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I am wondering if someone could suggest the cheapest method of travelling from Venice Marco Polo Airport into Venice itself. I am staying quite close to St Marks Basilica, so any travel options which would put me in that general area would be appreciated.

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I tried to walk. That doesn't work. Ended up with train, boat, taxi to my hotel (and not that much sleep). –  Tom Hawtin - tackline Nov 29 '11 at 15:50
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4 Answers

up vote 8 down vote accepted

Venice is an expensive and beautiful place to visit. While you can take a land bus from the airport to the train station end of Venice, I think that would be a false economy for your first visit. The alilaguna is 12 euros each way. Venice is a water city and approaching and leaving it by water, as though the train/bus bridge was never built, will put you in the mood for your visit and give you some beautiful views and photos.

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You should definitely get a vap pass - you can buy them from the machine in the airport. That way, once all your stuff is in the hotel, you can hop on and off them to go up and down the grand canal, as well as around the outside. On the alilaguna, the driver stacks all the luggage in one pile and you get it when you get off the boat. On the vap, it's like a city bus or subway, you deal with your own luggage. You want to spend as little time on a vap with big bulky cases as possible.

It's about 5-10 minutes from the baggage claim to the alilagunas, and you might wait up to half an hour for your boat. You can take the orange (arancia) line to Rialto and then drag your luggage to the vap, or blue (blu) line all the way to San Marco, but a longer ride - though treat it as a sightseeing opportunity and that becomes a feature. The red (rossa) line used to go to San Marco but it seems on the web site that it now goes only to the Lido. It might depend on the time of year.

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According to Venice airport and public transportation sites, you can take bus linea 5.

Fare is 1.30€.

I don't know if some constraints apply on luggage.

Linea 5 leaves you at piazzale Roma near Santa Lucia train station. From there, take Vaporetto nr. 1 to piazza San Marco.

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The ACTV public bus No. 5 (orange bus) from Marco Polo airport to Piazzale Roma and takes about 25 minutes and costs 5 EUR. The ATVO bus (blue color) costs the same and takes about 5 minutes less. I would then just take a 6.50 EUR vaporetto ride (no.1) to San Marco. It's cheaper and takes about the same time. The cheaper 1.30 EUR fare is only for residents with the IMOB pass. Alilaguna will get you to San Marco in about the same time but for 13 EUR one way. For a good guide book which gives you the local hangouts, pubs and best restaurants with true Venetian cuisines, check out my ebook: Venice for Rookies. That will make your decision making really easy.

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Hi @Bianca, welcome to Travel.SE. As per our FAQ, you MUST disclose when promoting your own website, book or otherwise produced item. I'd have removed the answer but your directions via the bus were great, so will merely add in that it's your own website and ebook. Thanks for the useful answer, and as you appear to be quite the Venice expert, we look forward to other useful information you may have when questions come up about it - and indeed relating to any other ebooks you may write in the future. –  Mark Mayo Oct 30 '11 at 4:14
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It depends if you want to go to Venice - Santa Lucia or Venice - Mestre. There are buses to both train stations from the Marco polo airport.

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