Overnight in Venice after departing cruise

Where exactly is your cruise docking?
Might not be IN Venice

Is that flight to US or to another European stop?

Need more info

Do some searches here “departing Venice”
Topic comes up a lot

It says it disembarks in Venice. I presume there is a cruise terminal there. We are flying to Paris and then connecting to a flight to the US.

Since Viking ports in Chioggia for Venice, I assume you will either arrive using Vikings transfer or a private car service. It would be easiest to stay in a hotel within easy walking distance of Piazzale Roma. In the morning you just need to return there to get a bus or taxi to the airport. We've never stayed in that part of Venice, but you could look on Google Maps for hotels there and check them out on Booking.com for reviews.

I am wondering if it woukd easier to stay near the airport and take a bus to Venice for the day and then come back at night? Any thoughts?

In making that decision, I'd consider the availability of transportation from the actual port. Is direct service to the airport available, or will you be taken to the bus lot (Piazzale Roma) on the edge of Venice and then need to get onward transportation to the airport? That would be a waste of precious time, because you'd end up making 3 trips back and forth. Staying near Piazzale Roma would mean only two trips between the city and the airport.

I hate early wake-up calls myself, so I'm not sure what I would do. However, Venice is wonderful, and I hate to see you lose valuable sightseeing time getting out to an airport hotel.

In case it's helpful in some way, I can report that the taxi fare from a hotel in Venice-Mestre (on the mainland) to the airport was 35 euros last September. It wasn't a super-quick trip, either. I'm nearly certain there's more bus service from Piazzale Roma to the airport than was available from the Mestre train station (near my hotel). The buses from Piazzale Roma do run early enough to get you to the airport.

If you're flying from Venice to a US destination, you'll probably (definitely?) find your gate downstairs at the airport. If you know to look for it, there's signage to help you. I didn't know enough to look and ended up wandering around, asking people, because I saw no signs for my airline.

CJean—- might the port depend on which Viking ship they use? I see references online to Chioggia, Marghera, and Fusina.

I think they need to get the answer from Viking, but it could change between now and September.

I saw one Cruise Critic post mentioning that their June 2022 embarkation point for Venice had been changed from Fusina to Chioggia.

But when my yoga teacher sent me an email and photos from her Viking cruise that ended in “Venice” last July, the Google locator with the photos showed her on the ship docked at Fusina.

Wow, that's great advice. Thank you for the help. I need to find out where it's docking.

hey hey jlejsek
since no cruise ships allowed to dock in venice proper now, you really have to look and do research, ask the posters here.
it's not an easy solution when cruisers have no idea which dock they debark at, how long it takes, "best" way means what: cheapest, fastest, less stops, trains or bus or taxi, less stress and gray hairs!! LOL
before booking a hotel find this answer first. have you been to venice before?
few years back after our greek isle cruise, we took a taxi from venice dock to best western titian inn hotel near airport, let us check in early, took train to some town about 30-45 minutes away and had dinner. shuttle next morning to airport for early flight out. good luck
hang loose

A quick look at Vikings Med itineraries that include Venice in '23 all mention Chioggia as the port they will be using. You can try to contact Viking to ask about transfers from the ship to Venice (not the airport). Or pay for a car service, which would be more expensive. Getting from Venice to the airport will be much easier than just getting to Venice!

I'd suggest asking your question on the Viking Ocean subforum over on Cruise Critic. There should be more people over there who have done this since the Venice cruise terminal shut out the large ships.

I like this easy button idea!

I agree they should stay at an airport hotel and travel into Venice for the day, but I don’t see how they can get there by 10 am when the disembarkation is not until “after breakfast” according to the itinerary.

And how do they manage to transport nearly 1000 passengers from the ship to the airport all at the same time? (I have never been on a cruise so I don’t understand how it works, but I have seen so many questions about transport to and from the cruise ships here in Seattle that it seems no shuttle is provided by the cruise lines, at least here).

Looking at the cruise dates, I see a couple of times they use Fusina instead of Chioggia— a Barcelona to Venice cruise in September, and a Rome to Venice cruise in October. It matters because Fusina is much closer to the airport than Chioggia. That town is a good 1.5 hours from the airport.

@Lola. Shuttles to airport are available in Seattle ( for a fee).

But are they provided by the cruise ships as part of the cruise? And if so, why do so many people ask on TripAdvisor about shuttles to the more remote port (Pier 91)? The usual advice from the locals is to get a taxi.

Of course this is Seattle, and may not be relevant to how cruise ships operate in Italy. But I think the OP needs to contact Viking about the specific arrangements for their disembarkation. Whatever the answer, it will not change the advice to book a hotel near the airport for their one night, but it may help them manage their plans and expectations for the time they will have available to spend in Venice. Note that it could take 1 to 2 hours to go from the airport back to Venice, depending on the transport method chosen.

