Getting to Venice Marco Polo Airport (VCE) by Alilaguna waterbus (vaporetto) is a cheap, romantic alternative to water taxis and transfer shuttle buses.
Venice Marco Polo Airport (VCE) in Italy is located on the edge of the Venetian lagoon only around twenty minutes drive from one of the most romantic cities in the world. Getting to Venice Airport is fastest by car and cheapest by bus but many visitors prefer to arrive romantically by water. Water taxis and transfer shared shuttle boats provide fast access from Venice Marco Polo Airport but are more expensive. A waterbus (vaporetto) operated by Alilaguna offers a cheaper alternative at prices that are well worth considering even by budget travelers.
The cheapest way to travel by boat from Venice Marco Polo Airport (VCE) to central Venice is on a waterbus (vaporetto) operated by Alilaguna. A one-way ticket on the Alilaguna waterbus from Venice to Marco Polo Airport can be as cheap as €15 while shared water taxi services are around €35 and water taxis easily exceed €200.
The airport dock, from where these waterbuses depart, is around a ten-minute walk by a covered walkway from the terminal building at Venice Marco Polo Airport. Follow the “Water Taxi Motoscafo” or “Water Bus Alilaguna” signs – luggage trolleys may be used from the airport terminal to the dock but bear in mind that such help will not be available upon arrival in Venice.
Alilaguna has several water boat routes with generally at least one service per hour per route between around 8 am and 8 pm. The blue line has some services through the night as well.
Traveling time from Venice airport to San Marco (St Mark’s) is around 75 minutes.
Alilaguna operates two main waterbus routes with scheduled services to and from Venice Marco Polo Airport (VCE):
Tickets for travel on any of these lines from the airport to San Marco, cruise terminal, or Lido are generally €15 (€27 return) with slight discounts for vouchers bought online (but note that the voucher must be exchanged for a real ticket before boarding the boat). For other stops, the fare depends on the distance traveled, e.g. San Marco to the cruise terminal / Lido / Murano is €8 (€15 return).
The standard ticket includes one piece of hand luggage – for extra suitcases buy a €3 “extra luggage” ticket.
If ticket windows are closed, Alilaguna tickets may also be bought on the boat itself but at a surcharge of €1 per ticket (and find the ticket seller before s/he finds you). Return tickets are valid for 30 days.
As this public waterbus service is operated by a private company, regular Venice ACTV transportation passes are generally not valid.
Buses to Venice Marco Polo Airport (VCE) are the cheapest way to reach Venice’s main airport but waterbuses and boats are a much more romantic alternative that is not exorbitantly expensive. Small groups may consider boat transfer services or even water taxis for the convenience of going directly to a Venetian hotel. Buses to Venice Treviso (TSF) are the best public transportation option to Venice’s second airport, which is popular with low-cost airlines.
Online skip-the-line tickets for top sights in Venice such as the Doge’s Palace, the Basilica di San Marco, and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection are great time savers while museum passes also allow for fast-track admissions and may give small savings.