deniah

Come on, it's not that bad. For posterity sake, its the entry point for (I dunno..) half (?) of the total traffic that gets into Venice, and other half a literal stones-throw across the bridge with the train.

It looks and functions like what it should be - a travel hub. Far far far from the dirtiest, sketchiest, and ugliest one of its kind in other parts of Europe.

20 minutes Airport shuttle ride that drops you off *virtually* where every other soul enters the city, is very convenient, and isn't so bad that people should be scared away from it. Might not exactly be romantic but it is 100% fine

https://www.google.at/maps/@45.43743...8i6656!6m1!1e1

Perche

It's bad. I had to go there yesterday to put some more dollars onto my city card. It may not be the worst in Europe, but it is the worst place in Venice.

Doesn't matter that it's how half the people arrive to Venice. Most never leave the tourist areas. People going to Venice for romance or beauty expect to see canals, gondolas, boats, not parking garages, smoke spewing buses, and taxi cabs honking their horns.

Someone who takes the trouble to go to Venice, driving through Mestre on a bus, a very ugly ride, then getting dropped off at a congested traffic circle bus stop is sure to be disappointed. It's a neighborhood they'll want to leave right away.

Then, in addition to the bus fare, they'll have to cross a bridge that has been soundly condemned because it has no way for people with limited mobility to be able to cross. In fact, building it was against the law, but no one knows what to do with it now. Then each person, after they cross the bridge, or hire a porter to help them, in addition to the bus fare, will have to pay almost $10 each for a vaporetto to get anywhere.

For four people it's basically a wash to get a motorboat. Someone arriving on a motor boat and being dropped off at their hotel will be enchanted. Lesser so on a vaporetto, but still immensely preferable to Piazzale Roma.

http://www.venezia-help.com/uploads/...zzale_roma.jpg
http://livingveniceblog.com/wp-conte...al_offices.jpg
http://www.venice-hotels.redflag.inf...us-station.jpg
https://cruisenotes.files.wordpress....ma-signage.jpg
http://killerwal.com/wp-content/uplo...g-Tag2-111.jpg
http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/x/piazz...e-25196373.jpg

versus:
http://www.motoscafivenezia.it/eng/i...video_home.jpg
http://www.destination360.com/europe...ater-taxis.jpg
http://www.alilaguna.it/en/about-us/photos

deniah

Sounds like Italy for sure

Perche

If after the very ugly bus ride and get to ugly Piazzale Roma, you'll not be able to walk out of there without getting severely lost in the backstreets. You'll either have to take an expensive vaporetto to your hotel, or cross over the famed monstrosity of a bridge over the canal I mentioned above in order to walk to the popular areas on foot. Avoid that route unless you need to spare every euro.

A private motorboat for about 110 euros for up to four people is worth it, or an Alilaguna vaporetto and get a nice tour of the Bay for about 18 euros per person, both dropping you off at our near your hotel, avoiding the bus and traffic and unsightly des of Piazzale Roma. Otherwise, here's the bridge you have to cross.

http://veneziablog.blogspot.com/2013...grand.html?m=1

obscure2k

+1 Listen to Perche. The water taxi ride is one of the best rides anywhere from an airport. As many times as I have done it, it never gets old. Truly wonderful and you won't regret it.

Dovster

Yes...and no.

We wound up taking the water taxi to the Hotel Principe. In general, I loved the hotel -- it had truly an old-fashioned, old-world, atmosphere and you could picture yourself being a wealthy world traveler 100 years ago.

The water taxi also saved us a heck of a lot of time getting to/from the airport. There was, however, one major drawback to it which, IMHO, would make it impossible for anyone with a mobility problem to use it (at least at the Principe).

The way the dock is set up at the hotel it requires one heck of a jump to get on/off a water taxi. On departure from the hotel, it was high tide and the hotel had to bring out a set of portable stairs to make it even theoretically possible for my ex or myself to jump onto the taxi (my daughter might have been able to make it). However, even with the stairs -- and us now not having to jump up as well as across -- we were still about 80 cms from the boat. At age 70, recently having stents put in both legs to be able to walk at all, and having to land on the narrow top ledge of the water taxi, this was far from a guaranteed jump.

Much to the dismay of many FTers I did, however, manage it. At the airport I had no trouble getting off of the boat (the gap was much smaller) and the only difficulty I faced was the AZ agent working the Sky Priority desk who had absolutely no idea of how to do her job. There were four people ahead of us (two pairs) and she had to keep phoning somebody to ask how to check them in and repeated this again for the three of us.

Perche

True, that sometimes does happen; no one can control the tide. The tide determines if you have to step up, or step down from the boat to the dock.

Most of the time it is not a big deal. However, a few days per month the tides are higher than normal (e.g., full moon, plus a scirocco wind - a strong wind from the south that pushes water into the lagoon).

And even then, it is only a few times during those exceptional days that the tides are higher or lower than normal (there are two high tides and two low tides per day, so every six hours), leading to the situation you described.

