Hello everyone,
We are planning our first Rick Steves tour (Village Italy), and we would like to have anyone who has already taken this tour describe how they got from the Venice Airport to the first hotel in Padova.
How easy was it to do this?
Grazie!
Mark & Sandee
We took the bus from the airport straight to Padova. We then took the tram from the bus/train station to the hotel neighborhood. Our hotel wasn't the tour hotel, but it was very close. We had bought "Padova Cards" ahead of time that covered all public transportation in Padova, as well as many museums, since we were arriving 3 or 4 days before the tour started.
This was all very easy. I believe there are also trains from Venice to Padova.
Unfortunately there is no train station at Venice airport. There’s the station at mestre or Santa Lucia. The latter is convenient if you are staying in Venice prior to going to Padua. The mestre station would require a bus or taxi ride.
FYI. In your tour documents there should be information as to how to get to the first hotel.
Enjoy the tour! It’s a fun one. But then again they all are!
I stayed a few days in Venice (first visit) and then took the train to Padova from Sta Lucia station in Venice and then a taxi. I do recommend the stay over in Venice if you have the time. Ideal city in which to get over jet lag as you can walk everywhere.
About one month before your tour starts, you will find a list of all the hotels on your tour in your tour account. Included will be very specific directions about options to get to Padua - from the airport, from Venice proper, and from Milan. All the options are quite easy.
I spent two days in Venice before the tour and took a train from there to Padua. I also had an extra day in Padua. I highly recommend that you build in at least an extra day before the tour. This relieves the stress of getting to the first tour meeting on time. Flying in on the same day as the tour starts is risky.
At the end of the tour, the guide will help organize transportation to Milan or the Milan airport, or whatever. You can often share a shuttle with others to keep the cost down.
Village Italy was a great tour. If this is your first RS tour, you are in for a treat! (It was my 8th tour.)
Leslie and Rocket are correct; trains to Padova do not leave from the airport. I’m sorry for the error, and will edit my post.
The bus is dead easy, however, and you can buy tickets at the airport.
Thank you, everyone, for your wonderful replies. Your information is greatly appreciated. We will be celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary next year, and this tour sounds perfect. We have been to Italy many times in the past, but this will be our first Rick Steves tour. REALLY looking forward to it!
Safe travels to all,
Mark & Sandee
I went on this tour in May. I took the bus from the airport. I bought my ticket in the airport & they told me where to get the bus. The bus was not crowded & the ride took about an hour. The Padova stop is near the train station. I took a taxi from the station to the hotel. The tour is wonderful. Enjoy.
BTW. It is worthwhile to arrive one or more days prior to the tour. Get over jet lag and have some more time in Padova. Or Venice if you’ve never been.
I’d like to chime in and agree that it’s very easy to take a bus to Padova from the airport. But… as others have said, it’s the perfect opportunity to spend a few days in Venice…and you’ll only be a short train ride to Padova. Easy to get to the Venice train station, then a taxi or tram from the Padova train station to your hotel.
Village Italy was our first RS trip as well…still our favorite, so much so that we repeated the tour with friends. Have a wonderful time!
We did Village Italy a year ago, and it was an absolutely fantastic tour. It was our first RS tour, and we have done two more since then and have another booked. We're sold on RS! You're going to have so much fun! We took a bus from the Venice airport to the train station, then a train, then a tram, which dropped us a short walk from the tour hotel in Padova. It was a great adventure!
We just came back from that tour. We had been to Venice before but wanted to re-visit. My wife was interested in seeing more of Murano (the glass island). We ended up staying on Murano for two nights, a good escape from the crowded main island. The hotel had a courtesy boat from the airport.
From Murano to Padua was easy. Vaporetto to the Santa Lucia station, then 40-minute train ride to Padua. Hotel is a tram or taxi ride from Padua train station, but we chose to walk.
When I took this trip last June, I booked transfer with https://www.goopti.com/en/ because I didn’t want to tackle a bus or train after a long flight. It was fine, once I figured out where to meet the driver.
Similar to Felicia aka RaleighTraveler we visited a taxi service at the airport in Venice and obtained a quote for the trip to our hotel in Padua. It was a very reasonable price but actually it would have been a bargain at any price. It was such a relief as we were exhausted after our 2 flights. The driver was such a professional, the car was superb and it was great being deposited at our hotel. In general taxis have become worth the expense for us but 2 months ago we did take the train from Amsterdam to Ghent and the tram to the closest stop to our hotel. We were bleary eyed searching for the hotel and a taxi instead of the tram probably would have been a good option.
