Venice Airport

The easiest and least expensive way from the airport to the hotel is a combination bus and vaporetto. Take the number five ACTV bus from the airport to Piazzale Roma and a vaporetto to the stop closest to the hotel and walk from there. A vaporetto pass for three days can be purchased at the airport and a one way bus fare can be added to it. If we knew the name of the hotel we could probable give information about the vaporetto route to take and the stop nearest the hotel.

The name of hotel is La Calcina. It is right on the canal. Is it clearly marked at the airport where to purchase bus and vaporetto tickets and do they pay with euros or credit card? Also, hotel told me my son would pay for private taxi at airport. I assume he pays when he arrives for private water taxi as opposed to when he is dropped off after the ride. Is this true?

Nice present that you're giving them. But I think he'll learn and remember a lot more about how to do things if he actually takes part in the research.

Thanks Tim! Unfortunately, he works around the clock so it’s tricky for him to spend hours researching! I guess it’s just me being a mom....once a mom, always a mom!

La Calcina is very nice. When we stayed there on our honeymoon we could reserve the rooftop terrace for private use. We reserved at sunset and brought up a bottle of wine and some appetizers from the Billa store at the west end of the Zattere ( it has since changed names). You might suggest this to your son.

For La Calcina it is also possible to reach it easily on the Alilaguna ( airport boat) as they use a stop nearby ( I believe it is Zattere but would need to confirm that). This would save them the transfer from land bus to Vaporetto. The downside is that the trip by Alilaguna across the lagoon is not particularly scenic until you reach Venice itself and can admire the setting. Also, with the bus plus vaporetto route, they have the possibility of riding done the Grand Canal if they want to go "the long way" to reach La Calcina. They might have to switch boats at San Marco, but this is a nice introduction to Venice.

Thank you so much TC and Lola for your wonderful and succinct suggestions! You seem to be very well acquainted with Venice and your insight has been extremely helpful. I will pass along all your info. Again, many thanks to the both of you!

On the hotels site...

https://www.lacalcina.com/location/

All the ways to arrive from Venice Marco Polo...

https://quickvenice.com/transportation/airport-marco-polo.htm

It appears vaporetto route # 2 will be the one to take if he takes the bus to P. Roma and the vap. the rest of the way. That does not take as long as other routes since it does not stop at every dock, but will still have the advantage of a trip down the grand canal and up a good part of the Giudecca Canal. Unless I'm mistaken, the #2 route runs all the way from P. Roma to his stop without changing boats but I could be wrong. The stop where he'll get off will be the Zattere DX stop -- I think. The hotel should be able to confirm this. The vaporetto system maintains a pretty good web site that shows fare, routes, and such. Can't remember the site URL so just google it. Tickets can be purchased with a credit card, but have euros handy as the credit card readers have not recognized my card on some occasions.

Getting to la Calcina from Marco Polo.
Take the ATVO bus from Marco Polo to Piazle Roma. Costs eight euro, goes every twenty minutes, 14:20, 14:40 etc, buy a ticket from the man selling them, pay in euro notes, it is bus stop “C”, marked “Venezia Piazle Roma”.
At P. Roma, buy a three day vaporetto pass, take the No 1 vap down the Grand Canal to Academia. Walk to the left a bit,then a street runs through to the Zattere, no bridges to cross. Once on the Zattere, find la Calcina.

Save 2 EUR and buy the 3-day vaporetto pass at the airport and you can add a 1-way bus ride onto it for the no 5 bus for 6 EUR.