb

There are frequent buses that go from the airport to Piazzale Roma - near the train station and on vaporetto lines. Cheaper than Alilaguna.

Barb, the trains come across the water on an elevated railway and pull in about 150' from the Grand Canal. No buses or cars are able to do this. Thus, no buses or cars at the train station. That being said, the train station is about 800'-1,000' and a nice bridge across the Grand Canal from the Piazzale Roma which does have buses and cars. Second, at 90E-110E (30E-35E each), a water taxi is great but hardly cost effective unless you can share the cost with up to 8 people.

Water taxi from VCE to Cruise Terminal/San Marco (Alilaguna blue line) http://www.alilaguna.it/en/tickets1/fares Aerobus #5 - 4:35 AM - 5:08 AM 6 euros ( 4 with Travel Card) Travel Card 12/24/48/72 hours - 18/20/30/35 euros http://www.veniceconnected.com/node/1593
5 euros per 24 hrs if purchased 7 days in advance, otherwise 8 on the spot

I would take a good, hard look at a map of Venice before deciding to stick to walking everywhere and severely limiting the use of boats. Venice's streets ARE the water. Remember that Venice is hundreds of years old. Alleys and streets are not made from concrete or asphalt - they are cobbles and stone...and they are secondary venues to the canals. Nor are the alleyways laid out in any kind of a logical grid pattern - getting from point A to point B often requires traversing a labyrinthine route because traditionally the preferred method of getting around was via a boat in the water. Busses in Venice are the Vaporetto boats, and taxis are water taxis. There are no cars, busses, or motorcycles in the city, except out on the Lido island.

Andra is right. Alas, virtually all of the frequent bridges are quite steep, if not too high, quite narrow, and often have different numbers of steps on one side to the other. Almost none of the bridges have ramps so it is lift the luggage up and over and down. Calles and rios are very narrow and often very crowded and busy. The law is that if a person is coming the other way you must walk to the right side. It is against the law to stand around on the bridges. I don't want to discourage you from walking - after all that is what my wife and I do every year when we go to Venice (3 times this year but that's more than normal), but we never do it with luggage; I want you to know what you are letting yourself and your family into. We love riding the vaporettos at dawn - easy especially if dawn doesn't coincide with rush hour. Do realize that thousands of workers in Venice live on the mainland and commute to work (and home at night) by vaporetto. The light at dawn is magical. I don't tend to visit Venice when the days are short so sunset often coincides with us going out for dinner so I've not often been on the boats at that time.

thanks for all this info. I booked my room near San Tomas boat stop - opposite side of grand canal from San Marco. I may just take bus to Piazzle (excuse spelling) Roma and hike to hotel. I will consider vaporetto options and whether it's worth it or not for me. My family and I are good walkers. I may take a single cruise around grand canal for pure enjoyment and walk the rest of time.

Barb, As far as the walking to your hotel at S Toma, remember that it isn't the distance - the distance is reasonably short - it is the bridges, and if you walk down through the side of Venice the same side as P Roma and S Toma the calles do wind around some.

Thanks Nigel for your input. We have rolling luggage. I will discuss with my family and get their opinions. I have pulled luggage across fair distances before. As long as there is a concrete/asphalt sidewalk. My family and I should do commercials for trekking with luggage and test durability. Are the vaporettos enjoyable for pleasure cruising around canal or can they be jammed packed with tourists? I would like to cruise Venice at sunset or night-time for the views. Early morning could be pretty as well.

I estimate 1/2 mile and 3 bridges between Piazzale Roma and Campo San Toma, assuming you know how you're going and don't get lost. So if everyone in your group is cool with humping their luggage there, go for it.

Thank you for the much needed insights! I had no idea that the bridges were basically staircases. I was thinking asphalt paved ramps. I will indeed take your advice about taking a vaporetto from Piazzale Roma to get to our hotel. How in the world do Venetians get supplies in to their businesses! Food? Toilet paper? Coca-Cola? Are there any utility vehicles allowed?

How in the world do Venetians get supplies in to their businesses! Food? Toilet paper? Coca-Cola? Are there any utility vehicles allowed? That brings up a very interesting question... There is a reason that costs are relatively high in Venice. Absolutely EVERYthing comes into and leaves Venice by boat, and the city is honeycombed with small canals. The UPS guy (or gal) uses a wheeled dolly with special stair-climbing wheels and humps in and out; the veg and fruit guy the same; so do the dirty linen guys and the trash and garbage guys have special green boats with small cranes. Even the ambulance boats have special gurneys which make into a sort of a reclining chair which is carried up and down the stairs. Part of the fun of riding the Grand Canal at dawn is watching all the various service boats. When you wake up in your room near the canals (or better - overlooking) you will hear the special Venice morning music - the sounds of the various different boats and workers. It is a fabulous sound. There are no special motorized vehicles driving over the bridges. It is all manpower.

Barb, As Nigel mentioned, there are NO service vehicles in Venice. All transportation of goods and supplies is done by boat. Provision of services such as Police, FIRE DEPT. and Ambulance are also done by boat. It's been a few years, but I don't even recall seeing any of the small Piaggio Ape vehicles in Venice. Those are ubiquitous in other parts of Italy.

Vaporettos have all the glamour and convenience of buses in other cities. They haul commuters as well as tourists, and are often crowded. They are the best, most economical, transport for getting around Venice. Walking all over Venice is my favorite non-motorized means when not hauling luggage. Consult a map and head across the island toward San Tomas from Piazziale Roma. Ten minutes should do it. In Venice you are either on foot or on the water.

Swan, vaporetti are indeed the vehicle that matches its road/rail equivalent in normal cities. So they offer convenience. But glamour? Since when is public transportation glamorous anywhere, except for the heritage ride or something like that (more tacky IMO, but debatable). There is nothing glamorous about the vaporetti. They are utilitarian vehicles used to move you from A to B. Not some sort of thing to spent time on, except for the water vehicle or engineer aficionado. You can always ride the gondolas for glamour/tackiness, but they are expensive. If you do, though, pick a route that goes through the smaller channels.

Best advice we ever got on this website - take a water taxi from airport into Venice. I believe the post read "the best way to arrive in Venice is like Marco Polo, by water." I have arrived by train and by water - no contest - the taxi was so cool. The taxis are right outside the airport, which is smallish. A very short walk and assuming you are able bodied and can roll a suitcase, no problem.

I was actually reading an interesting article by a resident of Venice who says that the fact that you have to carry your groceries home makes her far more efficient with shopping. The one time she went to a big supermarket over on the mainland she bought a lot of things that ended up going bad and had to be thrown out.