Taking the Alilaguna transfer from the airport

[sweetpea222]

We arrive into FCO at around 5:30 pm on a Monday in July. Our hotel is the Gio & Gio B&B hotel. They recommend taking the Alilaguna boat to St. Mark's Square or to Sant' Angelo docks, and then the meet up point with the owner is at Santa Maria del Giglio church.

 

Can anyone describe how to get to the airport docks, and then whether it is easier for us (at least, more straightforward as I know getting lost is par for the course in Venice! :D) to get off at the Sant' Angelo dock or continue on to the St. Mark's square dock. We will be travelling with wheeled carry on only, no big suitcases.

 

We looked into doing the bus/vaporetto to get into Venice, but the Alilaguna boat is not much more expensive and seems like a great option as it takes you down the Grand Canal. A nice introduction to our first visit to Venice. :)

 

If anyone has done it, about how long should it take us to get there after we land? We have to go through customs, can skip the luggage carousel, and then have to exchange our vouchers for tickets, validate them, get to the dock, etc, etc. The owner of Gio and Gio asks to know approximately when we will be there so he can meet us and take us to the hotel.

 

Many thanks, as always. :D

[CathyCruises]

Alilaguna is a great option--IF you are flying into VCE and not FCO!!!;)

 

Once you get through customs and collect your luggage, which in my memory was not an unusually long time (15-20 minutes), go out the front doors of the airport (which is small), cross the street and follow the signs down to the dock. You can use luggage carts or just wheel your baggage. It's about 100 yards I am guessing to the dock. Then it will take a good 45 minutes IIRC to get to your hotel area. When we took Alilaguna, they only stopped at St. Mark's and we had a bit of a hike to our hotel, but that was a few years ago.

[dogs4fun]

I assume that you are taking the Orange Line for the Alilaguna? It it the one that goes down the Grand Canal.

I would opt for the Sant' Angelo dock simply because there would be no bridges over which you would need to manage your luggage.

I would guess that you might be able make the 6:30 pm alilaguna from the airport to the Sant' Angelo dock. This trip would put you at the Sant' Angelo dock at 7:31 pm. If you miss the 6:30 Alilaguna, there is another one at 7:30 pm which would put you at the Sant' Angelo dock at 8:31 pm.

It is difficult to estimate how long it will take for you to get off the plane, go through customs/immigration & exchange your vouchers (not sure to which vouchers you are referring). If your plane is on time & you are quickly off the plane, through customs, etc., you may make the 6:30 boat ... if not, you should definitely make the 7:30.

Cathy has given you excellent directions to the docks. Distance from the airport to the docks is about 500 meters or 547 yards (about a 6 to 10 minute walk). If you are interested, I have a google map with the walking route from the airport to the Alilaguna docks. I will be happy to email you the link to my map ... just email me (my email is in my signature at the bottom of this post).

jill

[mapleleaves]

it's about a 7-8 minute walk to the airport dock ... pretty well marked. Read thru this link about alilaguna and eventually the walk:

http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/venice_airport_boat.htm

 

I don't know how you could provide a definite arrival time to your B&B mgr. It has taken us from 20 minutes to 2 hrs to get out of the airport.

It looks like the alilaguna takes 1hr 15 minutes to reach St Marks so all you can do is pick the most likely time you'll board and if you're not there, they'll have to come back for the next boat.

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

[sweetpea222]

Alilaguna is a great option--IF you are flying into VCE and not FCO!!!;)

 

 

 

Ha! That will teach me to rush to post before going to work!! :)

[sweetpea222]

Thanks for the info. Not sure if we can make that first boat, so would it be better, if we don't, to take the bus/vaporetto rather than wait another hour for the alilaguna boat?

 

I agree, there is no way we can give the owners of the B&B a definitive time we'll arrive. I think they just want to know when we're flying in and then how we're getting there. They would most likely be able to figure out how long it might take.

[dogs4fun]

Thanks for the info. Not sure if we can make that first boat, so would it be better, if we don't, to take the bus/vaporetto rather than wait another hour for the alilaguna boat?

