Recommended transportation from Venice Marco Polo Airport VCE to our hotel near St. Mark's.

[Stockjock]

We'll be traveling soon, landing at Marco Polo Airport (VCE) and we'll need transportation to our hotel, located near St. Mark's.  We tend not to travel light, so we'll have more than our share of baggage.  The hotel does have a dock, fwiw.  Any recommendations as to transportation.  Trying to avoid buses and such and we don't want to have to lug our bags far.  Thank you in advance!

[CruiserBruce]

Water taxi is recommended here quite frequently.

[euro cruiser]

If you want to avoid public transit (in Venice that means vaporettos), a private water taxi is really the only other option.  This is where you really see the cost of traveling with a lot of luggage, because the taxi will cost around 150 euro (per boat), vs. 15 euro (per person) for the Alilaguna express water bus.

 

An alternative, which requires a bit of upfront planning, is to pack what you need for your stay in Venice in your smallest bag and check everything else before venturing out into the islands.  That way you can easily use the vaporettos.

Edited August 9, 2023 by euro cruiser

[princeton123211]

7 hours ago, Stockjock said:

we'll need transportation to our hotel, located near St. Mark's.  We tend not to travel light, so we'll have more than our share of baggage.  The hotel does have a dock, fwiw.  Any recommendations as to transportation.  Trying to avoid buses and such and we don't want to have to lug our bags far.  Thank you in advance!

Just bite the bullet and hire a water taxi at the airport. Getting off an overnight flight from the States and onto a water taxi (which are more like little ornate water limousines) is pure magic as you head into the Lagoon and Venice itself. Plus its really the only option you have given the amount of luggage you'll have. 

 

Many of the nicer hotels in the city offer water taxi arrangements in advance-- I would advise against this as they are heavily marked up, sometimes several hundred Euros more. Just follow signs from the airport terminal to the water taxi dock and get one there (much like a taxi queue at a normal airport). 

[megr1125]

Water taxi.  I prebooked directly with this company:  They were very responsive to my questions too (based on a big time difference of course.)  

 

https://www.motoscafivenezia.com/en/

[Stockjock]

35 minutes ago, megr1125 said:

Water taxi.  I prebooked directly with this company:  They were very responsive to my questions too (based on a big time difference of course.)  

 

https://www.motoscafivenezia.com/en/

I checked that and first it said that there was a €20 surcharge to our hotel, but then it said it’s not even available on that day due to public events. I’m not sure what’s going on or how much of an issue it will be.

[cruisemom42]

59 minutes ago, Stockjock said:

I checked that and first it said that there was a €20 surcharge to our hotel, but then it said it’s not even available on that day due to public events. I’m not sure what’s going on or how much of an issue it will be.

 

When are you scheduled to arrive?

[euro cruiser]

If you'll be in Venice between August 30th and September 9th lots of things will be screwed up due to the Biennale (Venice Film Festival).

 

Biennale Cinema 2023 | Homepage 2023 (labiennale.org)

[Stockjock]

17 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

When are you scheduled to arrive?

Aug 30.  We have to make our way to Isola Nova del Tronchetto on Sep 2 for a shuttle to Ravenna (cruise).

[cruisemom42]

24 minutes ago, Stockjock said:

Aug 30.  We have to make our way to Isola Nova del Tronchetto on Sep 2 for a shuttle to Ravenna (cruise).

 

Well, unfortunately Aug 30 is the start of the Venice Film Festival, which likely explains why there is a shortage of water taxis.

 

Edited to add:  Oops, euro cruiser beat me to it.

[mapleleaves]

You can always hope that your flight arrives during a lull in the Film Festival traffic; and when you get to the airport dock perhaps there will be a water taxi available. 

If you're not so lucky, the Alilaguna dock is nearby so the blue line of the Alilaguna is an option.  It can take you from the airport to St Marks and from St Marks to Tronchetto for the cruise shuttle.  However if you have too much luggage it could be a struggle to reach your hotel from the St Marks stop.  Plus it takes over an hr from the airport due to the stops it makes along the way.

Blue Line | Alilaguna

 

Another option would be to take a cab from the airport to Piazzale Roma (the last point of land travel in Venice (so basically a parking lot for buses, taxis).  Put just the items you'll need for Venice into 1 suitcase and store the other suitcases at the Left Luggage Facility at P Roma.  The Grand Canal is only a block or 2 away, so after storing your luggage you can catch a vaporetto to St Marks.  And when you're ready to go to Tronchetto, gather your suitcases from Left Luggage and take a cab to Tronchetto, maybe $20 for a 5 minute drive.

 

Neither option is great. But having too much luggage in Venice isn't easy, esp when a private water taxi isn't available. Good luck !

[princeton123211]

11 hours ago, princeton123211 said:

Many of the nicer hotels in the city offer water taxi arrangements in advance-- I would advise against this as they are heavily marked up, sometimes several hundred Euros more. Just follow signs from the airport terminal to the water taxi dock and get one there (much like a taxi queue at a normal airport). 

So I will go back on what I said about saving money on not going through your hotel. In the instances where taxis are limited or the routes are limited due to events, paying the hotel premium can be a lifesaver.  As an example, when we were in Venice last year, we came in the day of the Vogalonga which is a boating festival that shuts down large portions of the Grand Canal for a majority of the day. No water taxis would take us there but because we did book through the hotel (with a hefty markup) they provided a water taxi that was able to get us to our hotel dock on the Grand Canal. No idea what they did but got special treatment. 

[Stockjock]

FWIW, we did end up booking on Expedia, although it is refundable if things change. 4.4 out of 5 star ratings and the cost was about $186 USD. Certainly not cheap, but cheaper than other options we were seeing and importantly, they were available during the busy Venice Film Festival and there was no surcharge to our hotel.

I looked at another option that was recommended and it was not only more money, but most of the trip was by car, with only the final leg taking you there by water taxi. I preferred the idea of doing the entire route by boat.

[euro cruiser]

I don't want to be Debbie Downer here, but please be sure you have a plan B in your back pocket, just in case.  If the taxi company is busy, a third party booking is more likely to get bumped than a local needing transport, by which I mean anyone working with the film festival.  

[Stockjock]

34 minutes ago, euro cruiser said:

I don't want to be Debbie Downer here, but please be sure you have a plan B in your back pocket, just in case.  If the taxi company is busy, a third party booking is more likely to get bumped than a local needing transport, by which I mean anyone working with the film festival.  

Plan B is show up at the docks and try to find someone to take us.  Plan C would be to take a regular taxi to Piazzale Roma and try to get a water taxi from there.

[euro cruiser]

Once you're at the airport dock, the easiest thing to do (if you can't get a water taxi) is to take the Alilaguna express water bus.  

 

Schedule here:  Orari Linea Blu 19 aprile 2023 (alilaguna.it)