World City Guide

Getting There By Air

Venice Marco Polo (VCE)
Tel: (041) 260 9240. Fax: (041) 260 6260.
Website: www.veniceairport.it

Located just 12km (7 miles) from Venice, Marco Polo airport is the main hub of European and national flights to the Veneto region. It is easily accessible by land or water and when occasionally blighted by fog, planes land at nearby airports in Treviso or Verona. Marco Polo is one of the busiest airports in Italy. The three-floor terminal can cater for up to six million passengers per year.

Major airlines: Italy’s national airline, Alitalia (tel: (06) 2222; website: www.alitalia.it), connects Venice to Rome, Naples and Catania in Sicily. British Airways and budget airline Easyjet operate daily flights to London Gatwick, and British Midland to London Heathrow, while Lufthansa and Air France fly to other major European capitals and business centres. Alitalia/Delta run a regular code share service to New York. An increasing number of budget airline routes also connect the airport with regional airports in the UK.

Approximate flight times to Venice: From London is 2 hours 10 minutes; from New York is 9 hours 20 minutes; from Los Angeles is 13 hours 20 minutes; from Toronto is 10 hours 30 minutes and from Sydney is 20 hours 45 minutes.

Airport facilities: Facilities include branches of Italian banks, with ATMs (bancomat), as well as a selection of bars and eateries. A range of shops selling local handicrafts and specialist food stuffs, a post office, a 24-hour first aid service and a hotel reservations service are also available. Car hire operators include Avis, Europcar and Hertz.

Business facilities: Business-class travellers without luggage can check in at the Sala VIP Save lounge (tel: (041) 260 6577; fax: (041) 260 6282; e-mail: marketing@veniceairport.it), where there are televisions and telephones at their disposal. The Travelex Italia Business Centre (tel: (041) 269 8191; website: www.travelex.com) has meeting rooms, conference halls and work stations with secretarial services and other support facilities, such as translation services and mobile phone hire, available daily 0600-2200.

Arrival/departure tax: None.

Transport to the city: The most romantic way to arrive in Venice (weather permitting) is by motorboat (motoscafo). Travellers pay for the privilege (¬10) and the ride takes a little longer than the bus, but the approach to St Mark’s Square from the water is one that few will forget. The Alilaguna service (tel: (041) 523 5775; fax: (041) 522 1939; e-mail: info@alilaguna.it; website: www.alilaguna.it) departs hourly 0615-0010 and takes one hour. Water taxis, run by Consorzio Motoscafi Venezia (tel: (041) 522 2303; website: www.motoscafivenezia.it) are an altogether more upmarket option, with a price tag upwards of ¬80. A cheaper alternative is by land, on the ATVO airbus (tel: (041) 541 5180; website: www.atvo.it) to Piazzale Roma, which departs every 20-40 minutes 0820-0010 and costs ¬3 (journey time – 20 minutes). Cheaper still is the ACTV (tel: (041) 272 2111; website: www.actv.it) public bus 5, which costs just ¬1 and departs every 15-30 minutes 0510-2310 (journey time – 30 minutes to Piazzale Roma). Car taxis to Piazzale Roma wait outside the arrivals hall and cost approximately ¬15-18 (tel: (041) 936 222).