Water taxi from Marco Polo to Venice: fares, timing and the private launch option

From Venice Marco Polo Airport (VCE) there are two ways to arrive in Venice by water. The private water taxi, a launch hired for your group alone, takes you across the lagoon and, for many hotels, to a landing at or near the door. The Alilaguna water bus is the shared version: scheduled boats on fixed lines, priced per person, with stops along the way. Both leave from the airport's own boat dock.

There is also a third option that many visitors overlook: a car across the causeway to Piazzale Roma, the road terminus of the historic city, and a short boat ride from there. Which is best depends on where your hotel is, how many of you there are and how much luggage you bring. This guide sets out the facts from the operators' own pages and says plainly when the private launch is worth it.

How much is a water taxi from Marco Polo to Venice?

The difference in structure is the whole story. A water taxi is one price for the boat, whether two of you travel or eight. Alilaguna is a price per seat. For a couple with light bags, the shared boat is far cheaper. For a family or a group with suitcases, the private launch narrows the gap quickly, and it goes where you are going without stops.

The private water taxi

Venice's water taxis are private motor launches run by licensed water-taxi operators, hired by the boat for your group alone. The Consorzio Motoscafi Venezia, one of the city's water-taxi operators, says it serves the main points of the city, including Piazzale Roma, Tronchetto, San Marco, Rialto and the Lido, with boats that carry up to 10 persons and 10 suitcases. Its transfer page asks you to contact the company for current fares, and it runs a 24-hour call centre.

What the private launch does well:

• Door to water door. Many hotels on the Grand Canal and the larger side canals have their own landing. The boat can bring you to it, which no bus, train or car can.
• No stops. Your group alone, straight across the lagoon.
• Bags on board. Suitcases go in the boat with you; there is no separate porterage to a stop.

What to watch:

• Price. It is the most expensive way into Venice for two people. Ask for the total for your group, bags and arrival time before you confirm, and whether any supplements apply.
• The final metres. Not every hotel has a landing. If yours does not, the boat drops you at the nearest point and the last stretch is on foot across bridges with steps.
• Booking. Book with a licensed operator or through your hotel. Elly8.net books the car, not the boat.

The Alilaguna water bus

Alilaguna runs scheduled water-bus lines from the airport into the lagoon. According to its fares page, a ticket between the airport and Venice costs €18 one way and €32 return. Each ticket includes one heavy bag and one hand bag; each extra piece costs €4. Children up to age 6 travel free with an adult holding a regular ticket, with a document proving their age.

The lines, as listed on Alilaguna's site:

• Blue line. Airport to San Marco Giardinetti, with stops including the railway station (Santa Lucia), Zattere and Arsenale.
• Orange line. Airport to Rialto, calling at Madonna dell'Orto, Guglie and San Stae, then Sant'Angelo, Ca' Rezzonico and Santa Maria del Giglio.
• Red line. A summer-only seasonal service to San Marco Giardinetti, calling at Murano Colonna, Ospedale and San Zaccaria.

Alilaguna publishes timetables on each line's page. Note that Alilaguna is a separate operator: the AVM/ACTV fares page states that ACTV tickets are not valid on Alilaguna services, so a city vaporetto pass does not cover this boat.

For a couple staying near an Alilaguna stop with one suitcase each, this is the sensible answer. It is not the fastest boat, because it stops along the way, but €36 for two is a fraction of a private launch.

See Venice prices and reserve

The car to Piazzale Roma, then a short boat

The third way in starts on land. A car takes you from arrivals across the Ponte della Libertà to Piazzale Roma, about 15 km (9 mi), roughly 20 minutes on a clear road. From there you continue by water: a water taxi, which is a much shorter ride from Piazzale Roma than across the lagoon from the airport, or the ACTV vaporetto, whose 75-minute single ticket the AVM Venice urban services page lists at €9.50.

A fixed Elly8.net transfer from Marco Polo to Piazzale Roma costs from US$120 in a business sedan, US$160 in a business SUV and US$315 in an Executive Sprinter, per vehicle, all-in. The chauffeur tracks your flight and waits in arrivals with a name board; waiting after a tracked landing is complimentary. Give us your water-taxi booking time and the chauffeur times the arrival at Piazzale Roma to it.