It sounds like you arrived at a bad time, during a bad day. 95% of the time it isn't like that, and there's no problem getting from boat to dock.

slawecki

80 cm is only 2.5 feet. should be able to sit and turn., or step on a suitcase to get up there. the driver will hold your hand. as i recall, there is a 10 euro discount if you buy the round trip at the airport.

i have never seen any airline employees at vce. the stands are all maintained by airport employees.

Dovster

Firstly, the 80 cm referred not to the height but to the distance from the pier to the boat (the height problem was taken care of by the stairs the hotel brought out).

Secondly, 2.5 feet was absolutely nothing for me when I was in the Army. It would not have even been a problem when I was a young, punk, kid of 65 -- but at 70, and having had severe leg problems for a year, it was daunting to jump that over the water.

That is why I said that the water taxi can be problematic for someone with mobility issues.

Perche

I still think you had an outlier. I just called them, and they mentioned that during the high tide they use the little stairs, and the jump from the stairs to the boat is about 10cm, or about 4 inches, not 80 cm, or 2 and a half feet. Perhaps you just didn't have a very good motoscafi driver, and he wasn't able to manipulate his boat any closer to the dock. They assured me that 80 cm would be very, very strange.

Dovster

At four inches I wouldn't even have to jump -- every step I take is longer than that.

Interestingly enough, despite the truly excellent service I had at the Principe for everything else, they did not even bring out the stairs until the motoscafi driver told them they would have to.

PWMTrav

2.5 feet is almost a full stride for someone of average height, isn't it? Yeah, at 70, I'm not going to hold it against you if that's getting difficult. Especially not when the risk of failure puts you in the canal, not on the carpet or something. I'm surprised they didn't have a plank or something to put down across the span.

Perche

I still say it was not the hotel, or the concept of using a private motor boat to and from the hotel to the airport. Reading what you said, that you had to make a 2.5 foot leap to get from dock to boat, I called the hotel.

The manager was adamant that the gap from dock to motorboat is about ten centimeters, or about four inches. Think about it. Does a hotel owner really expect people to jump two and a half feet from their private dock onto a boat without having people repeatedly falling into the canal and drowning because of the weight of their shoes and what's in their pockets and heavy coats carrying them down to the bottom?

He said, "I wasn't there, so I don't know what happened, but when its high tide we bring up the scalini (the miniature stairs that you referred to). I told them that you said they did bring up the scalini, and there was still an 80 cm jump from the stairs to the boat. He said, "No, the boat driver drives in close to the dock, about 10 centimeters (four inches) away, so there is never any jumping."

Just like a tourist can get an occasional bad cab driver to or from any airport in any city, I think you just had a bad moto scafi driver who couldn't or wouldn't manipulate his boat into place, and just expected to make you jump.

I wouldn't blame what happened to you on the Principe (although I would never, ever recommend that hotel because of he neighborhood), I also wouldn't cite your experience as a reason to not recommend using a moto scafi (private motor boat) or Alilaguna vaporetto to get to and from the city and the airport.

Most mariners in Venice grew up on the water, and are some of the best in the world.

I would have just done what you do whenever you get a bad driver. Just say, "This is not acceptable, bring me closer to the dock."

You were staying right next to the train station, where there are many moto scafi stops. I would have just told your hotel staff, "the motor boat driver pulled up 2.5 feet away from your private dock and expects me to jump it the distance. If he doesn't pull in, I'm going out the front door to one of the regular moto scafi stops," which are all over in front of the train station.

The hotel guy would lose his kickback from the moto scafi driver, would have thrown him a few curse words in Venetian dialect, and the driver would have backed up and steered his boat to the point of being just a few inches from the dock.

Dovster

This would not have worked in my case. I had bought a r/t ticket at the airport so I didn't really have an option of taking another water taxi (nor was anyone at the hotel getting a kickback).

We had quite a bit of luggage with us (one heck of a lot more than when we arrived a week earlier) and before they brought out the stairs I thought that we would have to put the luggage on the boat and then walk to a different stop and meet the taxi there.

BTW, I can't agree with you about the location. Yes, the in front of the hotel got a bit crowded and I can see where it would problematic in the summer, but in late November it didn't cause us any problems at all. There were also a heck of a lot of tourist shops but tends to be true in many parts of Venice (especially near the Rialto and San Marco).

The above was offset by the convenience to the train station. My daughter, my ex, and I took day trips to Padova (where we were joined by my girlfriend) and Verona. My daughter and my ex also went to Florence. Having the train so close was a big plus.

The hotel was also just a short walk from the casino, where I spent a few hours almost every day.

I only had to take the vaporetto one time -- and that was on my way back from San Marco. Having walked there I didn't feel up to making the return trip by foot.

Completely off topic, but many people (mostly folks working in shops or restaurants) were very surprised when I spoke to them in Italian. I explained that I had been in Italy with the American Army for two years, but that was 50 years ago and my Italian was not very good anymore.

Two of these times, they were young men (in their 30s) and they were very impressed, asking me if I had seen much combat against the Germans.

The Germans? Fifty years ago (1965-1966)! Don't schools in Venice teach history?

KLouis

Completely off-topic:

Your ex, your present girl(?)friend, your daughter and you. Without knowing any of you, I must say that I think you're a very patient and easygoing person. Vacation with three women!