 

I agree, there is no way we can give the owners of the B&B a definitive time we'll arrive. I think they just want to know when we're flying in and then how we're getting there. They would most likely be able to figure out how long it might take.

 

I would opt for the ATVO bus + vaporetta if I was unable to make the first boat. The ATVO buses run with more frequency than the Alilaguna.

[sweetpea222]

Yes, that was my thought as well. I'd rather be making my way to Venice one way or the other rather than waiting at the airport dock for an extra hour. :D

[mapleleaves]

You'd need to look at the ATVO schedule to see if it would make any difference, whether you take the ATVO or wait for the next boat. ATVO buses only run twice an hour and then you've got the vaporetto ride down the Grand Canal to St marks, so depending on how close you missed the alilaguna it might be an either/or situation. You've got options so play it by ear. Hopefully you'll be out there in under 30 minutes and you'll make the boat ... it would be a very nice start to your visit.

[sweetpea222]

It would definitely be the start we were hoping for, that's for sure. We'll just play it by ear and have both the schedules on hand, just in case. Many thanks!

[dogs4fun]

The 6:20 ATVO would put you in Piazzale Roma at 6:40 pm.

The 6:50 ATVO would put you in Piazzale Roma at 7:10 pm.

If you do not make that first vaporetto:

Add about 30 minutes for the Grand Canal on vaporetto (Line #2) and your arrival time at your destination should be approx 7:40 - 7:45 pm (versus 8:35 - 8:45 pm taking the later Alilaguna).

[D4]

An international cell phone would enable you to contact your B&B owners when you're actually on your way. Then you could give them a better estimate of when you'll meet them.

[sweetpea222]

Thank you so much for the info. Would much rather get going into town than waiting an hour at the airport dock if we miss that first available boat.

[Earl Rosebery]

Thank you so much for the info. Would much rather get going into town than waiting an hour at the airport dock if we miss that first available boat.

If it were me, and especially after long hrs. of flying, I would stop at the water taxi desk and pick up 4 people to share a water taxi with. Then it's a 20min limo like ride into Venice in style and by sharing, the cost isn't much more than the water bus.

 

Sharing is normal practice and there is no need to pre book.

[sweetpea222]

How many can share a water taxi? How do you go about arranging to share one with strangers? We will be a family of four.

[dogs4fun]

How many can share a water taxi? How do you go about arranging to share one with strangers? We will be a family of four.

 

As mentioned above, you can check at the water taxi desk.

However, are you aware of the prices for the water taxi? If you read the posts on the link below, you will see that the price per person was about $100 for the transfer from the airport to Venice. :eek: Outrageous IMHO.

Of course, if price is not a consideration for you then that would be the way to go. Here is the link to the thread:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1828181

[acwmom]

How many can share a water taxi? How do you go about arranging to share one with strangers? We will be a family of four.

 

It looks like using the venicelink.com website, you can get a private transfer from Marco Polo Airport for 4 for a TOTAL of 95 euros if you pre-book. And it takes you directly to your hotel, as long as it isn't on their short list of exclusions (which you can see in the link below)

 

http://www.venicelink.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage_biglietti&product_id=76&category_id=11&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=43&lang=english

[sweetpea222]

Oh my goodness... No, we won't be taking a water taxi ... I thought maybe they charged per trip so if you could fit more in the price per person would go down. We'll hope to make the 6:30 pm Alilaguna, and if we just miss it, we'll likely go to plan B. :-)

[Earl Rosebery]

Oh my goodness... No, we won't be taking a water taxi ... I thought maybe they charged per trip so if you could fit more in the price per person would go down. We'll hope to make the 6:30 pm Alilaguna, and if we just miss it, we'll likely go to plan B. :-)

 

See the previous. You can prebook for 100 E for 4 people.

Also see

 

http://www.motoscafivenezia.it/eng/biglietto_1.php?gclid=CI-V1r2c07YCFWJqMgodtAgAOQ

 

This is the website for the largest Venice water taxi consortium. 100 e from airport to any venice hotel. The people who paid 300 got ripped off. That can happen anywhere.