If you are arriving by air,
you'll touch down either at
Treviso
, 30km inland from Venice, or
at
Marco Polo airport,
on the outskirts of Venice
itself. The former is used
chiefly by
charter
companies, some of which
provide a bus link from the
airport into Venice. An ATVO (
Azienda Trasporti Veneto
Orientale ) bus service to
Venice meets the twice-daily
Ryanair flights as well.
Otherwise, take the #6 bus
from right outside the
arrivals building into Treviso
(30min), from where there are
frequent bus and train
connections to Venice. Tickets
must be bought before you get
onto the bus - the bar across
the road sells them.
Most scheduled
flights and some charters
arrive at Marco Polo ,
around 7km north of Venice, on
the edge of the lagoon. If
you're on a package holiday
the cost of transport to the
city centre, either by land or
by water, might already be
covered. If it's not, the
inexpensive alternatives are
to take one of the hourly
Alilaguna water-buses ,
which calls at Burano, the
Lido, the Arsenale, and San
Marco (L17,000/?8.75; journey
time 1hr to San Marco), or one
of the two road-going bus
services to the terminal
at Piazzale Roma: the ATVO
coach, which departs every
half-hour and takes around
twenty minutes (L5000/?2.58),
or the ACTV ( Azienda del
Consorzio Trasporti Veneziano
) bus #5, which is equally
frequent, usually takes just
five minutes longer (it's a
local bus service, so it picks
up and puts down passengers
between the airport and
Piazzale Roma), but costs just
L1500/?0.78 (plus a small
supplement for large pieces of
luggage). The ticket office
for both the water-buses and
the land buses is in the
arrivals hall; in addition to
single tickets, you can also
get ACTV passes here - a wise
investment if you're staying
more than a couple of days.
Note that ACTV passes are not
valid on the Alilaguna service
nor on the ATVO bus, and that
the airport ticket office will
sell you a ticket for the ATVO
rather than the ACTV bus
unless you make clear your
preference for il cinque
.
The most luxurious means of
getting into the city is to
take a water-taxi ,
which gives you the best
possible introduction to the
city (the view from the taxi
is far better than from the
waterbus, to say nothing of
the hedonistic buzz of
arriving in Venice this way).
The drivers tout for business
in and around the arrivals
hall, and will charge you in
the region of L150,000/?77.47
to San Marco, for up to six
people. Ordinary car-taxis
are ranked outside the
arrivals hall, and cost about
L50,000/?25 to Piazzale Roma.
People arriving
by car
must leave their vehicle
either on the mainland or try
for the car parks of Venice
itself - either at
Piazzale
Roma or at the
ever-expanding
Tronchetto
, Europe's largest car park.
Piazzale Roma is well
connected with the main
water-bus services, Tronchetto
rather less so, though you
won't have to wait more than
thirty minutes for transport
to the San Marco area. Prices
at these two vary according to
the time of year, the length
of stay and the size of car,
but it's never a cheap option
(from about L40,000/?21 per
day), and in summer the
tailbacks can be horrendous.
Best to use the open-air
San
Giuliano car park at
Mestre or the one at
Fusina
; both operate only in summer,
at Easter and during the
Carnevale, and ACTV buses
connect both with central
Venice.
Arriving by train, coach
or bus , you simply get
off at the end of the line.
The Piazzale Roma bus
station and Santa Lucia
train station (not to be
confused with Venezia Mestre,
the last stop on the mainland)
are just five minutes' walk
from each other, at the top of
the Canal Grande, and both are
well served by vaporetto
services to the core of the
city. The left-luggage
office at the train station
charges L5000 per item per
twelve hours; when things get
frenetic, they open a separate
office for larger pieces of
luggage, also at the station.
There are also lockers
alongside platform 1, which
cost L6000/?3 for six hours.