This route makes most sense when:

• Your hotel is near Piazzale Roma, Santa Lucia station or in Santa Croce, a short walk or one vaporetto stop from the road terminus.
• Your hotel is on the mainland, in Mestre or Treviso, or on the Lido, which has roads and a car ferry from Tronchetto. In those cases the car is the whole journey.
• Your group is large. An Executive Sprinter carries twelve people and twelve bags in one vehicle; a group of twelve on the water needs two launches.
• Venice is the start of a road trip. If you are heading to the Dolomites, the Prosecco hills or another city, start with the car.

Side by side

Vehicle capacities come from the Elly8.net fleet table. ACTV's luggage rules, and how heavy bags change the plan, are in our guide to Marco Polo to Venice with luggage.

Timing your arrival

Long-haul arrivals. Many flights from North America reach Venice in the morning, directly or after a connection, following a night in the air. A direct water taxi is a memorable way to arrive, but if your room will not be ready until the afternoon, consider dropping bags at the hotel and spending the morning in the city, or using the car for a mainland breakfast and a slower start.

Late arrivals. Alilaguna publishes its last departures on each line's timetable; check them against your landing time. A private water taxi can be booked for late arrivals, at operator prices. A car to Piazzale Roma runs at any hour, with the chauffeur tracking the landing.

Carnival and festival weeks. During the Carnevale di Venezia, boats and hotels fill early. Book the water taxi or car before you fly and allow extra time at Piazzale Roma.

Groups, weddings and the Lido

Group arrivals are where the boat-or-car question matters most. A wedding party of twelve with luggage needs two private launches from the airport, each priced by the operator, and two landings that both have to suit the hotel. One Executive Sprinter with driver carries the same twelve people and twelve bags to Piazzale Roma in a single vehicle, from US$315 fixed, where the group can split into boats for the short last leg. See group transportation for how the desk schedules several vehicles.

For the Lido, which has roads, hotels and the Venice Film Festival at the end of summer, a car can make the whole journey using the ACTV car ferry from Tronchetto. Request it in the web booker and the desk returns a fixed fare. Our page on chauffeur vs airport shuttle sets out the general trade-offs of shared and private transfers, and the booking itself is an ordinary airport transfer.

Leaving Venice for the airport

The same choices apply in reverse. A water taxi from your hotel landing to the airport dock is the simplest departure, at operator prices. The Alilaguna boats run back from the city stops to the airport on their published timetables. Or take a water taxi or vaporetto to Piazzale Roma and meet the car there: the fixed fare is the same in either direction, from US$120 in a business sedan.

Leave plenty of time. Boats can be slowed by weather and lagoon traffic, and the walk from the boat dock to check-in is part of the journey. Book the car for the time your boat reaches Piazzale Roma, and the chauffeur is waiting.

When the private launch is worth it

Be honest about the money. For two people with carry-on bags staying near San Marco, Alilaguna's Blue line is good value and the private launch is a luxury. For a couple celebrating an anniversary, the arrival by launch is part of the trip, and that is a good reason to pay for it.

The launch becomes rational on cost as well as comfort when the group grows: four or five people with suitcases, paying per person on Alilaguna plus extra-bag fees, are comparing that total with one boat. As arithmetic for comparison only, five adults on Alilaguna one way is €90 before extra bags.

And sometimes the right answer is neither boat. If you are staying in Mestre, on the Lido or at a villa on the Brenta, or you are heading straight for the mountains, a car is the whole journey. Our guide to a Venice day trip with a private driver covers the mainland days that start the same way, and Venice to the Dolomites by car covers the long drive north.

How to book the car part

1. Enter Venice Marco Polo (VCE) with your flight number and Piazzale Roma, Tronchetto, a mainland address or the Lido.
2. Choose Business Sedan, Business SUV, First Class Sedan, First Class SUV or Executive Sprinter, and add your water-taxi time in the notes.
3. Press Reserve now for the published fare, or use the web booker for the Lido or any other address. Confirmation comes by email.

Book any address

Rides in Venice are operated by licensed, commercially insured local chauffeur partners vetted through the Limousine Worldwide network; Elly8.net takes the booking, fixes the price and runs the 24/7 desk. The full price list, including Treviso Airport, is on the Venice chauffeur service page, and the hand-over at arrivals is explained on airport meet and greet. Cancellation is free more than 72 hours before pickup, 10% at 72 hours or less, 50% at 48 hours or less and 100% at 24 hours or less or for a no-show, refunded to the original card. Elly8.net is a member of LimousineWorldwide.Directory, LimousineAssociation.International, HotelsWorldwide.Directory and VacationsWorldwide.Directory. For flights and hotels, our travel partner is BookingWorldwide.net.