How do you get from the airport into Venice and what does that cost?
Also, I'm looking at a nice B&B on Sant'Elena with a budget price. What does it cost to take the vaprotetto/water buses? This place is 1 km from St Mark's and 2.5 km from the train station. I'm wondering if the transportation cost to and from would eat those savings over two days. Thanks for any info and advice.
Cheapest way from airport is to hop on the bus to Piazzale Roma where you can jump on a vaporetto. More expensive and quicker way is take the Alilaguna boat from the airport or even more expensive and fast would be a private water taxi.
The vaporetti prices can be found here: http://www.actv.it/english/navigazione.php?pagina=tariffe_vaporetto
Sant'Elena is a very nice area of Venice with lots of trees, green grass, wide open spaces, parks, playgrounds. It's very different from the other areas of Venice. We've stayed in both San Marco and also the Dorsoduro areas on previous trips and walked to Sant'Elena. It's like an oasis from the busy hectic tourist scene. If it were my first time in Venice I would probably rather be located right in the thick of things...not Sant'Elena. However, now that I've been there a few times I think the tranquility of Sant'Elena is quite inviting.
It's definitely a very do-able walk from Sant'Elena to most places...however NOT with luggage.
Tim is correct about the least expensive way to get from the airport to your destination. The bus will cost you a few Euro (about 5 Euro I think). If you are going to be using the vaporettos (water buses) over your two day stay, you may want to invest in a 24-hour, 36-hour or 48-hour tourist travel card. They cost 16E, 21E and 26E respectively. Note that you must have an active ticket to be onboard but as a normal practice, nobody checks as you get on or off (too many people). However, they do audit the boats every once in awhile. Also, most vaporetto stops don't have staff or equipment to sell the tickets so with the pass, you have your ticket.
