Venice Flights

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When we started doing research for our trip to Italy, we had no idea it would be possible to catch a direct flight to Venice from Montreal. However, with a little help from our travel agent, we were able to get a pretty decent price for a direct flight with Air Transat. Marco Polo Airport is located on the mainland, just a few minutes outside of Mestre. There are different options available to get to Venice, including watertaxis, but the cheapest solution is to catch a shuttle bus that takes you to Piazzale Roma, just a few steps away from the Santa Lucia train station. There are departures roughly every 30 minutes, and tickets only cost 3 Euros for a one-way trip. At the airport, you can buy them from the blue ATVO machines that are located in the baggage claim area. The shuttles are quite easy to find once you exit the aiport, there's plenty of room for luggage, and it takes about 20 minutes to get to Venice. The same rate and schedule apply when you need to get back to the airport.

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I travelled by Easyjet from East Midlands Airport to Marco Polo airport, Venice. I'd particularly wanted to arrive here rather than Treviso as I'd been told about the Vaporetta journey from the airport to San Marco. It sounded so romantic arriving in Venice on Christmas Eve by boat (even if it was just me on my own)

www.easyjet.com or www.skyscanner.com for flight details, prices etc.

I was lucky to get a bargain 24th to 27th December 06, return flight for just over £70.
The flight times are quite good -depart EMA at 13.10, arriving MPA at 16.25. Depart MPA 16.55 arriving EMA 18.15

As I had only Hand luggage, I was soon on my way to the Alilaguna waterbus stop for my journey to San Marco.

Luggage trolleys (50cent, 1 or 2 euro piece is needed to release the trolley, remember to retrieve this when you reach the Vaporetta)

Marco Polo is a pleasant airport with plenty of shops, cafes, restaurants etc.
Exchange bureau, ATM's, car hire, hotel booking etc.

The walk to the buses, water buses, water taxis etc is well sign posted, it takes about 7 minutes to walk.

Taxis stop outside the airport exit.

UPDATE - I'm afraid that from January 2010, Easyjet no longer operate from East Midlands airport. We had already booked for 10 of us to travel this route at the end of January 2010-and had to travel from Gatwick.

Ryanair now fly East Midlands to Treviso, which I don't mind - (I've flown into Treviso before, and the transfer by train or bus is not much longer than the Marco Polo to Venice by Water bus route)

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For some reason my grandmother had us flying from Venice to Madrid so early that it was dark when we left the hotel. I was sleeping in my clothes because I didn't want to unpack my bag. I went down first with my luggage and my grandmother's carryon - we wouldn't both fit in the elevator with the luggage. The hotel breakfast area wasn't open yet. Actually when we got to the airport it was too early even to check in.

We flew business class (which is not a big deal to me as my mom flies with us all the time), but here when we checked in we were told that we could go and wait in the Marco Polo lounge.

The Marco Polo lounge had a TV with the news (in Italian of course), But the main thing was that they had stuff to eat. I got some orange juice and a roll.

Flying out we went right over Venice. In business class, they also gave us breakfast. I ate some and gave some to my grandmother.

Viale Galileo Galilei, 30/1, I-30030, Tessera, Venice, Italy, IT

Ryanair bill Treviso airport as 'Venice'. To be fair it is alot closer to Venice than many major cities are to their principle airport. It is also well connected to Venice by either a) a direct bus or b) a local bus to Treviso city (10-15 minutes) and a half hour train ride up to Sant Lucia train terminal in Venice.

Currently Ryanair fly to about a dozen non-Italian destinations around Europe from here. More may well follow.

It's still worth checjing out flights to Marco Polo airport, as the odd bargain can turn up - and you don't have to travel with Michael O'Leary's band of clowns.

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We didn't fly to Marco Polo airport. We flew to Venice Treviso airport via Ryanair from Stansted arriving at 2200. Unfortunately the only Italy guide book I had was Rick Steves who doesn't mention that other (mainland) Venice airport (Treviso), in fact he doesn't mention the name of the airport at all (I may be writing him a note!!). Fortunately, in the process of looking at other information, I discovered that Treviso is about an hour north of Venice. Fortunately also, there is a bus that runs to Piazz le Roma (the bus station in Venice). So, our flight was on time, and they didn't lose any of our bags, the bus ran to schedule, and the water buses were also still running.

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In May 2005 I left Italy by plane from the Venice Airport Marco Polo, which is located about 12 km east of the city centre.

The Airport is very modern and consists of 2 terminals. It can be reached by both local buses, Express Fly buses, waterboats and taxis.

For more details about how to get to the Airport, please read my "To Venice Airport by public transportation" tip.

