Venice to airport - early morning

What time does your flight depart?

There is no traffic at 4 AM, being unreliable in the middle of the night would be quite difficult.

I hope Your hotel is quoting 70 Euro for a private limo driver or, maybe, for a shared water taxi; the usual fare of land, metered cabs is around 40 Euro. There is a taxi stand close to Piazzale Roma, but you can also book one here: https://shop.radiotaxivenezia.com/en/pick-from.php

Flight departs VCE at 6:25am

Appreciate any insight. Thanks!

the two buses are scheduled and they run to schedule.

What time is your flight? Direct internationally or a short inter-European flight to a major gateway airport like Rome, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, etc.?

Edit - you were typing when I was. I see your flight time - the second question remains

Thank you for the help.

Flight is from VCE connecting in Paris then to US.

Hello smb234,

I was faced with a similar dilemma staying near San Marco with an early morning flight to London. From San Marco it means a vaporetto and a bus/taxi and probably getting up more than an hour earlier. I finally bit the bullet and opted for a water taxi costing about 140€ since it was fastest and most direct. If your hotel quote is for a water taxi that's half price and if they vouch for the taxi driver then take it because that's really cheap. (Water taxis are per boat so if you can share it with others you can spread the cost.)

Depending on the location of your hotel it may be easier and faster to get to the bus/taxi stand departure point and so that may be the most direct way without spending a bunch of money just to get to the airport.

Hope that helps,
=Tod

Imho staying at a walking distance from Piazzale Roma and paying a water taxi comes close to masochism.

The only pro of staying close to the only ugly parking lot in Venice is not paying those absurd, extortionate fares to reach the airport by water. Even the Alilaguna ferries to the Airport are much more expensive than the buses.

I agree that 70 Euro for a shared water taxi would be a good fare, but it's always 30 Euro more than a land taxi! And any mean of transport on water is inherently less reliable than its wheeled counterpart.

Others who have done a short trip to Paris recently may chip in (I hope they do) as to the first and second buses from P.Roma to the airport, I travel at more sensible times but don't have nearly so far to go. The buses are reliable and the journey is short.

The flight to Paris will be a local European flight and then you deal with the long flight at CDG so your check in at Venice should be much easier and faster.

wouldn't it make sense at such an ungodly hour to do an airport hotel?

I have been on the OP's flight. Took the first ATVO bus (04:20). Got to the airport at 04:40. Even had a bit of time to have my last cornetto al cioccolato before boarding started. I have also used the early morning buses on other occasions as well, and have never had a problem.

One question...how much luggage do you have? How far can you walk with it, going up and over bridges? If you can't make it very far, take the water taxi (and, as others have noted, if the quoted price of €70 is for a private water taxi, even if you're sharing it with someone else from your hotel, jump on that deal.)

For some, an airport hotel would make sense. But compared to losing any time in Venice to stay in some soul-less mainland city, even for a few hours? Not for me, but this is personal preference.

Thank you all for the insight.

An airport hotel is not an option and baggage is minimal .. carry on type only.

ATVO might be the way to go. Where do you buy tickets ? Do you purchase for a specific time ? How early do you need to arrive for the 4:20 departure. Excuse my ignorance..limited travel experience and don’t want to miss a flight.

Tickets can be bought online, or at some locations in Venice. The tickets are not for a specific time. Info in link below...

https://www.atvo.it/en-venice-airport.html

No need to get there too early on day of departure. In fact, the bus won't even be there until shortly before 04:20. The times I've taken it there has been at most 15 other people, so the bus isn't crowded.

I would spend the previous night at the Annina Park hotel, arriving at dinner time; the restaurant is excellent. You can walk to VCE, 900M.

While we were not travelling so early in the morning, we took the ATVO bus and found it very comfortable and reliable. It departs the parking lot and goes straight to the airport - no other stops. For the money, it would be my recommendation as well.

Just as a point of comparison, it cost 35 euros to travel by taxi from a hotel near the Venice-Mestre train station to the airport.

Appreciate everyone’s input.

To follow up and provide an update … we took the ATVO bus that was recommended.

It was cheap (€10), on time and efficient.

I would recommend and take it again.

Happy new year!

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience! Glad it went well, and a Happy New Year to you as well!

I'm glad that everything worked out for you.

Can you say how the airport was?

sure beats 70€ eh?

Sorry for the delay in response here.

Much better value for sure than the taxi!

VCE airport at that ungodly hour was fine, security moved efficiently and quickly.

One unique quirk I noticed is that the video boards did not display the departure gate of flights until about 50 minutes prior to departure .. almost boarding time. The Air France app was up to date sooner though. The boarding process was a mess but that’s on Air France.

Thanks again for everyone’s help!

thanks for coming back and giving your first hand experiences....

glad it was all good - except Air France...

Can I ask another question based on your recent early morning bus experience? In April I will also be departing Venice airport for a flight to London at an early hour. I will be staying fairly close to Piazzale Roma so I plan to go by bus. Do you buy your ticket directly from the bus driver or at a nearby kiosk? Can anyone tell me the link to see the bus departure schedules online? Thanks.

We bought our tickets online but there is also a ticket office nearby. We tried to buy from the ticket office but it was closed when we visited. Buying online was easy and I honestly don’t even remember the driver even checking tickets !