By airport bus:
- Leave the station by the main entrance (or by the side door, if you have wheeled luggage, a stroller, or a wheelchair and want to avoid the steps).
- Turn right and walk along the water to the Ponte della Costituzione, or Calatrava Bridge, which is only a minute or two from the station.
- Cross the bridge to the Piazzale Roma.
- In the Piazzale Roma, take the ATVO "Venezia Express" airport coach or the more crowded ACTV No. 5 "Aerobus" to Marco Polo Airport. (Travel time will be about 20 minutes.) For fares and other information, see our Venice Airport Buses article.
03/26/2012
ABOVE: Venice's Ponte di Calatrava, or Calatrava Bridge, links Santa Lucia Railroad Station to the Piazzale Roma (where you can catch a bus or taxi to the airport).
From time to time, we're asked about train transportation between Venice's Santa Lucia Railroad Station and Marco Polo Airport. The short answer is simple: "There isn't any."
Fortunately, you don't have to settle for the short answer. It's easy to get to Marco Polo Airport from the main Venice railway station (called "Ferrovia" on local transportation maps), and here's how to do it:
- Leave the station by the front steps, or--if you've got a wheelchair, a stroller, or heavy rolling suitcases--by the wheelchair-accessible side door. (See illustrated directions.)
- When you're in front of the station, turn right and walk a short distance to the Calatrava Bridge. Cross the bridge to the Piazzale Roma, which is the bus and taxi gateway for Venice's otherwise car-free historic center.
- Hire a taxi in the square, or--better yet--look for the ATVO ticket office or machine, buy an inexpensive ticket, and take the ATVO airport bus to Venice Marco Polo Airport.
TAXI
You have two bus options to get to/from the airport – the ACTV buses (run by the city’s public transportation company) and the ATVO buses (which are a private company). ACTV’s buses are more standard city buses, but they do have space on board for luggage. ATVO’s buses are more accurately described as “coaches.”
ACTV Buses – ACTV bus line #5 runs between Piazzale Roma and the airport. The first bus leaves Piazzale Roma from Monday-Saturday at 04:40 and the last bus leaves at 24:40 (on Sundays and holidays the departures begin at 05:40 and end at 24:40). The first bus leaves the airport bound for Venice at 04:08, and the last bus of the day departs at 01:10. The journey is about 25 minutes one-way and the cost of a ticket is €5 one way (€9 if you’ll be making the round-trip). You can buy tickets at the self-service machines at Piazzale Roma and the airport.
ATVO Buses – These “Venice Express” buses run between Piazzale Roma and the airport. The first bus leaves Piazzale Roma at 05:00 and the last bus leaves at 20:50. The first bus leaves the airport bound for Venice at 07:50, and the last bus of the day departs at 23:50. The journey is about 20-30 minutes one-way and the cost of a ticket is €5 one way (€9 if you’ll be making the round-trip). You can buy tickets in the baggage area of the arrivals hall at the automatic machines (they’re blue with a yellow ATVO logo), at the ATVO ticket office in the arrivals hall, or at ATVO machines just outside the airport where the buses actually depart from.
The ATVO coach from Marco Polo Airport to Venice Piazzale Roma costs €8,00 each way, or €15,00 for a round trip. It's by far your most convenient option if you're able to climb a few steps when boarding, since the coach has a luggage compartment underneath where you can stow your bags.
ReplyDeleteYou can also order tickets online for specific dates only from the ATVO's Web site, with a discount for your advance purchase if you order two tickets or more. When ordering online, you'll receive an e-mail with a PDF booking confirmation. Print out the PDF file or the e-mail and use it as your ticket when boarding.
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DeleteATVO office in Piazzale RomaTo take the bus from Venice to the airport, buy a ticket at the ATVO storefront facing the Piazzale Roma and take the red-and-white crosswalk to the center of the square, where you'll see signs for ATVO coaches to the Venice and Treviso airports. (A ticket machine is outside the office, on the sidewalk.) Alternatively, you can buy tickets at the newsstand near the buses, which is open every day except Sunday.