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The airport is located off the SS14 airport road towards Trieste, in Tessero on the shore of the lagoon, only 8 kilometers from the center.
It is one the busiest in Italy with a yearly capacity of seven-million passengers. The attractive new terminal building has been put into operation in 2002. Extremelly elegant with an excellent design. Arrivals are on the ground floor while departures are on the upper floor.
The business class international lounge has good food/drinks, nice comfort, high speed internet access and an open terrace for very pleasant viewing of the aircraft and last lingering views of the beautiful city.

Public transport: Transfer to Venice is easy; although the blue ATVO bus (€ 3,00), a direct connection to Piazzale Roma, runs only every half hour at weekends. The orange bus ACTV No.5 (€1.00) is also a good option, but it has a lot of stops and reaching Piazzale Roma takes almost one hour.
Another option is to take the Alilaguna boats from the airport jetty: they are time-consuming (one hour and a half) and expensive (€ 12,00 one-way) but take you directly to Piazza San Marco, which is a huge advantage.

Notice: Some airlines operate from the small airport of Treviso, which is 30 kilometres from Venice, but the transfer to Piazzale Roma by bus or train is well organized

December 2008, I found it was cheaper for me to travel to Venice by flying to Treviso (from Liverpool) by Ryanair, instead of my usual flight by Easyjet from East Midlands to Marco Polo airport.

Planes depart from Liverpool (aka John Lennon or Speke) airport ;
Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 17.15 and arrive at Treviso at 20.30 hours.
Treviso to Liverpool departs at 20.55 arriving at 22.15
www.Ryanair.com for more info
Check in at least 2 hours prior to flight time.

Treviso airport, formerly known as Sant' Angelo di Treviso, Aeroporto di Treviso Antonio Canova (named after the local hero sculptor) serves mainly Ryanair flights from the UK and Europe.

http://www.trevisoairport.it for all airport info -Italian and English

Although Ryanair advertise it as Venice (Treviso), Venice is 19 miles away. The airport is about 3km from Treviso centre.

Padua, Vicenza, Asolo are within easy reach of Treviso. Verona is 2 hours away by train.
Terravision run a service to the Dolomites ( Cortina, Dobbiaco and Brunico -17 euro one way)

Outside the airport are taxis and buses. Taxis in Treviso are considered to be reasonably priced.

ATVO run bus services to Venices Piazzale Roma bus station (40 - 70 minutes, depending on traffic volume) which co-incide with the Ryanair flights - if the flight's delayed the coach waits.
http://www.atvo.it/orari/pdf_airport/Ryanair.pdf. for timetables etc.
At peak times, there is often an extra bus put on to accommodate large numbers of passengers.

Return tickets are valid for 7 days. Buy in the arrivals hall. You must validate your ticket prior to boarding.
There is an ATVO office in Piazzale Roma to purchase tickets. You can't buy tickets from the driver.
D2 is the stop to look for when returning.
Some services stop in Mestre, others go direct to Pz Roma.

Local bus service (ACTT) run buses into Treviso and Treviso train station ( #6 service takes about 10-15 minutes). www.actt.it.

As I was staying overnight in Treviso, I bought a ticket in the arrivals hall for 1 euro (2 euros from the driver) and validated it on the bus. The ticket is valid for 70 minutes.

I caught the number 6 bus to the train station from just outside the airport (From the exit turn right, and the bus shelter is the first to your right on Via Noalise) -
This bus continues to Piazza Duoma after the train station)

Regular trains run to Venice (about 30 minutes) for about 2.5 euros. The last train is just after 23.30

If you're planning to look around Treviso on the way too/ from Venice etc the left luggage office in the train station charges 3 euros for each item. The centre is within easy walking from the train station.
I stayed overnight in Treviso, spent a few pleasant hours exploring Treviso, before catching the train to Venice S. Lucia.
My Treviso page is under construction!

On my return , I caught the train from Venice San Lucia, then a taxi from the train station to Treviso airport for 15 euros

The airport itself was updated in 2007, with a new terminal building.
There is a small duty free shop with a limited selection of perfumes, spirits, wines, cigarettes and gifts, but not a lot to do while waiting.

I quite enjoyed a bowl of pasta from the cafe before going through security. It was cooked in front of me!- Later I enjoyed a coffee from a stand near passport control.

My only quibble was the long time waiting at the gate for departure, luckily I managed to grab one of the few seats available. It was quite a crush under the stairwell, where we had to wait. I had to laugh when I noticed that one of the passengers standing in the queue had a copy of 'War and Peace'- I couldn't resist sneaking a quick photo- errr no, he didn't finish it before we boarded- but it WAS a long wait!

I'd certainly consider using this route again.