However it turns out, any time in Venice is better than none.

We had a an overnight in Venice last September after our 2-week hiking trip in the Dolomites and a week in Bologna. The Italo train we booked was to get us to Venice at 1:30, so we would have the whole afternoon to wander our favorite city before dinner. Unfortunately, we made a serious mistake at the Bologna train station and boarded an Italo train departing from the same platform at the designated time, and we were so preoccupied with checking the staging information on the platform to board the right car that we neglected to confirm the train number. Once underway, we learned that we were on a non-stop train bound for Milan, not Venice. We lost 2 hours of our “Venice time”. Still, we made the best of it, meandering through the back streets of San Polo and Dorsoduro to our favorite viewpoint, Punta del Dogana, across the water from San Marco.

I hope the OP has a beautiful sunny day like we did, and enough time to enjoy it.

But are they provided by the cruise ships as part of the cruise? And
if so, why do so many people ask on TripAdvisor about shuttles to the
more remote port

I have been on a lot of cruises, and never come across one that didn't offer shuttles to or from an airport. The cost may be included on the luxury lines, but are an add on for the mainstream lines. Some new cruisers may not know about the service if they havent done their homework. The reason people may want to know alternate means of transport are that they may be arriving days before embarkation or after disembarkation so the transfer would be to or from a hotel; or they have flights too early or late to make the shuttle service practical, or they prefer a private service, or an alternate mode may be less expensive or more convenient than the cruise line transfer. Not every cruiser travels directly between the airport and the ship. Even fewer do so when long international flights are involved.

The big problem is that cruise lines are now being less than honest about where their ships leave from and arrive into.
We are seeing more and more questions here on the forums about how do I get to or from Venice for my cruise.
If a cruiser has not traveled much before, it can be very confusing for them.

I'm sure the cruise ship info websites are full of the same questions.

I don't think that the cruise lines are being less than honest. If you look at their websites, they clearly show the port being used in addition to saying the city. For example it might say Venice (Ravenna). The issue is that that means very little to travelers who have not been there previously. Here is where the good travel agents step up (most people do use travel agents when it comes to cruising).

There are places where cruises dock right downtown (think Alaska or Caribbean) and then there are places where they may dock up to an hour away (Mediterranean). If a cruiser has only done the first type, they assume that all cruises operate that way.

Back to the question, go to Booking.com and enter Venice Airport and fill in your date. Then look closely at the map that comes up to make sure an “airport hotel” is close to the airport. There’s a variety of prices of hotels to choose.

After you leave off your suitcases, go to the airport and take an Aliguna boat - select the orange (arancia) route (Buy a roundtrip ticket.). It will take you from the airport on the mainland over to the Venetian islands. Venice is shaped like a fish, and the arancia route will take you down the center Grand Canal. Get off at San Marco. Enjoy your time exploring and then catch the Aliguna back to the airport. Look on a map to see which vaporetto (water bus stops) the Aliguna will pick you up. You could also do the same route with a private water taxi for more €€’s. I think a 1-way Aliguna ticket (airport to San Marco, etc.) was around 14€ when I was there again last August.

OP, if you opt for the boat service mentioned above, note that the actual spelling is Alilaguna.

And note that the Alilaguna can take almost 2 hours to get you to Venice. The Blue and Orange lines run every 30 minutes, and each takes an hour 20 minutes to get to the San Marco stop (S.M. Duel Giglio for the Orange line).

https://www.alilaguna.it/linee/linea-blu/orario

https://www.alilaguna.it/linee/linea-arancio/orario

So if you have wait 25-30 minutes for your boat after walking the 10 minutes to the dock from the airport, that adds up to 2 hours before your feet hit the ground in Venice at San Marco. Personally, I would take the Orange line which goes down the Grand Canal and get off much earlier, like Rialto, and enjoy finding my way thru to maze of streets to San Marco.

Thank you so much for all the help. I appreciate all the wonderful insight!

the bus from right outside the terminal which is fast, frequent and very cheap would have you to the Piazzale Roma bus stop across the Grand Canal from the train station, and you can board a frequent vaporetto for a sight filled ride zigzagging down the Grand Canal and see Venice the way it was meant to be seen, and you will see much more and be much faster than the Alilaguna.

Nigel’s suggestion is excellent—- much better than the Alilaguna. The airport bus leaves from right outside the terminal. There are two different bus lines so departures are frequent.

At Piazzale Roma you will be among the first to board the vaporetto. You want the #1 or # 2 to cruise down the Grand Canal. You must buy a ticket before you board.

The next stop is the train station and a lot of people will board there, but you should be able to hang onto your spot on the railing if you are not too close to the boarding gate.