Venice: Transfer, Help! 6:55 am Flight Home

Alilaguna. 3:40am departure from San Marco.

http://www.alilaguna.it/en/linea-blu/blu-timetable

or a Water taxi.
However a water taxi costs about 100 euro, therefore it's an expensive option unless there are several of you sharing the cost (each water taxi, basically a high speed private boat, holds 9 passengers).

I had the same dilemma and we simply decided it would be much less stress to stay near the airport. We moved all our stuff during the day then went back into Venice for dinner the last night. It really was not a big hassle to just get back to our hotel that evening and so much easier in the morning knowing we were very close to the airport.

I also stay near San Marco, and Alilaguna was easy. Zachariah vaporetto stop, unless that's changed in recent months. I feel it allows a better use of my last day in Venice, as opposed to changing hotels. I buy the ticket the day before, although I think you can also buy them on the boat.

Check the Marriott.com website for their Courtyard property out at the Marco Polo Airport. It and a number of other area properties are cheaper than rooms in Venice, and they can get you to the airport on time.

If you go to GoogleMaps.com and put in Marco Polo Airport, it'll pop up a map of the area. You can hit the + key a couple of times to magnify the map. All the local hotels' icons will pop up. Click on them, and you'll find a link to their direct websites.

Note that anytime you have a 6:00 a.m. flight to the U.S. from smaller cities, you're just going to fly to another large gateway European airport where you're going to sit around a number of hours to mid-day. I will avoid flights until mid-mornings if at all possible. It's hard enough flying home--much less than getting a poor night's sleep anticipating having to get up at 4:00 a.m.

As David suggests, Courtyard VCE is a good option. They have a courtesy shuttle to the terminal only a few minutes away from the airport. A local city (land) bus can get you back to Venice. I bought a return bus ticket at the hotel desk and the stop is just across the street from the Courtyard.

Early flights out of Marco Polo are quite common. They are usually getting you to larger airport hubs to catch your flight home. A few notes. 1) Marco Polo airport opens about 4:30am. 2) Check-In counters open about 5:00am.

If you can be at the Piazzale Roma by 4:30am, you can catch the first ATVO bus (the Blue one) to the airport (departs at 4:40). The ATVO bus departs at 5:00am. About 7Euro and the trip takes 25 minutes. You're at the airport by 05:30am or earlier on the ACTV bus. The difficulty is getting to the Piazzale Roma by 04:30am. You most likely have to take the night vaporetto. It would help immensely if we knew where you were staying.

Four other alternatives. 1) The Alilaguna boat but that doesn't stop at all stops in Venice. You may or may not be near a stop where they stop. The Alilaguna Blu Line boat stops at San Marco at 3:40am and San Zaccaria at 3:44am. That’s it for the Grand Canal.

2) There is a night vaporetto. Its the "N" vaporetto. It comes through the Grand Canal about just before 4:00am. But, it doesn't stop at all stops. It does stop at San Marco at 4:02am. This vaporetto can get to the Piazzale Roma by 4:30am. Here’s a snapshot of the early morning schedule. http://gyazo.com/ad62991781f128d7633f46d0a8ba25f3

3) A water taxi. You hotel can arrange this. It's done all the time. Very expensive. 90E-110E for up to 8 people. The water taxi can be there as early as you want and it goes directly to the airport.

4) Stay at the airport. Courtyard by Marriott has a hotel just outside the airport. Titian Inn is also nearby. Both are quite nice.

Such great information, thanks everyone. To answer Larry's question, I'll be staying near the San Zaccaria stop. Let me know if you have anything to add by knowing my location.

We had that problem too. Our last stop was Santorini, Greece and our return flight was from Venice at 6:30am. So I decided that it was best for us to fly back to Venice the night before since our original tickets were round trip from Venice and there was no way for us to make a connecting flight from Santorini to Venice that early to make our return home. We stayed at the Best Western near the Venice airport and it worked out great. They had a free morning shuttle that leaves at 4:45am and they even had their free breakfast that starts at 4:30am for those leaving early. It only took 5 minutes to get to the airport, and we had plenty of time for the flight.