Board the bus for Marco Polo Airport unless you're flying on Ryanair, Transvia, Wizzair, Germanwings, or Air Arabia, which depart from Treviso's Canova Airport. (See our Treviso Airport buses article if you're using one of those budget airlines.)
Be sure to validate your ticket before or immediately after boarding the ATVO coach. At the airport, you'll find a stamping machine on the ticket machine by the bus stop; at the Piazzale Roma, stamp your ticket in the machine behind the driver's seat unless the driver takes your ticket and punches it for you outside the bus. (You do not need to validate tickets that you ordered onlilne, since these are for specific dates.)
ATVO buses are generally reliable, but it pays to have a backup plan--and money for a taxi--if the bus doesn't show up. (Not long ago, our daughter and grandson had a 7 a.m. flight from Marco Polo Airport, and the 5 a.m. bus from the Piazzale Roma failed to arrive. Fortunately, there were a couple of taxis waiting in the Piazzale Roma at that hour, so they managed to make their flight.)
INSET BELOW: An ACTV electronic ticket reader. (Hold your ticket in the center of the circle until a green light comes on.)
ReplyDeleteACTV "Aerobus" to Piazzale Roma
ACTV is the public-transportation agency for Venice and its mainland suburbs. Its transit routes include the Linea 5 "Aerobus," which runs frequently between the airport and the city from about 4 a.m. until 1 a.m. and costs €8 one-way or €15 roundtrip. (See timetable in PDF format.)
Travel time from Marco Polo Airport to the Piazzale Roma is approximately 20 to 25 minutes, depending on traffic and how often the bus needs to stop for local passengers.
Because this bus costs more than the faster and more comfortable ATVO bus, it may seem like the lesser value. However, there are two reasons why it may be worth considering, especially if you don't have much luggage:
The "Aerobus" stops at hotels along the road from Marco Polo Airport (though you probably won't want to stay at those isolated hotels unless you have a car), and...
You can buy an "Aerobus + Nave" ticket for €14 that combines the bus ride and a vaporetto water bus to or from the Piazzale Roma in Venice. This will save you a small amount of money, and--more important--it will save you from having to stand in line for a vaporetto ticket if you're arriving at the Piazzale Roma from the airport. (The ticket is good for 90 minutes, so transfer to a water bus promptly after arriving in the city.)
Warning: You'll need to carry your luggage into the bus with you, and the bus may be crowded with local commuters. (On the plus side, the bus has a low floor and may be easier to board than the ATVO coach if you have trouble climbing steps.)
Where to buy tickets at the airport:
You can buy ACTV single-fare tickets at the public-transportation booth in the arrivals terminal, which also sells 12-hour to 7-day ACTV Tourist Travel Cards, ATVO coach tickets, etc.
Tip: If you purchase an ACTV Tourist Travel Card, you can buy No. 5 "Aerobus" tickets for use in combination with the card at a discounted price of €6 one-way or €12 roundtrip. (This is a good deal only if you want to validate and use the Tourist Travel Card on your day of arrival, and if you're returning to the airport before the Tourist Travel Card's validity period has expired.)
Once you have your ticket, head for the sidewalk in front of the terminal and look for the ACTV stop. Wait for the No. 5 bus. (The route number and destination are shown on an LED display on the front of the bus.)
ACTV electronic ticket readerImmediately after boarding the bus, validate your ticket. (If you have the new card-shaped ACTV/Hellovenezia ticket, hold it up to the electronic card reader on the bus and wait for a green light; if you have a small old-style cardboard ticket, insert it in the yellow stamping machine.)
The No. 5 bus will stop a number of times on the 20-minute trip into Venice, so stay on board until you've crossed the causeway and reached the end of the line. For more information, visit the ACTV Web site.
Note: To take the No. 5 bus from Venice to the airport, buy a ticket at the tile-roofed Hellovenezia building in the Piazzale Roma or at a ticket machine. Alternatively, you can buy ACTV bus tickets ahead of time at at tobacco shops and many newssstands. (Be sure to validate your ticket before or immediately after boarding the bus, which is usually parked along the front of the square near a newsstand.)
http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/venice_airport_buses_actv.htm
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