Please sign in to post.

Venice - Marco Polo Transport During Venice Film Festival

Posted by on

Hi travelers!

My husband and I will be going on our honeymoon September 2026 and our first stop is Venice. We fly into Marco Polo and are staying in the Dorsoduro district. We're interested in splurging on a private water taxi, one because it's our honeymoon, but two, to save time vs. public transit as well.

I've been browsing the forum and it seems like the most reliable option for booking a private water taxi is through https://www.motoscafivenezia.com/en/ but unfortunately I'm unable to book here for the day we arrive "due to public events taking place", which I assume is the Venice Film Festival.

So I have a couple of questions:
1. Are there any other reliable sites to book a taxi through? I've seen others on the forum say that a lot of the sites out there are 3rd party brokers and may not be the most reliable.
2. Has anyone been during the Venice Film Festival and was public transit a lot worse because of it? Just curious as we may have to do this if a private taxi isn't available.
3. Would love to hear about any of your favorites places or must do's in Venice!

Thanks!

Posted by
486 posts

Have you tried the option for a shared water taxi? I realize that’s not quite as romantic, but it could be a solution. They prefer a reservation, but we have found that, because planes can be delayed, we have always simply walked up to their desk in the main hall of the airport. We’ve never waited for more than 15-20 minutes (usually less than 10) before they have another 4-6 people to complete the group, and it’s a lovely way to enter Venice. You might check with your accommodations to see what they might suggest. We arrived during the film festival on our first trip to Venice…all the taxis were booked, the planes were late, the boat captains were all upset, and it was and continues to be one of our “memories”. That said, you’re planning ahead, which we didn’t do lol.

Have a lovely honeymoon!

Posted by
1069 posts

We were in Venice during the film festival a couple of years ago and did not really notice it, as most of the action takes place on the Lido, although the hotels in the centre were pretty busy.
We also stayed in Dorsoduro (Agli Alboretti) and found that the short walk from the hotel to the Alilaguna airport waterbus stop on Zattere was workable. IIRC it is the blue line. Useful when returning to the airport as it is the second stop, so plenty of space.

Posted by
44 posts

I arrived in Venice during the festival last year and had the same issue with lack of availability due to public events. I ended up asking my hotel if they could make arrangements and that worked perfectly. It cost me the same as if I had booked the water taxi directly.

Enjoy!

Posted by
376 posts

We were in Venice 2 years ago during the film festival and only noticed that the Biennale was empty! It was a delight for us as it was the reason we were in Venice! Popular restaurants were pretty booked up so I would start looking now if you haven’t already.

Add Reply

Please do not reply to violations of our Community Guidelines.