We will be staying at a hotel close to Rialto Bridge. We have a 6:30 AM flight back to Canada and are nervous about getting to airport early enough. We flew from Venice before after a cruise and it was chaos, although with such an early flight I am hoping it won't be as busy.Hotel staff state they can easily arrange a water taxi. My questions are:
How early should we be at airport?
Is airport open 24/7?
Should we just trust and enjoy our night in Venice/
Thanks- we leave in 1 week and have to decide if to change our arrangements ASAP
Posted by
Green Bay
20028 posts
I don't think you will find a single soul at the airport before 5 am.
Posted by
Elk Grove, CA, USA
6898 posts
Trudy, airport operations (i.e. ticket counters) don't really open until 5:00am. The issue is getting to the airport no later than 5:15 or so. You have a couple of choices. First, the water taxi is a private boat. Fares are about 90E-100E for up to 8 people. Quite expensive but often the surest way to get to the airport for such an early flight.
Secondly, the ACTV has a bus (Linea 5) departing the Piazzale Roma at 4:40am. You are at the airport about 5:10am. That means that you have to be at the Piazzale Roma by 4:30. Regular vaporettos don't run that early but there is a night vaporetto. The night vaporetto stops at the main Rialto stop at 4:15am and arrives at the Piazzale Roma at 4:30am. This particular run does not stop at the Rialto Mercato stop. If you miss the 4:40am ACTV bus, there is an ATVO bus (competitor) departing at 5:00am.
Third, there is the Alilaguna Arancio (Orange) Line boat. But this won't work. First stop at Rialto is at 6:03. The Blu Line stops at San Marco at 3:40 but it does not stop at Rialto. The Alilaguna boats go to the airport.
Posted by
OP
Quispamsis, NB, Canada
7 posts
The couple we are travelling with are nervous as our first experience was so crazy. I would prefer to stay in Venice for the night and trust that the B& B takes care to hire a reputable water taxi for us. Does anyone know just how crazy it is at the airport g for those first few flights of the morning?
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16893 posts
Staying the night in Venice is certainly common procedure and would be our first choice. If your flight includes a connection within Europe, then recommended check-in times are shorter than for flights that are direct to North America.